PhD Scholarship in Signal Processing for Home Sleep Monitoring (TU/e - NETHERLAND)

Project description

Many people suffer from a lack of sleep. This immediately adversely affects ones mood, attention and ability to concentrate. This project does the scientific groundwork for a home sleep monitoring solution. By doing unobtrusive physiological measurements during the night, such a system can inform people about the characteristics and quality of their personal sleep. Providing people with insight in their sleep means empowering them to improve the quality of their sleep. The project develops a sleep quality model for describing the characteristics of a person’s sleep in a way that, on the one hand, is intuitively understandable and corresponds with one’s subjective sleep

quality experience, and on the other hand, can be objectively assessed from unobtrusively acquired physiological data. The project will deliver algorithms for automatic sleep quality assessment in combination with a deep understanding of objective and subjective sleep quality measures and their relationships. Two PhD students will be working closely together on the project conducting fundamental scientific research, one having a signal processing/data mining background focusing on objective sleep quality measures, the other one having a psychology or psycho-physiology background focusing on the assessment of subjective sleep quality.

For Philips, Home Sleep Monitoring can lead to new product / service offerings for its Healthcare as well as its Consumer Lifestyle businesses. For the TU/e, the project strengthens its ‘health’ theme, which is one of the three major focal points where research will concentrate across faculties in the next few years, thus putting it at the forefront of research in healthcare and well being technology at an international level.

Job description

This vacancy concerns the signal processing/data mining PhD student and is positioned in the signal processing systems group at TU/e. This group is one of the most prominent electrical engineering groups in The Netherlands, with an excellent atmosphere, an outstanding academic reputation (as evidenced, for example, by 5 IEEE Fellowships), and an exceptional utilization track record (as evidenced by numerous patents and by 6 recent spin-out companies).

The project is a collaborative effort of TU/e and Philips Research. You will be appointed at TU/e. For a large part of your time, you will be embedded at Philips Research allowing close interaction with their sleep researchers. Together with the other PhD student you will form an enthousiastic team.

Requirements

Candidates for this position should have a Master’s degree in electrical engineering or physics with excellent grades (First Class Honors or equivalent). A strong basis in signal processing and/or data mining is required, along with a demonstrated ability to think out of the box and to link theory to applications. Candidates should be pro-active and entrepreneurial, and should have a ‘hands-on’ attitude. Other key attributes include good analytic, experimental and programming skills, excellent social and team working skills, and an ability to turn chaos into order.

What we offer:

This PhD position involves a temporary (4-year) appointment as a staff member of TU/e, with internationally competitive salary and social benefits, full exemption of tuition fees, and a unique opportunity to simultaneously build an industrial track record. Gross monthly salaries are in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement (CAO) and are at least € 2042,00 per month and at most € 2612,00 per month. An attractive package of fringe benefits (including excellent work facilities, child care, and excellent sports facilities).

Information

For further information please contact prof.dr.ir. J.W.M. Bergmans, TU/e  (j.w.m.bergmans@tue.nl) tel. +31 40 2474438 or dr.ir. Reinder Haakma, Philips Research: Reinder.Haakma@philips.com, tel. +31 40 2748208.

Application

If you are interested in this position, please upload a detailed curriculum vitae, an application letter motivating why the position and the proposed research is of interest to you and summarizing your views on the research area, a publication list, a copy of your best publication in English, course lists of your Masters and Bachelor programs (incl. grades), results of a recent English language test and the names of two references. In addition please indicate when you would be available to assume a position. The positions will be filled as soon as possible. The application can be send, all in electronic form, by using the  “Apply Now” button.

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