The Informatics Institute of the Faculty of Science is inviting applications for a fully funded PhD position (4 years) in the field of computer vision and in particular automatic 3D object segmentation and recognition of indoor scenes using deep learning. The PhD candidate will do research within the Computer Vision group of the Informatics Institute headed by Prof. Theo Gevers. The Computer Vision group conducts research in theories, representation models and computational methods which are essential for 2D-3D image understanding.

Project description

The candidate will be part of the Efficient Deep Learning (EDL)program conducted in close collaboration with industry. The results of this PhD project will be validated in 3DUniversum (partner of the project). The overall research requires a combination of computer vision and machine learning activities. The research conducted by the University of Amsterdam is mainly in the field of 3D computer vision to develop deep learning methods to automatically perform 3D object recognition of indoor scenes. The research will be performed in close collaboration with the EDL consortium. The EDL program combines the fields of machine learning and computing: both disciplines are already strong in the Netherlands and now connected by 7 Dutch academic institutes and more than 35 other (industrial) partners in- and outside the Netherlands.

The overall goal of the EDL program is to address the performance and efficiency of deep learning. The EDL program contains 7 use case driven EDL research projects: P1) DL as a service, P2) Reconstruction, matching and recognition, P3) Video analyses and surveillance, P4) High tech systems and materials, P5) Human and animal health, P6) Mobile robotics, and P7) DL platforms. Common goal for all 7 EDL projects is to significantly improve the applicability of DL among others by creating data efficient training and tremendously improving computational efficiency, both for training and inference. The combined effect of solving these challenges enables to build vital and innovative applications in many domains like automated driving, public space mapping, healthcare, and electron microscopy.

The PhD candidate will be supervised by Prof. Th. Gevers.

The PhD candidate:

• is required to have a master degree in Computer Science or Artificial Intelligencewith preferably a specialization in Computer Vision and/or Machine Learning;
• should have good grades, math and programming skills;
• is expected to have good written and oral communication skills in English.

The appointment will be full-time (38 hours a week) for a period of four years (initial employment is 18 months). Periodic evaluations will be held after 9 and 14 months, and upon positive evaluation, the appointment will be extended to a total of 48 months. The appointment must lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). An educational plan that includes attendance of courses, summer and/or winter schools, and national and international meetings will be drafted for the PhD candidate. The PhD candidate is also expected to assist in teaching of undergraduate students.

The salary is in accordance with the university regulations for academic personnel. The salary will range from €2,266 (first year) up to a maximum of €2,897 (last year) before tax per month (scale P) based on a full-time appointment. There are also secondary benefits, such as 8% holiday allowance per year and the end of year allowance of 8.3%. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

Among other things, we offer:

• competitive pay and excellent benefits;
• extremely friendly working environment;
• high-level of interaction;
• international environment (10+ nationalities in the group);
• access to high-end computing facilities (cluster with 4,000+ cores);
• one of the best AI ecosystems on the planet;
• new building located near the city center (10 minutes by bicycle) of one of Europe’s most beautiful and lively cities.

Since Amsterdam is a very international city where almost everybody speaks and understands English, candidates need not be afraid of the language barrier.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Informatics Institute

The mission of our Institute is to perform curiosity driven and use-inspired fundamental research in Computer Science. The research involves complex information systems at large, with a focus on Collaborative, Data Driven, Computational and Intelligent Systems, all with a strong interactive component.

http://ivi.uva.nl