PhD studentship and PostDoc positions at InfoMus, DIST Univ of Genoa

[Gualtiero Volpe <gualtiero.volpe@xxxxxxxx>]

[Sorry for cross-postings]


The Casa Paganini - InfoMus international research center (www.infomus.org;
www.casapaganini.org) of the University of Genova, Italy, is looking for
Ph.D. students and post-doc researchers in the field of sound and gesture
analysis.

Casa Paganini - InfoMus is an International Centre of Excellence for
research on music, science, and technology (human-computer interaction,
multimedia, sound and music computing). Casa Pagnanini - InfoMus has its
premises in a monumental building in the historical center of Genova and is
endowed with a 250-seat auditorium and museum rooms.
This makes it an ideal location to carry out experiments and
proof-of-concept tests in real-world scenarios (public concerts,
installations, etc).

The work to be developed is linked to EU-funded research projects to be
carried out in conjunction with a number of partners at a European level.
Projects concern:
- The study of creative communication within groups of people from the
perspective of music ensemble performance and audience experience.
- The extraction and analysis of expressive movement, audio, and
physiological multi-layer features using real-time, synchronized,
multi-modal feature extraction techniques.
- The development of computational models of expressive gesture and
expressive social interaction.
- The development of cross-modal techniques for search and retrieval of
audiovisual material from multimodal queries.
- The development of techniques and prototypes of multimodal interfaces for
supporting music learning by children.
- The development of techniques and prototypes for active experience of
audiovisual content, including mobile contexts.

Among the foreseen tasks/duties to be carried out by Casa Paganini - InfoMus
as part of the projects, those to be developed by the successful applicants
will include:
- Development/implementation of multi-modal data acquisition and/or
synchronization techniques.
- Development/implementation of algorithms for the analysis of sound and
gesture signals in a cross-modal perspective.
- Development/implementation of algorithms for the analysis of social
interaction in groups.
- Contribution to the technological platform of the project, based on the
EyesWeb XMI platform (www.eyesweb.org).
- Contribution to a database/repository of multi-modal data recorded from
real musical performance scenarios.
- Writing of deliverables and of technical reports.

Requirements:
- Computer Science / Electrical Engineering (or related) degree.
- Excellent programming skills in C++ / scripting.
- Experience in computer vision and signal processing applied to movement
and gesture analysis.
- Experience on techniques for musical sound description is appreciated.
- Previous experience with gesture/motion analysis is preferred.
- Enthusiastic attitude towards approaching new research challenges.
- Ability to work in a team-oriented environment.
- Proficiency in English language.
- Knowledge of system administration and maintenance of on-line databases
and/or of mobile platforms is welcome.

Positions are full-time, on-site in Genova, Italy.
The duration of Ph.D. studentship in Italy is three years. 
Post-doc positions have a duration of one year and can be extended for a
second year.
Traveling and attendance to project meetings or international workshops
might be required from time to time.
The working language in our Lab is English.
Previous experience in similar working environments will be valued.

Interested people should send a curriculum (including possible publications)
as well as an introduction letter to: 
infomus-calls@xxxxxxxxxxx
Before any decision is made, selected candidates will be invited for a short
stay in Genova (major costs refunded).

Deadline: June 15, 2010.

Please note that according to the Italian national regulation, independently
from any possible evaluation by Casa Paganini - InfoMus staff members,
candidates will need to formally apply for a position at the University of
Genova and will therefore be subject to a competitive examination, to be
carried out by the University of Genova in fall 2010.
The starting date for the positions is expected to be January 1, 2011.