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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
PhD Project Template
PI name & contact details:
School:
Liam Kilmartin/Dr. Edward Jones
liam.kilmartin@nuigalway.ie\ edward.jones@nuigalway.ie
College of Engineering and Informatics
(Electrical & Electronic Engineering Discipline)
Research Centre / group affiliation:
National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science
Research group / centre website:
http://ncbes.eurhost.net/bioelectronics.aspx
PI website / link to CV:
http://www.eee.nuigalway.ie/Staff/ejones.html
http://www.nuigalway.ie/our-research/people/engineering-andinformatics/liamkilmartin/
Brief summary of PI research:
The co-PIs have over 45 years combined research experience working in fields of relevance
to this project: Audio\Speech processing, machine learning, mobile phone based sensing,
smartphone app development, embedded\power efficient software development
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Title: Mobile handset based Acoustic Sensing for mental Health (MASH)
Description: This research will investigate the development of smart phone application
technology to acquire and analyse speech data for the assessment of mental wellbeing.
Such technology could find use in monitoring the impact of social isolation experienced by
some older people, or as a mechanism for identifying younger people where mental health
concerns may exist. The link between the basic characteristics of speech and mental
wellbeing has already been well established, and the use of ubiquitous mobile technology
to enable the reliable gathering and analysis of data “transparently” should greatly improve
upon current practices in this area, which rely on clinical interviews, user participation in
the maintenance of personal diaries etc. The project will address the problem in two ways.
Firstly, it will enhance current approaches to speech analysis for this application, both by
improving the quality of the signal in a mobile context, and exploiting the nature of
conversational interactions unique to mobile phones that provide additional information.
Methods for fusing relevant information from additional standard “sensors” on mobile
handsets to improve and enhance information relating to the performance and accuracy of
the audio processing functionality will be addressed. Secondly, the research will develop
technology to address the significant problem of power consumption in smart phones that
is a consequence of the additional applications required for speech analysis
Version 2
Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
Unique selling points of PhD project in NUI Galway:
The host group works in a multi-disciplinary environment, and has direct access to relevant clinical
expertise in psychology, psychiatry and public health. Furthermore, one of the PIs (Liam Kilmartin)
has already successfully spun-out a commercial venture based on aspects of the smart phone
technology and pervasive computing that will be employed in this project. The project will be
hosted in NUI Galway’s recently-opened School of Engineering, the largest in the country. This €40m
building is equipped with state of the art laboratory facilities and a range of specialist development
and test equipment. http://www.nuigalway.ie/new-engineering-building/
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
As above
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Electrical, Electronic, Computer or Communications Engineering
Computer Science
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)/Physical Sciences (Mathematics,
Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geosciences)
Health and Biomedical Sciences / Clinical, Pré-clinical and Health Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Computing
X
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Sustainable Agricultural Production
Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals, Minerals Technology
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technologies for Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Disasters
Bioprospecting and Biodiversity
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
New technologies in constructive engineering
Please indicate which of the following applies to this project (referring to Science Without Borders
arrangements):
Suitable only as a Full PhD (Y/N): Y
Available to candidates seeking a Sandwich PhD arrangement (Y/N): N