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<div id="divRpF436821" style="color:rgb(0,0,0); direction:ltr"><span style="font-family:'Segoe UI',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size:12.79px">Fully funded PhD studentship in Aston University, UK</span></div>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:13.3333px"><a href="https://jobs.aston.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=R160152" style="font-size:10pt" target="_blank">http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ANN823/surprise-in-smart-city-data-analytics/</a></p>

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<p style="margin-right:0px; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:0px; padding:0px; color:rgb(51,51,51); font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:12.144px; line-height:19.4304px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">

<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Applications are invited for a three year Postgraduate studentship, supported by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, to be undertaken within the<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span><a href="http://www.aston.ac.uk/eas/research/groups/ncrg/" style="margin:0px; padding:0px; color:rgb(0,101,124)" target="_blank"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Non-linearity

 and Complexity Research Group</span></a><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span>at Aston University. The successful applicant will join an established experimental group working on signal processing and probabilistic modelling and control of complex

 dynamical systems. The studentship is offered in collaboration with<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span><a href="http://www.living-planit.com/" style="margin:0px; padding:0px; color:rgb(0,101,124)" target="_blank"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Living

 PlanIT</span></a><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span>SA.</span></p>

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<strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px">The position is available to start in October 2016 (subject to negotiation)</strong><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"></span></p>

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<strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Financial Support</strong><strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><br style="margin:0px; padding:0px">

</span></strong><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">This studentship includes a fee bursary to cover the home/EU fees rate plus a maintenance allowance (Ł14,296 in 2016/17).</span></p>

<p style="margin-right:0px; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:0px; padding:0px; color:rgb(51,51,51); font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:12.144px; line-height:19.4304px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">

<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Applicants from outside the EU may apply for this studentship but will need to pay the difference between the ‘Home/EU’ and the ‘Overseas’ tuition fees (approximately Ł12,000 per annum). <span class="apple-converted-space" style="margin:0px; padding:0px"></span><strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Confirmation

 that this additional funding support is in place will be required as part of the application process.</span></strong></span></p>

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<strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Background of the Project</strong><strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><br style="margin:0px; padding:0px">

</span></strong><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">In collaboration with<span class="apple-converted-space" style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span><a href="http://www.living-planit.com/" style="margin:0px; padding:0px; color:rgb(0,101,124)" target="_blank"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Living

 PlanIT</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space" style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span>SA, this project will focus on the data analytics, interactive visualisation and the automatic detection of surprise (anomalous behaviour) under dynamic and non-stationary

 situations. Using mathematical models derived from data sampled from an urban scene, this project will explore departures from expected normal behaviour of small cohorts of individuals. The analysis of video and image streams supplemented by smart phone and

 social media sources of information will be used to derive human-interpretable visualisation of mass information. The project will explore principled information-theoretic measures of “surprise” denoting expected departures of predicted behaviour, which could

 be used as alerts feeding into decision making systems to inform town authorities or planners or control systems managing the urban environment.</span></p>

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<strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Person Specification</strong><strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><br style="margin:0px; padding:0px">

</span></strong><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">The successful applicant should have a first class or upper second class honours degree or equivalent qualification in areas such as Electrical & Computer Engineering, Applied Mathematics or Applied Physics.

 Preferred skill requirements include knowledge/experience of signal processing, machine learning, time series methodologies, data mining, probabilistic modelling, and computational analysis. </span></p>

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<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">We would particularly like to encourage applications from women seeking to progress their academic careers. Aston University is committed to the principles of the<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span><a href="http://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charter-marks/athena-swan/" style="margin:0px; padding:0px; color:rgb(0,101,124)" target="_blank"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Athena

 SWAN Charter</span></a>, recognised recently by a prestigious Silver Award to EAS, and we pride ourselves on our vibrant, friendly and supportive working environment and family atmosphere.</span></p>

<p style="margin-right:0px; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:0px; padding:0px; font-family:Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size:12.144px; line-height:19.4304px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">

<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><font color="#333333">For informal enquiries about this project and other opportunities within the Non-linearity and Complexity Research Group, contact Randa Herzallah by email</font><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color:rgb(51,51,51); margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span><span style="color:rgb(0,101,124); margin:0px; padding:0px"><a href="mailto:r.herzallah@aston.ac.uk" style="margin:0px; padding:0px; color:rgb(0,101,124)" target="_blank">r.herzallah@aston.ac.uk</a> </span><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">or

 David Lowe</span><span style="color:rgb(0,101,124); margin:0px; padding:0px"> d.lowe@aston.ac.uk</span></span></p>

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<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">The online application form, reference forms and details of entry requirements, including<span class="apple-converted-space" style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span><strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">English

 language</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space" style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span>are available<span class="apple-converted-space" style="margin:0px; padding:0px"> </span><a href="http://www1.aston.ac.uk/eas/research/prospective-research-students/how-to-apply/" style="margin:0px; padding:0px; color:rgb(0,101,124)" target="_blank"><span style="margin:0px; padding:0px">here</span></a>.</span></p>

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<span style="margin:0px; padding:0px"></span></p>

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<strong style="margin:0px; padding:0px">Applications must also be accompanied by a short research proposal including a brief relevant literature review linked to this project, and explaining how your knowledge and experience will benefit the project.</strong></p>

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<font size="3" face="Calibri"><span style="font-size:12pt"><font size="2" color="#808080"><span style="font-size:9pt">____________________________________________</span></font></span></font></div>

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<font size="3" face="Times New Roman,serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><font size="2" color="#333300" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9pt"><b>Dr Randa Herzallah</b></span></font></span></font></div>

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<font size="3" face="Times New Roman,serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><font size="2" color="#333300" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9pt">Non-linearity and Complexity Research Group</span></font></span></font></div>

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<font size="3" color="#333300" face="Times New Roman,serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"><font size="2" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9pt">Aston University</span></font><font size="2" face="Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:9pt"><br>

Aston Triangle</span></font></span></font></div>

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