Durham University

As of 1st September 2023, I will be taking up a position as Assistant Professor in Visual Computing at Durham University working in the VIViD group. This marks a major transition for me, as I move from being a contract-based Assistant Professor (or Researcher RTDa in the Italian system) to a permanent member of staff (i.e. Lecturer).

As part of this transition, I’m looking for PhD students to join me in Durham. With an interest in Spatial Reasoning especially in the context of Cultural Heritage and the Arts. To give an idea of the work I’m interested in, I’ve included a brief description of my research interests below. If you are interested in working with me, please get in touch!

Research Focus: Bridging cultural analytics and knowledge graphs via neuro-symbolic reasoning

The ability of AI to provide assistive tools for the inspections and interrogation of humanities data at scale (i.e. distant reading) while preserving fine-grained analysis (i.e. close reading) relies on more than the information in the observation but linking it with the wealth of human experience and knowledge to deduce useful correlations. However, embedding such knowledge within Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools is challenging as it relies on building a complex representation of the meaning behind items or events. Such complex meaning is commonplace in the arts and cultural heritage, where the meaning behind an item (or its depicted content) is highly interlinked with culture and history. Overcoming the disconnect between visual content and knowledge would allow new and impactful insights, helping to shape the future directions of society. In addition, increased access to knowledge through question and answering and its visual equivalent.

DCitizens EU Project Page & BOSS EU Project Page

This year we see the kick-off of two new projects Bauhaus of the Seas (BOSS) and DCitizens. Two projects focused on citizens and communities with very exciting prospects. Check them out!

DCitizens project…

DCitizens aims to foster Digital Civics research and innovation in Lisbon. Digital Civics is a cross-disciplinary field that posits the use of technology to empower citizens and non-state actors to co-create, take an active role in shaping agendas, make decisions about service provision, and make such provisions sustainable and resilient. Particularly how digital technologies can scaffold a move from transactional to relational service models and the potential of such models to reconfigure power relations between citizens, communities, and institutions.

Find out more at: https://dcitizens.eu/

Bauhaus of the Seas project…

The vision of the Bauhaus of the Seas is to demonstrate and archive solutions for climate neutrality with a particular focus on coastal cities as an interface to healthy seas, ocean and water bodies envisioning a new triangle of sustainability, inclusion, and design focused on the most important global natural space – our water bodies. The BoS will offer opportunities to engage with communities for an environmentally sustainable, socially fair, and aesthetically appealing transition. Currently, seven cities, located in four different regions and aquatic ecosystems in Portugal (estuary), Italy (lagoon and gulf), Sweden/Germany (strait/river), and the Netherlands/Belgium (delta) have committed to the Bauhaus of the Seas network supporting mission-oriented pilots of the New European Bauhaus and showcase innovative solutions.

Find out more at: https://bauhaus-seas.eu/

Snapshot of MEMEX Project news

We recently published three videos on the pilot locations, Paris, Barcelona and Spain, of the MEMEX Project. This challenging collaboration effort came together during the second wave of COVID so a massive effort was needed by the Michael Culture Association, NOHO Limited, Fundacio Interarts per a la Cooperacio Cultural Internacional (InterArts), Mapas das Ideias and Dédale.

About the project…

The MEMEX project promotes social cohesion through collaborative, heritage-related tools that provide inclusive access to tangible and intangible cultural heritage and, at the same time, facilitate encounters, discussions and interactions between communities at risk of social exclusion. These tools will empower communities of people with the possibility of welding together their fragmented experiences and memories into compelling and geolocalised storylines using new personalised digital content linked to the pre-existent European Cultural Heritage (CH). The tools of MEMEX will allow the communities to tell their stories and to claim their rights and equal participation in European society. To this end, MEMEX will nurture actions that contribute to, rather than undermine, practices of recognition of differences by giving voice to individuals for promoting cultural diversity.

Image from Unsplash (Free To Use Sounds)

We have two (exciting) positions to join us on the MEMEX EU Project! One engineer to coordinate with the project consortium to develop an innovative app exposing Cultural Heritage and project participant stories. The second is a post-doc to research and develop algorithms for 3D Scene Understanding! These are two very exciting positions to work with us and create impactful tools and research.

About the project…

The MEMEX project promotes social cohesion through collaborative, heritage-related tools that provide inclusive access to tangible and intangible cultural heritage and, at the same time, facilitate encounters, discussions and interactions between communities at risk of social exclusion. These tools will empower communities of people with the possibility of welding together their fragmented experiences and memories into compelling and geolocalised storylines using new personalised digital content linked to the pre-existent European Cultural Heritage (CH). The tools of MEMEX will allow the communities to tell their stories and to claim their rights and equal participation in the European society. To this end, MEMEX will nurture actions that contribute to, rather than undermine, practices of recognition of differences by giving voice to individuals for promoting cultural diversity.

Project Site: https://memexproject.eu/

Post Doc

The research topics on 3D scene understanding are related to the recent PAVIS achievements on Spatial AI related to 3D semantic mapping, object 3D localization, graph neural networks (GNNs) for scene modelling and active visual reasoning by integrating deep learning models with multi-view geometry approaches. Such methods will leverage massive worldwide geolocalised data as provided by project partners to finally deploy a mobile app that understands, localizes and reason about the semantic elements present in a generic scene.

Engineer

The candidate will have the opportunity to work on realistic problems involving leading European research centers and companies with the aim to create a novel AR platform able to understand the semantic scene structure of the environment using an RGB video stream from a smartphone.

Application Details

To apply, follow the instructions indicated at the following links:

Engineer Position: https://iit.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=2000002M

Post Doc Position: https://iit.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=2000002K

Image from Unsplash (Suad Kamardeen)

Exciting news, for me and possibly for you! This post marks my first PhD call where I will be leading the research direction of the successful candidate in collaboration with Alessio Del Bue (IIT) and Sebastiano Vascon (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice). So, we are looking for someone with interest in pursuing a PhD in Visual Reasoning to join the Pattern Analysis and Computer Vision Department of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). The University of Genova are the awarding body of this PhD, so please be careful of the details which can be found on the University of Genova website.

Theme F: Visual Reasoning with Knowledge and Graph Neural Networks for scene understanding

Machine ability to detect objects within images has surpassed human ability, however, when posed with relatively simple more complex tasks machines quickly struggle. This theme focuses on developing AI systems that are able to access knowledge stored in Knowledge Graphs to understand the world around the camera view. Few works have successfully integrated knowledge in Computer Vision systems and knowledge graphs provide one avenue. This research will study methods to integrate knowledge for user interaction via retrieval or visual question and answering within real world environments. In particular, shallow and deep graph-based methodologies are promising computational framework to include external knowledge and also maintaining a high degree of interpretability, a necessary feature for modern AI systems.

** There are other themes check them out to work in our department **

Application Details

To apply, follow the instructions indicated at the following links where the notice of public examination in Italian and in English are published:

https://unige.it/en/usg/en/phd-programmes

https://unige.it/en/students/phd-programmes

In short, the documentation to be submitted is a detailed CV, a research proposal under one or more themes chosen among Theme K or the other themes (please, see also a project proposal template at the link indicated below), reference letters, and any other formal document concerning the degrees earned.

Please note that these documents are mandatory in order to consider valid the application.

IMPORTANT: In order to apply, candidates must prepare a research proposal based on the research topics above mentioned.

Please, follow these indications to prepare it:

https://pavisdata.iit.it/data/phd/ResearchProjectTemplate.pdf

ONLINE APPLICATION DEADLINE is June 15th, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. (noon, Italian time/CEST)

STRICT DEADLINE, NO EXTENSION.

Additional Links:

• PhD Call
• PAVIS Department of IIT
• Visual Geometry and Modelling Lab of IIT
• IIT
• University of Genova

Disclaimer

Please note your in-name supervisor will be Dr. Alessio Del Bue who leads the Pattern Analysis and Computer Vision department, however, your research activities will be led by myself. The Italian application process applies to a call, not a tutor/supervisor, where supervisor are selected based on the most suitable.