The University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands is offering various “Ubbo Emmius” PhD-scholarships. Candidates are hereby invited to apply for the position with vacancy number “UE-vac-10″ with the following description.

Various prevalent hearing disorders in elderly people crucially involve neural mechanisms in the brain. For instance, in tinnitus (ringing in the ears), abnormal interactions between auditory and non-auditory brain areas are believed to cause the perception of phantom sounds. In presbyacusis (hearing loss) or deafness, deprivation of acoustic input may result in abnormal cross-modal plastic reorganization. Novel fMRIneuroimaging and neurovisualization methods can identify anatomical and functional connectivity patterns throughout the brain, even during rest.

The candidate will investigate these methods and apply them to study ageing-related hearing complaints, like tinnitus and severe hearing loss, and their underlying neural mechanisms.

The applicant may express his/her interest in this position before 01 May 2009, and will subsequently have the opportunity to submit a research proposal, together with the principal investigators.

More information about the application procedure is available from the website or from the principal investigators prof. dr. Pim van Dijk (p.van.dijk[ at ]med.umcg.nl) and dr. Dave Langers (d.r.m.langers[ at ]med.umcg.nl).

Under the Aurora Exploration Program, the European Space Agency (ESA) developed the concept and lunched the preparation activities of the ExoMars mission. This mission will start in 2013 whereas the flight will last nearly one year and has as objectives the following:

• To search for signs of past and present life on Mars;
• To characterize the water/geo-chemical environment as a function of depth in the shallow subsurface;
• To study the surface environment and identify hazards to future human missions;
• To investigate the planet’s subsurface and deep interior to better understand the evolution and habitability of Mars.

ExoMars will consist of an orbiter, a descent module and a six wheeled rover. The first European rover on Mars will carry a drill that can burrow up to 2 m into the Martian surface allowing its scientific instruments to analyse and sample the soil and search for mineral content, composition and traces of past and present life. Once the descent module carried out by the ExoMars spacecraft achieves landing on Mars surface safely, the rover, which will carry, in addition to the drill, Pasteur scientific instruments along with a sample processing system, will be responsible of the navigation and the exploration of Mars planet.

ExoMars is not the first planet robotic deployment mission since eight successful rovers have been deployed on the Moon and Mars over the previous space experiences, including crewed vehicles as well as remote controlled and autonomous robots. The Lunar Roving Vehicle developed by USA for the Apollo missions and the two Lunokhod lunar rovers developed by USSR were used to explore the Moon. The Mars Pathfinder was used the first Mars rover experiment, and the Mars Excursion Rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to perform well. are two twin rovers landed on the opposite sides of Mars to search for rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activities on Mars. Future rover missions currently being planned include NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (launch in 2009) and the ESA’s ExoMars mission (launch in 2013). Spirit and Opportunity neede to be told by human operators which moves to make next. Because each signal takes half an hour to be relayed to Mars and the results take half an hour to come back, this has made progress on the red planet very slow.

PhD Scholatships in Robust Navigation and Path Planning for ExoMars Rovers, Cranfield University, UK … read more »

Mechanical Engineering Department,
Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur
Recruitment of Project Personnel for the DRDO sponsored CARS Project

Applications are invited for two Research Project Associates for a DRDO sponsored CARS project. Details are as follows.

1. Project Title: Characterization of Damage in Armours subjected to Ballistic Impact through Non-Destructive Evaluation
2. Principal Investigator: Dr. Debasis Datta, Professor, Mechanical Engg. Department, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur.
3. Reference: BESUS/ME/PXE/CARS
4. Number of Positions: 2
5. Designation: Project Associate
6. Consolidated Pay: Rs. 8000/- (Rupees eight thousand only) per month
7. Duration: One year (purely on a temporary basis)

Research Scholarship for Master in Mechanical Engineering, Bengal Engineering and Science University, India … read more »

UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School is delighted to offer prospective students the opportunity to apply for a range of scholarships for the academic year 2009/2010.

To apply for the scholarship, applicants must submit an essay (300 words) on why you believe you should receive the scholarship. The closing date for submissions is May 15th 2009.

Candidates must apply for their preferred programme before submitting an application for a scholarship and must meet all of the admissions criteria prior to commencement. Candidates must also be prepared to interview.

Scholarships are valid for the following programmes:

• MBS/MSc streams
• CEMS Master in International Management
• Master in Management
• MSc in Quantitative Finance
• Master of Accounting (valid for non company sponsored students only)

UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Scholarships 2009-2010, Ireland … read more »

University of Lancaster, UK
Masters in Human Computer Interaction
Computing, Design and Psychology

Lancaster University is seeking applicants to its Masters in Human Computer Interaction Program which offers a multidisciplinary perspective on the design of advanced interactive technologies.

The programme focuses on training in a broad range of knowledge and skills that are applicable to the specification, design, prototyping and evaluation of advanced interactive systems. For this, the programme has been innovatively designed at the interface of three fundamental disciplines of HCI and involving three outstanding departments at Lancaster University.

• Computing Department is an international centre of excellence in Computer Science research ranked amongst the top ten Computer Science Departments in the UK (RAE 2008). The programme benefits from direct involvement of the world leading expert in the field, Professor Alan Dix who co-authored the Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, a widely used textbook in HCI education at both undergraduate and graduate level.
• Design and Imagination is part of the Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts, ranked amongst the top three institutions in the UK for Design Theory and Design Management (RAE 2008).
• Psychology Department recognised for its research expertise in design studies, creative problem solving in design, cognitive and social processes in innovative design, as well as process-tracing methodologies.

International Scholarships, Masters in Human Computer Interaction, University of Lancaster, UK … read more »