[Announcements] PhD in Spatio-temporal data analytics and prediction with swarming drones in RMIT University, Melbourne

[Flora Salim]

PhD scholarship available for up to two outstanding PhD candidates at
the Computer Science and Information Technology, School of Science, at
RMIT University, Melbourne Australia for 3 years.
It is a fully-funded PhD research to work in an Australian Research
Council (ARC) Linkage project (2016-2019) "Swarming: micro-flight data
capture and analysis".

Summary of the PhD project.
The candidate will develop techniques for analyzing and inferring
spatio-temporal sensor data captured from the drones. The candidate
needs to deal with the data sparsity, data quality, and uncertainty
issues in multi-dimensional sensor readings from drones. The candidate
will also investigate data analysis techniques for profiling and
predicting weather and wind phenomena using data collected from
drones. Using high-performance techniques for multivariate
spatio-temporal prediction, a large volume of historic and near real
time highly multidimensional sensor data will be analysed, visualized,
and evaluated.

ARC Linkage Project Background.
In response to the urgent need for more site specific and vertical
environmental information to inform the design of sustainable urban
design, this project investigates the use of Micro Air Vehicles
(drones) equipped with diverse lightweight sensing equipment to gather
site specific environmental sensor data.
This multidisciplinary team of researchers from RMIT, with Aurecon,
one of the world’s leading engineering, design, planning, project
management and consulting company and Australian unmanned aerial
vehicle specialist UAV-Australia, are proposing to research, for the
first time the usage of emerging micro flight technology to gather and
analyse large volume of heterogeneous sensor data, over extended time
periods and locations, with the aim to inform urban design and
planning, and integrate them for urban design and urban computing
applications.

Two types of scholarships are available:

1. RMIT central scholarships (A$29,288/year - tax free) plus an
addition of $7,000 top up scholarship /year for three years.
IPRS: http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=d7epp9e09vaw;
RPS: http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=hjs5cy41leld;
APA: http://www1.rmit.edu.au/scholarships/apa;

2. ARC Linkage scholarship (A$25,000 / year - tax free).
The scholarship is valued at AU$25,000 per annum for three years (with
a possibility of a six months extension).
The selected candidate will also receive a tuition-fee waiver.

Eligibility
Eligible candidates can apply for both types of scholarships. To be
eligible for these scholarships you must:
•	have strong competencies in machine learning, data mining,
statistics, and data visualization.
•	have strong understanding of algorithms and data structures,
abilities to analyse and design algorithms.
•	have an Honours or a masters degree in the area of Computer Science
or related discipline, with outstanding grades
•	meet RMIT’s PhD entry requirements
•	show evidence of research ability — e.g. an honours degree, a minor
thesis, some publications, and a well-developed preliminary research
proposal
•	have an interest in cross-disciplinary research and ability to work in a team.

Supervisor
Dr. Flora Salim, Computer Science and IT, RMIT University,
Melbournehttp://florasalim.com

Closing dates:
Supervisor's deadline: 18 September 2016.
All applicants need to first submit their documents to
Flora.Salim at rmit.edu.au before submitting the PhD and scholarship
applications (two-stage process) to RMIT by the central deadline (31
October 2016).

The positions will commence in Semester 2, 2017 (July 2017).

Required documents:
CV (which includes a list of publications), academic transcripts, and
a research proposal.
For international students from non-English speaking countries, when
submitting the application to RMIT system, a proof of English
proficiency may also be required (IELTS or TOEFL).

Why RMIT?
RMIT is a global university of technology and design, focused on
creating solutions that transform the future for the benefit of people
and their environments. RMIT prides itself on the strong industry
links it has forged over its 128-year history. Collaboration with
industry is integral to the University’s leadership in applied
research and education, and to the development of highly skilled,
globally focused graduates.
We are a 5-Star university under the QS Stars international evaluation
system, and are 32nd in the world among universities less than 50
years old (2014 QS Top 50 Under 50 index). With three campuses in
Melbourne (Central Business District, Brunswick and Bundoora), two in
Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) and a centre in Barcelona, Spain,
RMIT is a truly global university with industry partnerships in three
continents.
The RMIT School of Computer Science and Information Technology is one
of Australia's largest educators in this field. It is ranked in the
top 100 in 2015 QS World Ranking for Computer Science and Information
Systems.  RMIT CS&IT has also achieved two ERA 4 rankings (above the
world standard) in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and
Information Systems.

Why Melbourne?
Melbourne is the most liveable city in the world, for six years in a
row, according to The Economist's liveability ranking.

For more information, contact Flora Salim flora.salim at rmit.edu.au
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