Ciência sem Fronteiras (Science Without Borders)
DCU PhD Project Template:
**Please use one form per project**
Please complete & submit to graduate.research@dcu.ie by Friday 13th July
PI name & contact details:
Dr Cathal Gurrin
School:
Computing
Has project been agreed with head (or
nominee) of proposed registration school?
Yes
Research Centre / group affiliation:
CLARITY: Centre for Sensor Web Technologies
Research group / centre website:
http://www.clarity-centre.org
PI website / link to CV:
http://www.computing.dcu.ie/~cgurrin/
Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max):
CLARITY is an SFI-funded CSET which has been in operation for 4 years, since July 2008. It is a
partnership between UCD, DCU and the Tyndall National Institute in Cork and addresses the
emerging world of what is called the sensor web. CLARITY develops its own sensor technologies as
well as using off-the-shelf sensors for applications in areas such as sports, health and wellness,
environment, energy monitoring, ambient assisted living and the online world of social media and
search.
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Novel Video Search
Current state-of-the art systems for video search can provide efficient access to millions of
documents, yet the success of these large-scale retrieval systems has presented users with new
problems, that of “extreme precision”: how to filter out only the useful information from ranked
lists of hundreds or thousands of retrieved items and how to support multi-modal (device
independent) interaction with the content. This PhD topic examines new approaches to video
search that are applicable on the WWW. The focus of this research is how to integrate an
information retrieval technique called novelty detection to engance the resutlts from user video
search queries. Information novelty (i.e. don’t recommend a user something that the user
already has seen, or something that tells the user nothing new) is likely to become an
increasingly important aspect of information retireval over the coming years. Novelty detection
algorithms operating over heterogeneous multimedia content will both improve the quality of
recommendations and form a key research challenge. This novelty research will build on preexisting DCU experience of novelty detection algorithms for both textual and digital video
content to improve the the precision of the video search results. This PhD project will involve
working as part of a team of researchers developing video search algorithms and interfaces, and
therefore will bootstrap using an extensive archive of data and video processing tools.
Unique selling points of PhD project in DCU:
DCU projects should offer something that’s not available in Brazil – specific equipment, multi-disciplinarity,
aspects of structured programme, links with industry, placements, links with other research groups etc.
CLARITY is a truly inter-disciplinary research centre and within DCU, CLARITY research is carried out in the
schools of Computing, Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Sciences, Health
and Human Performance, Nursing and Human Science, and the Institute of Ethics but all in the one
location on campus. As well as carrying out basic and fundamental research, CLARITY has funded
projects with 57 different industry partners, from large multi-national companies in Ireland like Intel
and Alcatel-Lucent, to international companies like Disney Research, Under Armour and Adidas, to
Irish SMEs like Netwatch, Episensor and Beta Electronics. In a recent independent review of CLARITY
conducted by Science Foundation Ireland, CLARITY was deemed to be "operating as a world class
research centre".
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Computer Science, Computer Engineering
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits- choose only
one (tick box):
Engineering and other technological areas
Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)
Health and Biomedical Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
X
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technology of prevention and remediation of natural disasters
Biodiversity and Bioprospection
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
New technologies in constructive engineering
Please complete