I forward this message from Annemarie Surlykke.
Jerome
*Ph.d. stipend available (NB, deadline January 5 2009):***
*Echolocation in bats â the role of ear and face morphology for sound
emission and perception *
Supervisors: Annemarie Surlykke Institute of Biology, SDU and John
Hallam, The Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, SDU.
SDU, University of Southern Denmark, Odense Denmark.
Bats use echolocation or âbio-sonarâ to orient and find prey in the
dark. They emit short high frequency sound pulses and listen for the
echoes reflected from surroundings to orient in space. Bats from
different families emit sounds either through the mouth or through the
nose. Bats emitting sound through the nose have elaborate skin folds or
ânose-leavesâ around the nostrils. The shape and size of the sound
emitting structures (mouth or nose) is believed to strongly affect the
directionality or shape of the emitted sound beam. The shape of the
sound beam will subsequently strongly affect the reflected
âecho-pictureâ of the scene. A broad beam will ensonify objects within a
wide angle, whereas a narrow beam will restrict the bat to a narrow
angle of view, but perhaps reach further ahead than the broader beam.
Thus, the received echo is dependent on the outgoing sound. However, the
returning echo also depends on the shape and size of ears. This
filtering is referred to as âhead-related-transfer-functionâ (HRTF) and
is well described for human listening, but not at all for bats in spite
of the obvious importance, which is reflected in the very diverse and
sometimes bizarre morphology of bat faces.
The goal of the project is therefore to record and use echolocation
sounds from real bat species to determine the effect of morphology on
directionality of the emitted beam and HRTF of returning echoes. Based
on these data we want to develop algorithms to effectively simulate the
sound in 3-D. 3-D simulations of sounds fields will be used for
implementing bio-mimetic robots using sound (echolocation) to orient in
space and to discriminate between objects.
An EU-funded (FP7) project, ChiRoPing (www.ChiRoPing.org
<http://www.chiroping.org/> ) focuses on the engineering aspects of
building bio-mimetic bat-robots, using as models four bat species with
different morphology and echolocation sounds, but overlapping prey
capture strategies. The ChiRoPing project seeks to build physical and
mathematical models of the bats and compare structure, function and
performance to the real bats. Thus, this present project will interact
with and complement the ChiRoPing project. Biology, SDU, also has a
Marine Research Facility, âFjord and Baeltâ, with captive trained
porpoises, which gives a unique opportunity to compare performance of
bio-sonar systems in air and water and study how structure is linked to
function in two media posing different constraints on the systems.
This project is offered within the research training programme SNAK. The
project is conditioned on funding from the Danish Agency for Science,
Technology and Innovation.
*NB: Deadline for âDeclaration of Interestâ is January 5.th 2009* â
Project 7, see general description:
*Declaration of Interest - PhD Research Fellowships in Natural Sciences
â Job ID 083021 *
*Job description:*
The Faculty of Science offers 7 PhD Research Fellowships at the Faculty
of Science available as of 1 April, 2009.
The fellowships may be sought by students who wish to obtain a PhD
degree, either with or without a previous Master's degree, in a field
relevant to one or more of the below mentioned PhD projects.
The PhD programme at the Faculty of Science can be completed as a
three-year study with a previous Masterâs degree or as a four-year study
without a previous Masterâs degree. Applicants without a relevant
Master's degree must have passed a minimum of 240 ECTS-points
(Bachelorâs degree plus one year (60 ECTS-points) of graduate study).
The fellowships are available within the following seven projects:
Project 1) Intercalating triplex systems and their application in
detection of ribosomal RNA
<http://www.sdu.dk/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Naturvidenskabelig_phd_uddannelse/projekter.aspx?sc_lang=en#Project1>
Project 2) Triplex formation of labelled probes for use in COMBO-FISH
protocols
<http://www.sdu.dk/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Naturvidenskabelig_phd_uddannelse/projekter.aspx?sc_lang=en#Project2>
Project 3) Domain patterns in bio-membranes
<http://www.sdu.dk/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Naturvidenskabelig_phd_uddannelse/projekter.aspx?sc_lang=en#Project3>
Project 4) Bio-production and bioenergetics - bio-reactor production of
microalgae and growth of filter-feeding bivalves
<http://www.sdu.dk/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Naturvidenskabelig_phd_uddannelse/projekter.aspx?sc_lang=en#Project4>
Project 5) Sensory physiology and ontogeny of toothed whale bio-sonar
systems
<http://www.sdu.dk/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Naturvidenskabelig_phd_uddannelse/projekter.aspx?sc_lang=en#Project5>
Project 6) Sound localizing robot
<http://www.sdu.dk/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Naturvidenskabelig_phd_uddannelse/projekter.aspx?sc_lang=en#Project6>
Project 7) Echolocation in bats â the role of ear and face morphology
for sound emission and perception
<http://www.sdu.dk/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Naturvidenskabelig_phd_uddannelse/projekter.aspx?sc_lang=en#Project7>
Further information concerning the projects: Please contact one or more
of the supervisors mentioned under the project descriptions.
Further information about the PhD study can be found at the homepage
<http://www.sdu.dk/Information_til/Studerende_ved_SDU/Din_uddannelse/Naturvidenskabelig_phd_uddannelse.aspx>
of the University.
*Application, salary, etc.:*
The PhD Research Fellowship is salaried in accordance with the Danish
State Education Grant and Loan Scheme Authority, and with the agreement
on salaried PhD students between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish
Confederation of Professional Associations, AC.
The successful candidates will be enrolled at this University in
accordance with Faculty regulations and the Danish Ministerial Order on
the PhD Programme at the Universities (PhD order).
Must be made in the form of a declaration of interest and should include
the following
â A letter stating the interest, motivation and qualifications for the
project in question (max two pages)
â Detailed CV, including personal contact information
â Certified copy of diploma
â Previous research experience and list of publications, if any.
â References
Additional information may be requested and the application process may
include an interview before the final decision is made.
The declaration of interest will be evaluated by a committee comprised
of the supervisor of the project and one or two members of the PhD
Assessment Committee at the Faculty. The Assessment Committee selects
one or two students from each project who are each given one month to
prepare a project and research plan and an application for enrolment at
the PhD School at the Faculty of Science.
All applications should be marked: âJob ID 083021â as well as one (or
more) of the below mentioned project IDs.
Employment as a PhD Research Fellow is for three or four years.
Employment stops automatically at the end of the period. The holder of
the Fellowship is not allowed to have other paid employment during the
three/four-year period.
The University encourages all interested persons to apply, regardless of
age, gender, religious affiliation or ethnic background.
Applications must be forwarded by e-mail (in Adobe PDF format or Word XP
2003 legible format) to the following e-mail address: and
should be addressed to: The Faculty of Science, University of Southern
Denmark, Campusvej 55, DK-5230 Odense M.
Incomplete applications and applications received after the deadline
will not be considered.
*Employment starts: * 01.04. 2009
*Closing date *05.01. 2009 at 12 noon
*Location:* Odense
Mark application *Job ID 083021* and send it to:
Det Naturvidenskabelige Fakultetssekretariat
Syddansk Universitet
Campusvej 55
5230 Odense M
*Employment starts: * 01.02. 2009
*Closing date *05.01. 2009 at 12 noon
*Location:* Odense
Mark application *Job ID 083019* and send it to:
Det Naturvidenskabelige Fakultetssekretariat
Syddansk Universitet
Campusvej 55
5230 Odense M
Echolocation in bats_AS.doc
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