Logic List Mailing Archive

50 PhD scholarships in Informatics, Edinburgh (Scotland)

Scholarships for PhD study in
the School of Informatics at
the University of Edinburgh
---------------------------

FIFTY research scholarships are available for:

     * UK students
     * EU students
     * students worldwide

Many of these are full scholarships, paying your tuition fees and a
stipend of 12940 pounds to cover living expenses in your first year,
rising in second and third years.  The rest pay your fees and/or a
contribution towards living expenses.  Payment of fees for non-EU
students is subject to successful competition for an Overseas Research
Student award.  PhD students are encouraged to make contributions to
teaching, for example by leading tutorial groups, and for this you can
expect to earn an additional 500-1000 pounds per year.

Informatics
-----------
Informatics is the study of information and computation, in both
natural and engineered systems.  It comprises a vast range of
scientific and engineering endeavour and has enormous economic and
social impact.

Edinburgh University's School of Informatics brings together the
former Departments of Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science and
Computer Science, together with the Artificial Intelligence
Applications Institute.  The School possesses a combination of breadth
and strength unparallelled elsewhere in the UK and competitive
world-wide; as an intellectual endeavour it is strikingly original.

The School is the only university grouping in the UK to have achieved
the top 5*A rating in Computer Science in the UK government's 2001
Research Assessment Exercise round, and it is the UK's biggest
research group in this area.  We currently have around 270 students
studying for PhD, and around 140 for MSc.

PhD study
---------
PhD study is carried out within one of our six research Institutes:

    ANC: Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation
    CISA: Centre for Intelligent Systems and their Applications
    ICCS: Institute for Communicating and Collaborative Systems
    ICSA: Institute for Computing Systems Architecture
    IPAB: Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour
    LFCS: Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science

ANC fosters the study of adaptive processes in both artificial and
biological systems; two themes are the study of artificial learning
systems and the analysis and modelling of brain processes.  CISA
undertakes basic and applied research and development in knowledge
representation and reasoning.  Through its applications institute
AIAI, it works with others to deploy the technologies associated with
this research.  ICCS pursues basic research into the nature of
communication among humans and between humans and machines, using
text, speech and graphics, and the design of interactive dialogue
systems, using computational and algorithmic approaches.

ICSA seeks development of a better understanding of systems
components, both hardware and software, and their integration and
interaction; this involves not only improving their raw performance
and cost-effectiveness, but also making them more connectable and
interoperable, more reliable, more usable and more applicable.  The
interests of IPAB are how to link computational perception,
representation, transformation and generation processes to external
worlds---whether real or virtual.  The mission of LFCS is to achieve a
foundational understanding of problems and issues arising in
computation and communication through the development of appropriate
and applicable formal models and mathematical theories.

Projects
--------
A very wide range of research topics is available for PhD study.  Here
is an (incomplete!) list of project areas; see

    http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/phdprojects.html

for some information on each of these.

    ANC: Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation
    --------------------------------------------------
    Bioinformatics
    Machine Learning
    Neuroinformatics

    CISA: Centre for Intelligent Systems and their Applications
    -----------------------------------------------------------
    A Proof Management Tool
    Automating Diagrammatic Reasoning
    Improving Support for Mathematics in Mechanical Theorem Provers
    Multi-Agent Coordination in Open Environments
    Game-Theoretic Analysis of Multiagent Communication
    Argumentation-Based Ontology Conflict Resolution
    Political Coordination Mechanisms
    Intelligent Agents in Service-Oriented Architectures
    Collaborative Task-Achieving Teams

    ICCS: Institute for Communicating and Collaborative Systems
    -----------------------------------------------------------
    Concurrency in (Computational) Linguistics
    Lexicalized Reasoning
    Building Models of the Past
    Unsupervised Language Learning using Multiple Cues
    Eyetracking Corpora as Experimental Data
    Probabilistic Models of Human Parsing
    Integrating Linguistic and Visual Processing
    Dynamic Bayesian Networks for Speech Recognition
    Probabilistic Approaches to Natural Language Generation
    Probabilistic Models of Text-to-Text Generation
    Robust Construction of Semantics
    Projecting Logical Forms in Parallel Corpora
    A Dynamic Semantic Theory of Dialogue
    A Grammar of Situated Language
    Statistical Methods in Dialogue System Design and Adaptation
    Statistical Machine Translation for Biomedical Domains
    Microphone-Array Based Speech Recognition
    Language Models for Multiparty Conversations
    Hidden Speech Production Models
    Multimodal Information Access
    Head Motion Synthesis for Lifelike Conversational Agents
    Multi-Unit Acoustic Models for Speech Recognition
    Induction of Wide-Coverage Categorial Lexicon from Large Amounts of
         Unlabeled Text
    Use of Intonation in Spoken Language Generation for Human-Machine
         Dialogue
    Temporal Semantics
    Grammar-Driven Language Models
    Automated Musical Analysis
    The Statistical Semantic Web
    Extracting and Using Alternatives in Question Answering
    Projecting Discourse Annotation from Parallel Corpora

    ICSA: Institute for Computing Systems Architecture
    --------------------------------------------------
    Data Integration and Data Mining
    Grid Computing
    Speculative Parallelisation for Multiprocessors
    Cellular Multiprocessors
    Skeletal Parallel Programming
    Memory-Hierarchy and On-Chip Network Co-Design
    Micro-Architectural Solutions for Fault-Tolerance
    Data-Dependent Processing for Energy-Aware Systems
    Noise-Tolerant Asynchronous Circuits
    Top-Down Testability for Self-Timed Circuits
    Delay Fault Testing of Self-Timed Circuits
    Dynamic Spectrum Access in Heterogeneous Wireless Network
         Environments
    Cross-Layer and Coding Techniques for Reliable and Efficient
         Wireless Networking
    Low-Cost, Robust Networking and Applications for Developing Regions
    Auto-Parallelisation
    Compilers that Learn to Optimise
    Processor Design
    Reconfigurable Caches
    Searching the Embedded Program Optimisation Space
    Energy and Area Modelling for Architecture Synthesis
    Low-Power Multi-Threaded Architectures
    Reconfigurable Data-Parallel Structures for Embedded Computation
    Combinatorial Optimisation

    IPAB: Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour
    ---------------------------------------------------
    Behaviour Composition in Video Sequence Analysis
    Fragmentary Behaviour Recognition in Video Sequence Analysis
    High Speed 3D Video Data Analysis
    Insect Robotics

    LFCS: Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Engineering Electronic Proof
    Independence-Friendly Temporal Logic
    Questions on Modal mu-Calculi
    Archiving of Scientific Data
    Integrity Constraints for XML and Beyond
    Keys for XML
    Provenance in Databases
    Information Preserving Schema Mapping
    Vectorizing XML
    Algorithms for the SAT problem
    Randomized Algorithms for Transportation Polytopes
    Complexity of Approximate Counting
    Rule-Based Models of Biological Signalling
    Algorithmic Verification of Recursive Probabilistic Systems
    Schema-Directed XML Publishing
    A Security Model for XML
    XML Query Languages
    Data Cleaning
    Schema Matching, Mapping and Embedding
    Partial Evaluation and Distributed Query Processing
    Performance Modelling with Process Algebras
    Computational Models for Systems Biology
    Continuous-State process calculi: Methods and Tools
    Combining Model Checking and Theorem Proving
    Data Exchange
    Databases and Verification
    A Logic of Computational Effects
    Algebraic and Logical Foundations of Formal Software Development
    Proof Carrying Code for the Grid
    Security for Mobile Devices
    Topological Models of Computation
    Constructive Set Theories and their Applications
    Proof Theory for Programs and Processes
    Type Systems for Computational Effects
    Mathematical Models for Concurrent and Mobile Computation
    Modalities for Name Generation: Logic, Proof and the Meaning of New
    "Bad Smells" in Code
    Combinations and Abstractions of Formal Games
    Decision Procedures for Higher-Order Grammars
    Links: Web Programming, Faster, Better, Cheaper

Further information
-------------------
Information about graduate study, the School of Informatics, the
University as a whole and the city of Edinburgh is available from:

    http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/
    http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/
    http://www.ed.ac.uk

You can email queries about admissions to:

    phd-admissions@inf.ed.ac.uk

but first please see the FAQ lists at

    http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/faqs/application.html
    http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/faqs/funding.html

Queries about the research topics above can be sent to individual
members of teaching staff.  Application forms are available from:

    http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate/appform.html

Your application form should be returned by mid-March.  Earlier
applications have access to a wider range of sources of financial aid.
Applications for an Overseas Research Student award must be completed
by mid-February at the latest.  Chinese applicants who are interested
in funding from the China Scholarship Council should apply by late
January at the latest.