PhD/PostDoc in Music Cognition Modeling at UPF MTG

[Dan Ellis <dpwe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear List - 

Hendrik Purwins sent me the enclosed message for circulation to the
list.   It describes opportunities within an exciting new European
project, at UPF MTG in Barcelona.

  DAn.

Date:    Sun, 29 Oct 2006 16:14:05 +0100
From:    Hendrik Purwins <hpurwins@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: PhD/PostDoc in Music Cognition Modeling at MTG

The Music Technology Group, Technology Department at the Pompeu Fabra
University in Barcelona, Spain, offers the position of a

   Researcher

for 2 years, starting immediately. The position will give the 
opportunity to write a Ph.D. thesis.

The post is part of the European project "Emergent Cognition through
Active Perception (EmCAP)" (http://emcap.iua.upf.es/) together with
Universities of Amsterdam and Plymouth, and the Academy of Science of
Hungary. The goal of the project is to investigate how complex cognitive
behavior in artificial systems can emerge through interacting with an
environment, and how, by becoming sensitive to the environment, such
systems can autonomously develop effective representations. We develop
models of memory, expectation, and attention in the realm of music
cognition. Based on a small number of building blocks (feature
extraction, change/novelty detection, quantization and chunking,
association, expectation, attention, long term memory), a computer
simulation framework is built for the exploration and extrapolation of
findings and hypotheses in music cognition. Special aspects of the work
are learning dynamics of self-structuring, feedback, and
adaptation. This research has important implications for the saliency
problem in music information retrieval and for context dependency in
sound synthesis. The models are developed in collaboration with
experimental psychologists, neuroscientists, and a music theorist from
the project partners and the Music Academy Duesseldorf. The post-doc
researcher could also get involved in teaching at the Pompeu Fabra
University.


Candidates for this post are expected to have a masters or Ph.D. degree
in one of the following areas: Electrical Engineering, Computer Science,
Physics, or Mathematics. Candidates with a Masters or Ph.D. degree from
Psychology, Cognitive Science, or Music Theory may be considered as well
if they have solid knowledge in mathematics and programming.
The candidate should demonstrate:
 - solid skills in at least two of the following fields: Signal 
   Processing, Statistics, Machine Learning, Numerical Mathematics, 
   Software Engineering.
 - at least basic knowledge of music theory and musicology.
 - good programming skills (e.g. in Matlab, Python, Lisp, or C++)
 - knowledge in Cognitive Psychology and Audio Signal Processing, or a 
   high motivation to quickly get acquainted with relevant aspects of 
   these fields

The successful applicant will work within a team of six people
specialized in modeling music cognition within the Music Technology
Group (http://www.mtg.upf.edu/).  With around 50 researchers the Music
Technology Group, led by Xavier Serra, is one of the world's largest and
most dynamic academic research centers for music technology. Among other
fields, the group has especially gained reputation for Sound Synthesis,
Music Information Retrieval, and Interactive Music. The lab is located
in a historic building right in between the old town of Barcelona and
the sea.


For more information please do not hesitate to contact
Hendrik Purwins, tel. 0034 62 77 59 557
hpurwins AT iua DOT upf DOT es

An application letter including a CV and a covering letter should be sent to

sgurrera AT iua DOT upf DOT edu

Applications can be sent immediately and are processed in the order 
received until the position is filled.

======================================================
Dr. Hendrik Purwins                 Visiting Professor
Music Technology Group                   UPF Barcelona
mail: hpurwins_AT_iua_DOT_upf_DOT_es
web: http://www.iua.upf.es/~hpurwins/ 
======================================================