PHD POSITION: COMPUTER ANIMATION AND MACHINE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY FOR
THE STUDY OF ACTION AND SOCIAL PERCEPTION

(Hertie Institute / Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of
Tuebingen, Germany)

The Section for Computational Sensomotorics at the Center for
Integrative Neurosciences (CIN) and the Hertie Institute for Clinical
Brain Research (HIH) at the University of Tuebingen invites
applications for a PhD student for a project developing novel
technology for the study of action and social perception exploiting VR
technology. VR and computer animation combined with state-of-the-art
machine learning approaches (including deep learning) offer novel
possibilities for the investigation and understanding of the neural
basis of the perception of actions and social signals. The project
aims at the development of novel learning-based technologies and
models for human and animal experiments that investigate social
perception and the perception of facial and body movements. The
project is funded for a duration of 3 years.


What we offer:
• possibility to obtain a PhD in Neuroscience in the International
Graduate Training Center for Neuro-science in Tuebingen (offering > 40
courses in almost all relevant fields of neuroscience and ML) or of a
PhD in Computer Science at Tuebingen University
• top scientific environment (HIH among top 3 European institutions
for clinical brain research; CIN is a Research Cluster as part of
German Excellence Initiative; Bernstein Center for Computational
Neuroscience; Tuebingen hosts 3 Max Planck Institutes: Biological
Cybernetics, Intelligent Systems, and Developmental Biology)
• collaborations with leading international partners in neuro- and
computer science (including M.I.T, KU Leuven, Imperial College, etc.)

What we are looking for:
• person with Masters degree in Computational Neuroscience or a
related discipline (Computer Science, Engineering, Physics,
Mathematics, Cognitive Science, Mathematical Psychology, etc.)
• highly-motivated person with enthusiasm for research, high degree of
independence, and motivation of self-driven pursuit of difficult
problems
• strong mathematical background and basic programming skills (at least in C++ , MATLAB or Python) and ideally some knowledge in
Computer Graphics or Computer Vision; willingness to learn relevant
techniques and software tools for computer animation, computer vision
and deep learning
• interest in action and social perception, related technical and neuroscience applications
• English speaking and writing skills.

Committed to Equal Opportunities.

Interested candidates should send their application, including a CV,
all marks from studies, 2 letters of reference, and a short research
statement of about one half page (explaining how your skills might
support a project on learning of hierarchies in motor control) to:

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Prof. Dr. Martin Giese
Section for Theoretical Sensomotorics, Dept. for Cognitive Neurology
Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research & Center for
Integrative Neuroscience
University of Tuebingen, Otfried-Müller Str. 25, D-72076 Tuebingen
GERMANY

Tel.: +49 7071 2989124
Email: martin.giese@...
Web: http://www.compsens.uni-tuebingen.de/