Audio and Acoustic Signal Processing

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (www.fraunhofer.com) currently operates 76 institutes and research institutions throughout Germany and is the world’s leading applied research organization. Around 30 000 employees work with an annual research budget of 2.9 billion euros. 

The objective of the Division »Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA« of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in Oldenburg (Oldb) is to translate scientific findings related to hearing perception and man-machine-interaction into technological applications. Its research and development priorities are the enhancement of sound quality and speech intelligibility, personalized audio reproduction, automatic speech recognition and acoustic event detection with the help of artificial intelligence. A further focus is the use of mobile neurotechnology, which specifically facilitates the recording of brain activity and utilization of the resulting data outside the laboratory. Application fields include consumer electronics, the automotive sector, industrial production, security, telecommunications and healthcare. Through scientific partnerships, Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA has close links with the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg as well as Jade University of applied Sciences and other institutions engaged in hearing research in Oldenburg. Fraunhofer IDMT-HSA is a partner in the Cluster of »ExcellenceHearing4all«. The Division »Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA« is funded in the program »Vorab« by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) and the Volkswagen Foundation for its further development. The group »Audio Signal Enhancement (ASE)« focuses on single- and multichannel-based enhancement of disturbed audio signals (e. g. speech), separation of targeted sounds, automatic speaker recognition and acoustic analysis of dangerous situations. 

What you will do

At Fraunhofer IDMT, one fully funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD position in the field of audio signal enhancement is under the supervision of Prof. Jörg Bitzer/Simon Doclo. The position will become available from December 1, 2022, or as soon as possible thereafter. The PhD student employed at Fraunhofer IDMT will be fully embedded in the SOUNDS research and training network and will carry out theoretical and applied research in the interdisciplinary fields of signal processing, audio processing, communication networks and machine learning.

The topics of the position relate to the following fields:

• Sound source localization
• Sound source detection and separation
• Development of machine-/deep learning-based algorithms for acoustic signal processing
• Realtime implementation (low delay processing)

THE »SOUNDS« PROJECT 
The SOUNDS European Training Network (ETN) revolves around a new and promising paradigm coined as Service-Oriented, Ubiquitous, Network-Driven Sound. Inspired by the ubiquity of mobile and wearable devices capable of capturing, processing, and reproducing sound, the SOUNDS ETN aims to bring audio technology to a new level by exploiting network-enabled cooperation between devices. We envision the next generation of audio devices to be capable of providing enhanced hearing assistance, creating immersive audio experience, enabling advanced voice control and much more, by seamlessly exchanging signals and parameter settings, and spatially analyzing and reproducing sound jointly with other nearby audio devices and infrastructure. Moreover, such functionality should be self-organizing, flexible, and scalable, requiring minimal user interaction for adapting to changes in the environment or network. It is anticipated that this paradigm will eventually result in an entirely new way of designing and using audio technology, by considering audio as a service, enabled through shared infrastructure, rather than as a device-specific functionality limited by the capabilities and constraints of a single user device.
To attain this paradigm shift in audio technology not only requires additional research but also calls for a new generation of qualified researchers with a transdisciplinary and international scientific profile, strong collaborative research and research management skills, and the intersectoral expertise needed to carry research results from academia to industry. It is believed that the SOUNDS ETN will offer the best possible framework for achieving these goals, by organizing advanced interdisciplinary research training, developing solid transferable skills, and providing intersectoral and international experience in a network of qualified and complementary industrial and academic institutions.
The SOUNDS ETN strongly values research integrity, actively supports open access and reproducible research, and strives for diversity and gender balance in its entire research and training program. The SOUNDS ETN adheres to »The European Charter for Researchers and The Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers«. 

What you bring to the table

• Scientific university degree in Signal Processing, Informatics, Computer Science or equivalent
• Knowledge about audio signal processing (single- and multichannel)
• Knowledge about machine learning and state-of-the-art frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow etc.)
• Programming skills in Python, C/C++, MATLAB
• Excellent proficiency in English is required, as well as good communication skills, both oral and written.
• Fulfillment of the MSCA Early Stage admission requirements:
• Researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies etc.) in Germany more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account.
• Researchers must have less than 4 years FTE researcher experience since their graduation and should not yet have a PhD.
• Independent way of working
• Team ability
• Problem solving ability 

What you can expect

• An interesting task area at the junction of science and application
• Excellent technical infrastructure
• Flat hierarchies, a loyal work environment in a committed, international team
• Room for creativity
• Very good work-life-balance and family-friendly arrangements (e. g. flexible working hours and a »parent-child office«)

We value and promote the diversity of our employees' skills and therefore welcome all applications - regardless of age, gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, ideology, disability, sexual orientation and identity. Severely disabled persons are given preference in the event of equal suitability. Appointment, remuneration and social security benefits based on the public-sector collective wage agreement (TVöD).

With its focus on developing key technologies that are vital for the future and enabling the commercial utilization of this work by business and industry, Fraunhofer plays a central role in the innovation process. As a pioneer and catalyst for groundbreaking developments and scientific excellence, Fraunhofer helps shape society now and in the future. 

Interested? Apply online now. We look forward to getting to know you!

Technical questions: 

Christian Rollwage

Phone: +49 441 36116 841

christian.rollwage@idmt.fraunhofer.de

Questions about the application process:

Femke Grotelüschen

Phone: +49 441 2172 437

femke.grotelueschen@idmt.fraunhofer.de

Oldenburg Branch Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA 

www.idmt.fraunhofer.de/de/hsa.html

Requisition Number: 45442                Application Deadline: 10/30/202

The Signal Processing Group at the University of Oldenburg is seeking to fill the position of a

Postdoctoral Research Associate “Signal Processing for Active Acoustics”

in the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1330 Hearing Acoustics: Perceptual Principles, Algorithms and Applications (HAPPAA). The position is available from January 1st, 2023 until June 30th, 2026 with a salary according to TV-L E13 (100 %). The position is suitable for part-time work.

The Collaborative Research Centre Hearing Acoustics aims at a fundamentally better quantitative understanding of the principles underlying the processing of complex auditory and audio-visual scenes, the implementation of this knowledge in algorithms for perceptual enhancement of acoustic communication, and the evaluation of these algorithms in assistive listening devices.

The successful candidate is expected to contribute to project C1 “MIMO acoustic earpiece for combined equalization, feedback cancellation and noise reduction”. The long-term objective of this project is to achieve acoustically transparent speech communication and hearing support by means of an active acoustic earpiece with integrated microphones and loudspeakers. The main research questions are how to optimally exploit the availability of multiple microphones and multiple loudspeakers to develop combined solutions for sound pressure equalization, acoustic feedback cancellation and active noise/occlusion control. More specifically, the successful candidate is expected to develop, implement and evaluate direction-selective signal processing algorithms for acoustic transparency and active noise/occlusion control, depending on the acoustic scene at hand. In addition, the successful candidate is expected to collaborate with the Jade University of Applied Sciences in the area of individualized ear canal and occlusion models and with the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in the area of earpiece design and real-time implementation.

Candidates must have a PhD degree in electrical engineering, hearing technology and audiology, technical physics or a related discipline and have demonstrated their ability to produce excellent scientific work, typically through the outstanding quality of their doctoral thesis and an excellent publication record. We are seeking candidates with extensive knowledge in at least two of the following research fields: speech/audio signal processing, acoustics, control systems and auditory perception. In particular, for the envisaged project experience with active noise/occlusion control, adaptive algorithms and real-time implementation is beneficial. Excellent programming (e.g., Matlab, python) skills and English language skills are mandatory.

Please send your application (ref. SP221), including a letter of motivation, curriculum vitae, list of publications and a copy of the university diplomas and grades, to Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Fakultät VI, Abt. Signalverarbeitung, Prof. Dr. Simon Doclo, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany, or electronically to simon.doclo@uni-oldenburg.de. Application by email is preferred. The application deadline is 31.08.2022.

The Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg is dedicated to increasing the percentage of women in science. Therefore, equally qualified female candidates will be given preference. Applicants with disabilities will be preferentially considered in case of equal qualification.

Research Engineer (Research Fellow) in Sound Sensing

       Location: University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

       Closing Date: Monday 08 August 2022 (23:59 BST)

       Further details: https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/025022-R

Applications are invited for a Research Engineer (Research Fellow) in Sound Sensing, to work full-time for six months on an EPSRC-funded Fellowship project "AI for Sound" (https://ai4s.surrey.ac.uk/), to start September 2022 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The aim of the project is to undertake research in computational analysis of everyday sounds, in the context of a set of real-world use cases in assisted living in the home, smart buildings, smart cities, and the creative sector. 

The postholder will be responsible for designing and building the hardware and software to be developed in the fellowship, including sound sensor systems, open-source software libraries and datasets to be released from the project.

The postholder will be based in the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP) and work under the direction of PI (EPSRC Fellow) Prof Mark Plumbley.

The successful applicant is expected to have a postgraduate qualification in electronic engineering, computer science or a related subject, or equivalent professional experience; experience in software and hardware development relevant to signal processing or sensor devices, and experience in software development in topics such as audio signal processing, machine learning, deep learning, and/or sensor systems.  Experience in development and deployment of hardware sensors, Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, or audio systems; and programming experience using Python, C++, MATLAB, or other tools for signal processing, machine learning or deep learning is desirable. Direct research experience, or experience of hardware or software development while working closely with researchers, is also desirable.

CVSSP is an International Centre of Excellence for research in Audio-Visual Machine Perception, with 180 researchers, a grant portfolio of £26M (£17.5M EPSRC), and a turnover of £7M/annum. The Centre has state-of-the-art acoustic capture and analysis facilities and a Visual Media Lab with video and audio capture facilities supporting research in real-time video and audio processing and visualisation. CVSSP has a compute facility with 120 GPUs for deep learning and >1PB of high-speed secure storage.

The University is located in Guildford, a picturesque market town with excellent schools and amenities, and set in the beautiful Surrey Hills, an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  London is just 35 minutes away by train, while both Heathrow and Gatwick airports are readily accessible.

For more information about the post and how to apply, please visit:

       https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/025022-R

Deadline: Monday 08 August 2022 (23:59 BST)

For informal inquiries about the position, please contact Prof Mark Plumbley (m.plumbley@surrey.ac.uk).

• Lab: L2S, CentraleSupélec  3 rue Joliot Curie, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
• Supervisors: Gilles Chardon (gilles.chardon@centralesupelec.fr), José Picheral (jose.picheral@centralesupelec.fr)
• Starting date: before december 2022
• Duration: 12 months
• Gross Salary: 3200€ monthly
• Profile: signal processing, optimization, data science, knowledge of Matlab or Scipy. Knowledge of inverse problem or acoustics is appreciated but not necessary.

For details, see the position description on Lab Web Site

We have multiple openings for PhD students, Postdoctoral Researchers and R&D Engineers at Télécom Paris, Institut polytechnique de Paris, in the “Signal, Statistics and Learning (S2A) team. 

All positions are located at Telecom Paris, 19 place Marguerite Perey, 91120 Palaiseau, France.

Start of the positions: October/November 2022 (for PhDs/Engineer), January 2023 for PostDoc

Subject:

The positions will be a part of the ERC Advanced (2022) – HI-Audio (Hybrid and Interpretable Deep neural audio machines) project, which aims at building hybrid deep approaches combining parameter-efficient and interpretable models with modern resource-efficient deep neural architectures with applications in speech/audio scene analysis, music information retrieval and sound transformation and synthesis.

The potential topics include (and are not limited to): Deep generative models, adversarial learning, Attention-based models and curriculum learning, Statistical/deterministic audio models (signal models, sound propagation models,…), Music Information Retrieval software platform development (R&D Engineer position)....

Candidate Profile: 

- For the Phd positions: A masters degree in applied mathematics, datascience/computer science or speech/audio/music processing is required.

- For the Postdoc position: PhD degree and publications in theory or applications of machine learning, generative modelling, discrete optimal transport or signal processing, ideally with applications to Speech/Audio/Music signals.

- Master internship positions will also be open in early 2023.

Télécom Paris, and the S2A  team:

The S2A team gathers 18 permanent faculties covering a wide variety of research topics including Statistics, Probabilistic modeling, Machine learning, Data science, Audio and social signal processing. On the overall, Télécom Paris’ research counts 19 research teams and covers various domains in computer science and networks, applied mathematics, electronics, image, data, signals and economic and social sciences. Télécom Paris (https://www.telecom-paris.fr/en/home) is a member of IMT (Institut Mines-Télécom), and is a founding member of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris, https://www.ip-paris.fr/en), a world-class scientific and technological institution which is a partnership between five prestigious French engineering schools  with HEC as a key partner.

Application:
- There is no specific deadline. Applications are welcome until all positions are filled.

- In the application, please send a resume, a motivation letter (and full transcript grades for Phd/Engineer positions) to Gaël Richard, firstname.lastname@telecom-paris.fr. At least one reference letter will be asked in a second step.

A postdoctoral research position is available at Johns Hopkins University in the laboratory of Dr. Mounya Elhilali to investigate representation of complex sounds in biological and artificial networks. The position is available immediately for two years, with possibility of renewal.

The ideal applicant will have a doctoral degree in computer science, electrical engineering, applied mathematics, neuroscience, psychology, hearing or brain sciences, with strong quantitative skills.

Johns Hopkins is an outstanding intellectual environment for medical and engineering research. The laboratory is affiliated with the department of Electrical and computer engineering as well as the Center for Speech & Language Processing and the Center for Hearing and Balance, and has strong research collaborations with the departments of Biomedical Engineering, Psychology and Brain Sciences, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering as well as the schools of Medicine and Public Health.

Interested applicants should send a brief cover letter, a curriculum vitae with sample publications, and 2 reference contacts to mounya(at)jhu(dot)edu.

Project

Profile

• Candidates must hold a Master degree or PhD degree in Electrical Engineering (or equivalent), have a solid mathematical background (e.g. in matrix algebra and statistics) and have taken specialized courses in at least two of the following disciplines: digital signal processing, audio signal processing, stochastic signals and systems, optimization.
• Research experience (e.g. through Master thesis work or research internships) in digital signal processing and/or audio signal processing is considered a strong asset.
• Experience with Matlab programming is required, and experience with other programming languages (C/C++/Python/...) is considered beneficial.
• Excellent proficiency in English is required, as well as good communication skills, both oral and written.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The PhD or postdoctoral researcher will

• Carry out research on the design of integrated and distributed digital signal processing algorithms for audio and speech communication devices;
• Monitor the work plan of the research project and make sure that milestones are achieved and deliverables are finalized in a timely manner;
• Actively participate in internal research and project meetings;
• Assist in the supervision of Master thesis students;
• Perform a limited amount of teaching activities (max. 2h per week).

•  Enroll in a doctoral training program at the Arenberg Doctoral School, and adhere to the doctoral school’s coursework requirements for PhD researchers.

Offer

• A high-level and exciting international research environment;
• A competitive salary or tax-free PhD grant;    
• The possibility to participate in local as well as international courses, workshops and conferences;
• A one-year position with the possibility of extension for additional years.

Interested?

2 x Professor / Reader of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

Department of Computer Science
University of Surrey
Guildford, UK

https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/037121 

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Surrey seeks to recruit two research leaders with an international profile and an outstanding research and publication track record to lead a substantial and sustained portfolio of research in any of the following areas within Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI):

• Trustworthy AI (explainable, secure and privacy preserving machine learning)
• Deep learning for natural language processing
• Computational neuroscience and machine learning
• Distributed machine learning and optimization
• AI planning and optimal control

The Department of Computer Science has a world-class reputation in these areas and regularly publishes at top-level conferences and journals. The Department is home to the Nature Inspired Computing and Engineering (NICE) group. The group has 10 academics and holds world-leading expertise in evolutionary computation, computational neuroscience, autonomous and self-organising systems, reinforcement learning, Bayesian learning, privacy-preserving machine learning, explainable AI, computer vision, and image and natural language processing. The research group maintains close links with leading industries, the public sector, and governmental bodies, leading to a strong heritage of real-world impact.

The NICE group is a key partner in the new Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI, a major strategic investment bringing together world-leading expertise in fundamental AI theory with cross-university domain expertise to realise and shape AI impact for public good. It is expected that the postholders will play a leading role in this new Institute.

Each successful candidate will have proven success in leading multi-Faculty research proposals and securing funding through collaborative group bids. One postholder will also be considered for the strategic leadership role of the Head of the NICE group. Each postholder will also take an active role in training the ML scientists of the future by leading teaching activities at both undergraduate and postgraduate level within the University’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering.

These are full-time and permanent positions. The postholders will benefit from a dynamic working environment on a leafy campus close to London, with access to world-class leisure facilities nearby. The role brings a substantial salary and generous relocation package, as well as a variety of academic and professional development opportunities.

The qualifications required and job specification is detailed in the job profile. In addition to completing the online application form, please submit:

• A two-page supporting statement on your future research and research leadership plans
• Your CV
• A list of your publications and externally funded research projects (if not included in your CV)

Interviews will be held remotely in September. Positions are available for immediate appointment and the candidates will be expected to start as early as possible after that and no later than March / April 2022.

Our staff and students come from all over the world and the Department is proud of its friendly and inclusive culture. The University and the Department specifically are committed to building a culturally diverse organisation. Applications are strongly encouraged from female and minority candidates. The Department of Computer Science was awarded a Bronze Athena SWAN award, in recognition of our commitment to equality and diversity.

Applicants are encouraged to check the associated role profile for this post. Informal enquiries are welcomed by Dr Mark Manulis (m.manulis@surrey.ac.uk). Otherwise, we look forward to receiving your online application at: https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk/037121