A full-time EPSRC funded PhD studentship (3 years-Human visual perception of local and global image properties) is open to Home/EU applicants to work in the area of human visual perception.
The visual world contains numerous objects and surfaces, each of which extends over fairly large regions of the retinal image.
We know that the retinal image is processed by orientation and spatial frequency tuned mechanisms in primary visual cortex but these have very small receptive fields (i.e. they look at only very small regions of the retinal image), so how are larger surfaces and objects processed? Within this context, the PhD project will be concerned with two specific aspects of visual processing: image-blur and image-contrast. Traditionally, these have been treated as local visual processes.
For example, experiments in our laboratory have assessed the perceived contrasts and blurs of isolated parts of an object’s edge. This traditional approach maps nicely onto our understanding of the local processing performed in the primary visual cortex. But people are also able to make more global judgements of images. For example, they can say things like: “this image looks more blurred than that one, even though I can see that it contains sharp local image features”.
So how are these perceptual assessments of the entire image achieved? This question raises several challenges for the project. The student will need to: 1) Devise tasks that can tap into the local and global processes of contrast and blur perception. 2) Devise experiments relevant to natural images and synthetic (laboratory made) images. 3) Develop (simple) computational models that can simulate human behaviour in these tasks. 4) Use experiments and models to determine whether the global visual processes are driven by the local analyses, or whether they are parallel processes. 5) Determine what controls the spatial extent of the global processes. 6) Relate these results to other research on spatial filtering, global feature integration and lightness restoration.
The project is to be supervised by Prof Mark Georgeson and Dr Tim Meese and is part of a L600,000 research project funded by the EPSRC.
Eligible Applicants must have a good honours degree (first class or upper second) in a relevant subject (e.g. psychology, optometry, physiology, computer science) with some background in visual perception and/or a relevant masters level degree. The applicant must have good experimental skills, analytic skills, writing skills, oral skills and quantitative skills, and good programming skills (e.g. Matlab) would be a distinct advantage.
If you are an EU Applicant, the English Language requirements are a minimum score of 620 (260 minimum in computer test) in TOEFL OR IELTS with minimum marks of 6.5 in each section and an overall band of 7.0.
The project is available to students meeting the University and School academic entry requirements and will be awarded competitively on merit.
Download an application form (http://www1.aston.ac.uk/lhs/research/pgresopportunities/) and return it to Dr Tim Meese (E-mail: t.s.meese@aston.ac.uk), School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET by no later than Monday, 5th July 2010.
Funding Notes
The studentship is open to Home/EU Students only and comprises a stipend of L13,290 per annum - tax free) and payment of Home/EU tuition fees. The studentship is available for three years, subject to a satisfactory progress review at the end of the first year and is anticipated to start for October 2010 registration.
Phd Studentship, Aston University
