Studentship in Using Hearing Models to Improve Sonar Performance. The studentship would provide support at standard EPSRC rates (currently £12,000 p.a.) and UK/EU tuition fees.

Marine mammals, such as dolphins, are able to employ sonar to distinguish between objects to a degree that man-made sonars cannot yet replicate. This has lead to the US Navy using trained dolphins for some military operations, such as mine clearance. This project will combine models of mammalian hearing, with numerical and experimental studies of how sound is scattered from underwater studies, to explore how sonar systems can be designed to more effectively distinguish been underwater objects.

The work is cross-disciplinary fusing elements of sound perception, physical modelling and signal processing techniques.

For further details: US Navy Marine Mammals, Lecture Notes on Modelling Hearing

Informal inquires can be made to Paul White, +44 (0)2380 592274
Email: prw@isvr.soton.ac.uk

Applicants should send a full curriculum vitae, including the names and addresses of three referees, to: Paul White, Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ. Tel: +44 (0)23 8059 2274, prw@isvr.soton.ac.uk