PhD Studentships, University of Sussex, be.AI programme in Biomimetic Embodied AI

[mmar...@gmail.com]

Dear Systems Neuro group

The University of Sussex is offering 6 PhD studentships within its new Doctoral Scholarship Programme funded by the Leverhulme Trust. This programme in Biomimetic Embodied AI investigates how intelligence arises from the interaction of the brain with the body and the environment. It includes multiple projects that link between AI and Neuroscience, supervised by systems, computational and sensory neuroscientists: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/ccnr/be_ai/proposals. Please see below for the announcement.

The University of Sussex invites applications for PhD studentships within the be.AI Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme (www.sussex.ac.uk/ccnr/be_ai) which will bring together researchers from the humanities, life sciences and computing to pursue artificial intelligence (AI) in its original definition of understanding natural intelligence by emulating it in artificial systems. In our unique interdisciplinary centre, we will advance understanding of how the interaction between brain, body and environment gives rise to intelligence and how this insight can be used to build novel artificial intelligence.  

As a be.AI Scholar you will: 

• Be funded for 3.5 years with a tax free living allowance at the standard Research Council rate – currently £15,009 per year– and UK fees 
• Be eligible for generous financial support of up to £4,000 per year for training and research expenses, such as conference trips and experimental costs  
• Be eligible to apply for one of three 12 month postdoctoral research fellowships, available only to completing Leverhulme be.AI scholars 
• Benefit from supervision by world-leading researchers in many different aspects of AI 
• Benefit from taught courses in topics, such as ethics and data science. 

The Programme will fund three intakes of 6 students per year, starting in September 2021 (application deadline 31st January 2021). You will be registered within one of the participating schools (Life Sciences, Engineering and Informatics, Psychology, Philosophy, Media Film & Music) but will be encouraged to perform cross-disciplinary research with academics across Schools. In be.AI, you will work in a community of like-minded students and researchers supported by your own research seminars, invited lectures by world leading speakers, as well as student-led conferences and cohort building events.  

We are passionate about creating an interdisciplinary cohort of researchers, so we expect successful applicants to see beyond their disciplinary boundaries and embrace the opportunity to work at the intersection of multiple fields. 

For further details, including how to apply, see http://www.sussex.ac.uk/ccnr/be_ai