<empty space>

Serafina

ANU - Information Engineering

<empty space>

Research
Objectives
Approaches
Systems
Submersibles
Sensors
Computers
Results
Test runs
Publications
Posters
Theses
Team
Local team
Partners
Open positions
Commercial
Serafina.com.au
Resources
AUVs worldwide

<empty space>

 
<empty space>

(Multiple PhD positions announcement - November 2006 - closed)


Schools of small autonomous submersibles:
The Serafina Mark II project towards open waters


The autonomous submersibles research group at the Australian National University in close collaboration with industrial partners moves on to the next generation of small autonomous submersibles (as part of the Serafina project). Experimentation with larger scale swarms of autonomous submersibles is now scheduled for the very close future. Your PhD topic might become a central aspect for the first generation of swarming open-water exploration vehicles. Challenges in this interdisciplinary field include real-world control, real-time system design, sensor-data fusion, distributed swarm control, spontaneous and close-proximity communication and recommend themselves as thrilling PhD topics for the next three (up to four) years.

We expect each team member to understand and appreciate every part of the project to a reasonable degree (whether it's in your native field of expertise or not). In practice this just means that we are listening to each other's problems and ideas without any consideration of faculties. On the other hand it is also expected that each PhD student develops his or her own approach and field of expertise during the process of the thesis.

If the above challenges spark your interest, you might also fit the following profile of the ideal candidate:

  1. Honours / Master / Diploma in computer sciences, engineering, physics, or mathematics.
  2. Experience in experimenting in distributed environments or with physical (embedded) systems.
  3. Theoretical foundations in mathematics, control, protocols, coding, or systems theory.
  4. Programming background in concurrent and distributed systems.
  5. Interest in joining an international and multi-disciplinary team of motivated researchers.

It is essential that the PhD thesis leads to principally applicable designs and results, which also enables potential further employment perspectives.

The scholarship offers A$22,500 per annum and will introduce the successful candidate to the highly active field of embedded real-time systems at the level of international academia as well as in industry. Australian residents and citizens are required for some parts of the projects (as some restrictions are attached to parts of our budget), while international candidates qualify for most other parts of the project. In the second case, additional funds will need to be allocated for the common study fees at Australian universities (not covered by this announcement).

For any further information, and applications (including addresses of referees, two recent publications, and a letter of interest) please contact:

Dr. Uwe R. Zimmer (mail)

P.S. preferred formats for applications are: Acrobat (pdf), PostScript, or plain text

 
© The Australian National University
ANU CRICOS Provider Code - 00120C
Authorized by the Director, RSISE