research opportunities

[Luciano Da Fontoura Costa]

Dear Sir/Madam:  Please help disseminating the following message:

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*** OPPORTUNITY FOR POST-GRAD, POST-DOC AND SABBATICAL STUDIES ***
                           *** FOR 2001 ***

        COMPUTER VISION
           VISUAL INSPECTION
              PATTERN RECOGNITION
                 DATAMINING
                    DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
                       NEUROMORPHIC MODELING
                          NEUROMORPHOMETRY
                             SHAPE ANALYSIS
                                BIOINFORMATICS

Cybernetic Vision Research Group
IFSC, University of Sao Paulo,
Caixa Postal 369
Sao Carlos, SP, 13560-970, Brazil
http://cyvision.if.sc.usp.br/
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THE CYBERNETIC VISION RESEARCH GROUP:  Started in 1993, the
Cybernetic Vision Research Group has become nationally and
internationally renowned for research in the areas of shape
analysis, computer and biological vision, and computational
neuroscience. The group currently includes 15 researchers, most
of them MSc and PhD students, each with access to individual
computational resources.  The group is part of the Instituto de
Fisica de Sao Carlos, which has modern computational and network
resources (alpha workstations) as well as a well-equipped library.
The group has many collaborators and has an active participation
in publishing and consulting, including major companies and
publishers. Additional information can be found at the following
homepages:

*** Group homepage:
           http://cyvision.if.sc.usp.br/
*** Luciano's personal homepage:
           http://www.if.sc.usp.br/visao/group/members/luciano/luciano.htm

SAO CARLOS:  Sao Carlos, where the group is based, is a small and
quiet town (about 150 000 inhabitants) in the heart of the state of
Sao Paulo, in Brazil.  The university campus is within a residential
area, where accommodation is very affordable. Our town, which includes
two major Brazilian universities as well as many industries, is
know as one of the most prominent Brazilian high-technology centers.
Sao Carlos is not far from Sao Paulo (230km), the state capital, where
flights to most Brazilian and international destinations can be found.
Weather is mild (no snow throughout the year), with an average
temperature around 20C.

RESEARCH POSSIBILITIES:  Well-motivated and dynamic students and
researchers, with background in the most diverse areas - including
Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, Biology, and
Medicine - are  welcome to apply for studies in the group.  The full
time MSc and PhD programs last up to 2 and 4 years, respectively, but
it is possible to proceed directly to PhD.  Post-doc and sabbatical
programs can last from a few months to one year or more.  It is
possible to apply for Brazilian sponsorship covering travelling
and/or the basic living expenses.  The approximated grant values are
as follows (please note these are maximum values that can vary
substantially depending on the exchange rate and grant sponsor):

Master (1st year):    US$ 500 per month
Master (2nd year):    US$ 520 per month
PhD (initial years):  US$ 700 per month
PhD (initial years):  US$ 850 per month
Post-Doc:             US$ 1250 per month

Living expenses can be as low as US$ 150 per month (shared
accomodation near the university).  Medical assistance and
is available free of charge for some student categories.
All the above courses are free and involve no bech or other fees.


Research possibilities include but are not limited to the following:

*1* Neuromorphology and neuromorphic modeling: development of new
neural shape measures, validation, and application to classification
of neural cells and neuromorphic modeling.  We are particularly
interested in investigating how neural shapes constrain and help
define neural behavior;

*2* Scale space shape representations in 2D and 3D, including
multiresolution curvature and skeletonization, singularity theory,
differential geometry and differential equations;

*3* Visual inspection and image analysis applied to microscopy;

*4* Mathematical physics applications to image analysis and vision;

*5* Datamining and its applications to visual design, visual
quality assessment, bioinformatics, neural modeling, and shape analysis.

Well-motivated candidates should contact Prof Luciano da F. Costa at
luciano at if.sc.usp.br, indicating the specific interests and including
curricular information as well as at least two addresses for
recommendation purposes.  Please observe there is a limited number
of places, to be filled according to the students previous performance
and research interests.

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Prof. Luciano da Fontoura Costa
Coordinator - Cybernetic Vision Research Group
DFI-IFSC, Universidade de Sao Paulo
Caixa Postal 369
Sao Carlos, SP
13560-970
Brazil
FAX: +55 162 73 9879  or  +55 162 71 3616

e-mail:
   luciano at if.sc.usp.br
Group homepage:
   http://cyvision.if.sc.usp.br/
Personal homepage:
   http://cyvision.if.sc.usp.br/~luciano
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The forthcoming book "Shape Analysis and Classification" (CRC Press)
can already be ordered from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0849334934/o/qid=970355824/
sr=8-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_3/002-1526960-8848802

See also:   http://www.ime.usp.br/~cesar/shape_crc/

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