The Department of Engineering Cybernetics at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in cooperation with the Center for Integrated Operations in the Petroleum Industry, invites applications for a PhD scholarship in Model Predictive Control for Managed Pressure Drilling. Maintaining the correct bottom hole pressure during drilling is important both for the safety of the drilling operation and for the production characteristics of the well. The control problem is complicated by the long distance from the well bottom to the control actuator on the surface (possibly more than 10 km), in addition to the lack of on-line measurements from the well bottom. The proposed PhD will investigate the use of Model Predictive Control (MPC) for this problem. The control should be able to handle both normal drilling and operation in the face of disturbances, such as gas production from the reservoir. The PhD scholarship is for four years. A minimum of one year has to be spent at NTNU, b...

Ph.D. position within the area “Nanomaterials for solar cells” at Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway – IME-033-2007. A research fellowship is offered within the area of “Nanomaterials for solar cells” at the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications (http://www.iet.ntnu.no/en) in the Faculty of Information Technology, Mathematics and Electrical Engineering Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The Norwegian Research Council and the American National Science Foundation is financing a new project on nanostructured thin films for hybrid solar cells. The main objective of the project is to establish an improved understanding of organic/inorganic interfaces and to engineer interfaces that promote efficient organic/inorganic solar cells. The candidate will be involved in the controlled growth of planar and nanostructured (nanorods/nanowires) oxide thin films (ZnO and other oxides) by pulsed laser depositio...

The LATTS (Laboratoire Techniques, Territoires et Sociétés) research centre of the Paris-based Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées offers a 3-year PhD Grant as detailed below. Ph. D. Grant: LATTS, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris) (starting October 2007) The Capital City: Financialisation, real estate and city-regions development: an international comparison Ph. D. supervisor: Dr. Ludovic Halbert, CNRS researcher at LATTS Context: Over the last ten to fifteen years, large firms have outsourced the management of their office park encouraging the development of a real estate sector that is becoming more international, more professional and more financialised. This participates in a concentration of an increasing amount of capital in large metropolises where commercial real estate is fast-growing and fast-changing. Global city-regions are thus becoming the support of a financial geography of which relatively little is still known today. Consequently, investments in commerc...

Mathematics and Statisitics PhD Studentships at the University of Kent for September 2007 Applications are invited for two PhD Studentships for the academic year 2007/08. These Studentships cover tuition fees at the Home/EU rate and a stipend at the basic Research Council rate, which is currently 12,600 pounds per annum. The studentships are for three years, subject to satisfactory academic progress. Recipients of these studentships may be required to do some teaching as part of the terms of the studentship. The studentships are open to candidates applying to the PhD programme in Statistics, Applied Mathematics or Pure Mathematics. Applicants must have a good Honours degree (either first or upper second class) or a Masters degree, in a relevant subject. Please indicate in your PhD application that you wish to be considered for available studentships. It is not necessary to provide a detailed research proposal but applications should include a research topic. Please consult the IMSAS we...

The research group Plant Systems Modeling of the Department Plant Systems Biology at the VIB in Ghent, Belgium, has an opening for a Research Assistant / Ph. D student (f/m) Computational modeling of auxin dynamics during lateral root initiation The department plant systems biology of the VIB has an opening for an ambitious and energetic research assistant in the new research group Plant Systems Modeling, that focuses on computational modeling of plant developmental biology. Systems biology is a relatively new approach in biology, that shifts focus from individual molecules, genes and cells to their dynamic interplay: how do molecules, genes and cells form a working mechanism, behaving in a predictable way? A crucial pilar in this approach at the interface of biology, physics and computer science, is computational modeling. Modeling the biological system in a computer simulation gives us insights into developmental mechanisms, and helps us identify the gaps in our understanding of the ...

Research studentship tenable at Trinity College Dublin in association with Teagasc Johnstown Castle (Wexford). Applications are invited for a research studentship on the above topic. Closing date for applications: Until filled. Project objectives: The leaching of nitrates in soils, combined with agricultural practice, is a potential threat to groundwater quality. This project proposes to quantify the movement and transformations of nitrate (NO3) from below the rooting zone to groundwater within agricultural systems. Denitrification is one of the main mechanisms for the reduction of NO3 movement through subsoils and groundwater, however this process may also lead to emissions of the greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N2O), rather than the environmentally benign di-nitrogen (N2). Internationally, subsurface denitrification has received only limited attention, due to methodological limitations that have more recently been overcome. Denitrification may prove to be the key process in determinin...

The Abe Fellowship is designed to encourage international multidisciplinary research on topics of pressing global concern. The program seeks to foster the development of a new generation of researchers who are interested in policy-relevant topics of long-range importance and who are willing to become key members of a bilateral and global research network built around such topics. Applications are welcome from scholars as well as non-academic professionals, in fact, applications from researchers in professions other than academia are encouraged. This competition is open to citizens of the United States and Japan as well as to nationals of other countries who can demonstrate strong and serious long-term affiliations with research communities in Japan or the United States. Applicants must hold a Ph.D. or the terminal degree in their field, or have attained an equivalent level of professional experience. The deadline for submission of applications is September 1, 2007, 5:00 PM (EST). Appli...

Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) is a family of appealing algorithms used in a variety of classification problems. An iterative training process determines from a given set of example data a set of prototypes which represent typical features and parameterize a distance based classification scheme. A key difficulty is the choice of an appropriate distance measure. Frequently, Euclidean metrics are employed without further justification, or different measures are compared in a trial-and-error approach. An appealing solution to this problem is the use of adaptive metrics. Relevance learning schemes have been proposed which assign a relevance factor to each dimension in feature space. These factors and the prototypes are updated at the same time during training. One aim of the project is a better theoretical understanding of relevance learning. To this end, we will extend our previous mathematical description of the learning dynamics and performance of LVQ. The focus of the project will ...

Two Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarships (MQRES) for PhD research in Cognitive Neuroethology are available in the laboratory of Dr Andrew Barron at Macquarie Universitys Centre for the Integrative Study of Animal Behaviour (CISAB, http://galliform.bhs.mq.edu.au/~cisab/) (Sydney, Australia). Possible research topics include: 1. Analysis of the neural mechanisms underlying the honeybees symbolic dance language. Dance behaviour is the only clear example of symbolic communication in invertebrates and has become a classic study in animal behaviour, but the neural mechanisms generating this symbolic language system are completely unknown. 2. Neural mechanisms of reward processing and reward-seeking motivation in honeybees. Forager bees spend their lives seeking and collecting floral rewards to deliver to their nest mates. The aim of the project is to identify the neuromolecular basis of this reward-seeking drive, and to compare the mechanistic bases of reward seeking for ind...

For the academic year 2007/2008 Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy, offers 12 research fellowships for foreign students to attend Doctoral Schools/International Courses (see annex 1: list and related research lines). All the positions will be covered by scholarships fully funded by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo. During the 3-year doctoral programme (2008-2010), the successful candidates will be offered full board and lodging at the ESU – Azienda Regionale per il Diritto allo Studio Universitario. The connected charges will be covered by Università degli Studi di Padova through Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo. Doctoral courses will last 3 years. Doctoral courses will start on 2nd January 2008 and will end on 31st December 2010. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA Applicants are required to meet the following criteria in order to be eligible: * To have foreign (non-Italian) citizenship; * To have foreign (non-Italian) residence. Candidates must be in pos...

The Norwegian Color Research Laboratory has recently received significant funding from The Norwegian Research Council to carry out a research project entitled ”Perceptual image difference metrics - a unifying approach to image representation and reproduction.” The principal objective of the project is to improve the state of the art of colour image representation and reproduction, by developing new perceptual image difference metrics and using them in new ways. We will develop new metrics based on improved colour difference formulae, perceptual predictors, saliency maps, and multilevel methods. We will improve the state of the art techniques for image compression, high dynamic range tone mapping, colour gamut mapping, and halftoning, by using these metrics in a novel optimisation framework. The project will be carried out by existing faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students. At this point, we seek a PhD candidate, for whom knowledge and experience in the following areas wou...

A postdoctoral position is available at the Millennium Nucleus in Plant Cell Biology, Center of Plant Biotechnology, Andres Bello University, Santiago, Chile. The research interest of the investigators from the Millennium Nucleus in Plant Cell Biology are: Plant Cell Biology using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system, Fruit Genomics/Proteomics and Bioinformatics. Applicants should contact: The Center of Plant Biotechnology, Republica 217, Santiago, Chile Email: cenbioveg@unab.cl Phone: 56-2-6618448, Fax: 56-2-6615832

ASTRAZENECA funded PhD studentship at the UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER PhD studentship in medical statistics funded by AstraZeneca and open to EU citizens. Applications are invited for a three-year full-time PhD studentship in the Centre for Biostatistics and Genetic Epidemiology at the University of Leicester starting 1 October 2007 or as soon after as possible. The project is entitled “Modelling phenotypic variation in large medical databases using latent variables” and will look at theoretical and practical problems that arise when latent variable and latent class models are used with large clinical databases. The initial application will be to the study of patterns of disease in a database of patients with difficult to treat asthma. Applicants should be interested in working on medical applications of statistics and have at least a 2(i) Honours degree or a recognised postgraduate qualification containing a substantial element of statistics. The Centre for Biostatistics and Genetic Epide...

Research postdoc fellowship scholarship is immediately available for a highly motivated candidate with strong interests in molecular cell biology and mucosal immunology at the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology (PD Dr. Elke Cario), University Hospital, Medical School of Essen, Germany. Research in this laboratory is focussed on functional characterization of innate immune signaling pathways and intestinal epithelial responses in acute and chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa (including inflammatory bowel diseases). Publications relevant for this project include: Gastroenterology. 2007;132(4):1359-74; Gastroenterology. 2004 Jul;127(1):224-38; J Immunol. 2006 Apr 1;176(7):4258-66; Gut. 2005 Aug;54(8):1182-93; Infect Immun. 2000 Dec;68(12):7010-7. Individuals applying for this position must have a Ph.D. and/or M.D. degree and should be fluent in English and/or German (both verbal and written) and display excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work with oth...

Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences, Urban and Regional research centre Utrecht (URU), Section of Economic Geography Vacancy: Two Ph.D. positions Subject: The Geography of Knowledge Production - Innovation, Networks and Economic Growth The Ph.D. candidate will work on theoretical and empirical issues concerning the geography of knowledge production. The main theoretical concepts in this programme come from social network theory, evolutionary economics and complexity theory. Examples of possible topics include (i) the dynamics of urban growth in Europe and the US using patent data, (ii) international collaboration among scientists and engineers, (iii) the global labour mobility of scientists and engineers, (iv) urban hierarchies in science and technology, (v) the emergence of ‘small worlds’ in co-authorship networks, (vi) the geography of emerging technologies. The project leaves room for candidates to develop their own research questions. The Ph.D. candidate will participate wit...

This work is in keeping with the general pattern of a research project supported by the Picardie region in France, involving a team of Amiens’ university hospital (Dept of biophysics and medical image processing) specialized in MRI flow measurements and a team of the University of technology of Compiegne specialized in fluid biomechanics (UMR CNRS 6600 Biomechanics and Biomedical engineering). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non invasive medical imaging technique that allows visualizing organs and tissues and also quantifying blood flow rates in vessels. Amiens’ university hospital is fitted out with a 1.5T and a 3T MRI scanner of the last generation. The research team has a thorough knowledge of flow image processing softwares development using IDL environment. Those softwares are used for segmentation and plotting of vascular flow curves during a cardiac cycle. http://www.u-picardie.fr/labo/UGBM/Frames.htm Departments of image processing, radiology and gastro-enterology of Amie...

A number of ANU Tuition Scholarships are funded and awarded by individual Colleges and determined as part of the application process. This scholarship covers international student tuition fees. Other Benefits: N/A Maximum Duration: Three years full-time, with two possible six month extensions Take Up By: 31 March 2008 (normally). It is expected that the scholarship normally will be taken up by 31 March in the year for which it is awarded, although, subject to the approval of the prospective supervisor, Head of Department and Dean/Director, a later start date may be possible. The date by which a scholarship must be taken up in a particular instance will be made clear in the formal letter of offer for the scholarship Eligible Program(s): PhD Eligibility Criteria: Bachelors degree with first-class or upper second class honours, or a research Masters degree from a recognised university; International Students How To Apply: Application Forms are available online at: www.anu.edu.au/sas/forms...

Passau University seeks ambitious applicants to its newly founded Graduate School of Business and Economics. The aim of this doctoral program is to provide advanced training in business administration, economic theory and applied economics leading to the doctoral dissertation. The curriculum consists of courses in scientific and empirical methodology, skills and domain-specific knowledge. Applications must be accompanied by a CV, letter of motivation, a 1-2 page exposé explaining the applicant’s proposed research project and a letter of recommendation. There will be no tuition fees. A limited number of scholarships of up to 1000 EUR per month are available. Applications should be turned in no later than July, 15 2007 to: Passau Graduate School of Business and Economics Passau University Innstrasse 27 D-94032 Passau, Germany. For more information visit: http://www.wiwi.uni-passau.de or contact Prof. Dr. Michael Pflüger: graduateschool@uni-passau.de

We are now looking for a Ph.D. student in a project dealing with MR image analysis and brain atrophy estimation. The applicant should have a degree in engineering with a good knowledge of image processing, computer science and, applied math. The research activities of the MIV team in the LSIIT lab are centered about imaging, mainly image processing and analysis, but also their interactions with image synthesis. They rest upon solid mathematical bases and aim particularly at novel algorithmical developments. The team\’s unity bears on methodological aspects of multi-image analysis in the broad sense, around acquisition, processing, interpretation and exploitation of image sequences (temporal, spatial, multimodal, multispectral). If interested, please contact Francois Rousseau: rousseau@lsiit.u-strasbg.fr

A three-year postdoctoral position is available to work on algorithms for large-scale constrained optimization with Nick Gould and others in the Oxford Numerical Analysis Group, and in collaboration with Philippe Toint (Namur) and Sven Leyffer (Argonne). The aim of the project is to revisit the SQP approach, particularly, but not exclusively, to derive new convergence strategies and to investigate better ways of dealing with equality constraints. The plan is to consider three approaches: (i) an SQP method in which extra constraints are imposed on the sub-problem to ensure that the step gives local improvement, (ii) a regularized SLP-EQP method in which the choice of which constraints are imposed when finding the step is delegated to a subsidiary but simpler problem and (iii) an approach where reduction of the constraint violation and objective function are controlled separately without using a nonlinear programming “filter”. The aim will be, in each case, to design and analyse suitable...

Candidates for PhD student positions and Technical assistant are invited to apply to join the Research Group of Dr. Susana Andrade at the Department of Molecular Structural Biology in Göttingen, Germany. The group is interested in the structural and functional characterization of membrane proteins. We seek highly motivated, ambitious PhD students and provide a state-of-the-art laboratory in an international environment. Candidates will learn a variety of techniques ranging from molecular biology, bacterial cell culture, protein purification, reconstitution of membrane proteins in proteoliposomes, electrophysiology and fast kinetic measurements, to protein crystallization and structure determination. Previous experience in molecular biology and biochemistry methods will be favorable. Applicants for Research Technician should have an appropriate degree or technical school training in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology or a related area. Ideal candidates should be motivated, dynamic, willing...

Applications are invited for a 18 month post-doctoral position at INRIA Sophia Antipolis to carry out theoretical and computational research in the framework of the development of a high-order, parallel, discontinuous Galerkin particle-in-cell solver on unstructured tetrahedral meshes for the simulation of the transport of charged particles in 3D. Applicants should have (or hope to have soon) a PhD in applied mathematics or scientific computing and have experience with study and solution of partial differential equations. A qualification in computational electromagnetics is desirable, a first experience in the study of the coupled Vlasov/Maxwell equations will be an asset. A good programming experience (Fortran) is required, as is the ability to manipulate computer codes in a Linux/Unix environment. For more details on the position and the application procedure please visit this page .

Macquarie University International Scholarships are available across most courses to cover international tuition fees for study on campus in an undergraduate or postgraduate coursework degree. Scholarships will be granted to cover the credit points required to complete a single undergraduate or postgraduate degree. The scholarship provides course fees for the minimum course duration. No additional allowances are payable. The scholarship does NOT provide financial support in the form of a living allowance, nor does it provide for the cost of visa application, Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), airfares, accommodation, conferences or other costs associated with study. Annual renewal of the MUIS is subject to satisfactory performance in the Macquarie University degree program. To download the MUIS conditions click here . Who can apply? Applicants must: * Be a citizen of a country other than Australia or New Zealand. * Have met the University’s academic and English requirements ...

The Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Advanced Studies (Sokendai) is operated by the National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS) at Okazaki (http://www.nips.ac.jp/eng/). NIPS consists of 19 divisions dedicated to the study of the physiological functions of living organisms including humans. Research areas cover various physiological sciences including morphology, biochemistry, pharmacology, molecular and cellular biology, and information science. Research activities are extensive and comprehensive. Some of our current research involves the molecular structure of ion channels, intracellular dynamics of ions, mechanisms of secretion and cell volume regulation, development and differentiation of neuronal cells, mechanisms of synaptic transmission and neural network formation, and higher brain functions such as processing of sensory information, motor control, learning, and cognition. To carry out the mission of the institute as a cooperative center for universit...

Due date: June 24th, 2007 The ZMT invites applications for a PostDoc position (three years) in social research on tropical coastal environments Research will be carried out in close collaboration with the Research Center for Sustainability Studies (artec), a central unit of Bremen University. Relevant areas include: coastal zone and watershed management; vulnerability and environmental justice; land use change; natural resource policy; environmental governance. Applicants should have a PhD in social sciences, human geography, development research or related fields; a distinct research record in one of the areas mentioned above; and a high quality publishing record as well as experience in fund raising and project management. They should be willing and able to travel to the tropics, contribute to the supervision of post graduate students and teach to a limited extent at Bremen University. Payment will be according to the German public wage agreement TV-L. Starting date is Sept, 1st, 200...