PhD position in software for on-body sensory information processing

Published: 2022-09-21

Uppsala University is a comprehensive research-intensive university with a strong international standing. Our ultimate goal is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to make a long-term difference in society. Our most important assets are all the individuals whose curiosity and dedication make Uppsala University one of Sweden’s most exciting workplaces. Uppsala University has over 54,000 students, more than 7,500 employees and a turnover of around SEK 8 billion.

PhD position in software principle and technology for processing sensory information on the body

Electrification and digitalisation are among the largest areas for the future in the conversion to sustainable societies. The Department of Electrical Engineering conducts successful research and education in the areas - renewable energy sources, electric vehicles, industrial IoT, 5G communication and wireless sensor networks as well as smart electronic sensors and medical systems. The Department of Electrical Engineering is an international workplace with around 130 employees that all contribute to important technical energy and health challenges at the Ångström Laboratory.

The position will be at the division Solid-State Electronics, at the Department of Electrical Engineering.

The Division conducts cutting-edge research in biosensors and sensor systems for biomedicine and healthcare; medical engineering and neuroprosthetics; nanoelectronics for next-generation (or brain-inspired) computing; energy scavenging and energy-efficiency electronics; advanced thin film technology. Read more here

Read more about our benefits and what it is like to work at Uppsala University

Background
Human body can be equipped with wearable electronic devices that generate, process and transmit data in real time to monitor health conditions and perform neurosurgical treatment for patients, e.g., suffering from Parkinson’s disease (PD), essential tremor, dystonia and other neurological conditions. One challenge to realizing such a system is to create a software toolkit for on-body secure, low-power processing and computing signals generated by sensors and actuators.

Project description
The research assigned to the PhD position has a focus on developing machine learning (ML) modules to process tactile and tremor signals generated by neuromorphic electronic skin (ne-skin). The ne-skin converts analog tactile signals into electrical pulses, thus encoding the mechanical signals in spike timing. The task of the position consists of generating signals relevant to tremor, developing ML algorithms based on spiking neural networks (SNN) for processing the data streams to extract useful features from the data streams, developing techniques for supervised and unsupervised learning, and studying network dynamics.

We have an exciting work environment designed by the doctoral student and the research team together. The doctoral student will be supervised by at least two supervisors. The Department of Electrical Engineering also gives a salary supplement in addition to the local guidelines for doctoral students at Uppsala University.

Duties

• Generate data relevant to tremor using ne-skin technique
• Develop machine learning algorithms based on SNN to process generated data
• Develop learning techniques for SNN based on the generated data
• Analyze network dynamics based on the input and output data
• The main duties of doctoral students are to devote themselves to their research studies which includes participating in the research project and third cycle courses. The work duties can also include teaching and other departmental duties (no more than 20%).

Requirements
 

• The applicant must hold a master degree (or equivalent) in physics, mathematics, computer science or electrical engineering.
• Very good oral and written proficiency in English.
• We will put an emphasise in your personal qualities, especially ability to work in teams 

Additional qualifications
Experience in data processing, programming, algorithm or similar is beneficial

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines .

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date xx or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

Application: Please use the link below. You should include a brief description of previous experiences, research interest and envisioned contribution to the project, CV, copies of diplomas, degrees, university transcripts and grades, a copy of master thesis (or a draft thereof) and other relevant documents. The candidates are requested to provide contact information to two reference persons.

For further information about the position, please contact: (Dr. Zhibin Zhang, 018-4714146, e-mail [email protected].

Please submit your application by 30 November2022, UFV-PA 2022/3455.

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Submit your application through Uppsala University's recruitment system.

Placement: Department of Electrical Engineering

Type of employment: Full time , Temporary position longer than 6 months

Pay: Fixed salary

Number of positions: 1

Working hours: 100 %

Town: Uppsala

County: Uppsala län

Country: Sweden

Union representative: ST/TCO [email protected]
Seko Universitetsklubben [email protected]
Saco-rådet [email protected]

Number of reference: UFV-PA 2022/3455

Last application date: 2022-11-30

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