Postdoctoral Position in Computational Imaging

Topic: Geometric Structure Adaptation of Wide-angle Photography

Location: Instituto de Telecomunicações, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Project: Nowadays, smartphones come with a wide variety of cameras and sensors, each with a distinct function to improve the overall quality of images and enable different functionalities. These camera arrays and sensors include a primary camera with high resolution and best overall image quality, and often a wide-angle camera to provide an expanded field of view, allowing users to capture more in a single shot. This is excellent for landscape photography, architectural shots, group photos, and creative perspectives that emphasize the vastness of a visual scene. While wide-angle photography is rather powerful to capture a large field of view, it often introduces annoying geometric distortions. For example, objects closer to the camera may appear disproportionately larger than those in the background, leading to unnatural-looking images. Moreover, landscape and architectural photos obtained from wide-angle cameras often suffer from geometric distortions, such as perspective distortions, where objects near the edges of the image appear stretched or warped as well as curved or bent straight lines. Also, there should be certain consideration on captured image aesthetic while preserving the special relationships on modification. The focus of this project is on the development of efficient solutions that mitigate some of the challenges identified above. 

The research work will be developed in the context of a research project with a well-known company.

Requirements: The candidates must fulfill the following conditions: 

• PhD in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, or other related area, preferably awarded in the past three years.
• Have background on a relevant computer science area, notably in computer vision and computer graphics fields, demonstrated by a publication record in top-ranked conferences and/or journals.
• Have strong motivation to perform research in a rich and stimulating research group, as well as to advance state-of-the-art through the publication of results in international conferences and peer reviewed journals. 
• Be fluent in English, with good oral, technical writing and presenting skills. 
• Have good programming skills (Python, C/C++, etc.). 
• Well-known researchers will coordinate the research work with the selected candidate: Prof. João Ascenso and Prof. Paula Queluz. The candidate will join a dynamic team of Professors and PhD students where strong research and development activities in visual analysis and processing are carried out. 

Research grant: The research grant is associated with a 1.5-year full-time contract. The research grant consists of a stipend of approx. 28000€/year net (after taxes).  To apply, please submit your application by sending an email to joao.ascenso@lx.it.pt and paula.queluz@lx.it.pt with the following documents: 

1. Detailed curriculum vitae with transcripts (mandatory)
2. A motivation letter (research statement) explaining your interest in the position (mandatory)
3. Recommendation letter(s), especially from your PhD advisor or a list of individuals with contact information. 
Note that if the above documents are not received, your application may not be considered. Applications shall be received until 30/03/2024. Selected candidates will be submitted to one or more interviews. For any clarifications, please contact Prof. João Ascenso (joao.ascenso@lx.it.pt) and Prof. Paula Queluz (paula.queluz@lx.it.pt).