Job Description

The Division Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology of the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology (IDMT) in Oldenburg, Germany, is seeking to fill the position of a

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher (PhD student)

in the frame of the European Training Network SOUNDS. The PhD student will carry out theoretical and applied research in the interdisciplinary fields of signal processing, audio processing, communication networks and machine learning and will be fully embedded in the SOUNDS research and training network.

The topics of the PhD position relate to the following fields:
- Sound source localization
- Sound source detection and separation
- Development of machine/deep learning based algorithms for acoustic signal processing
- Real-time implementation

The PhD student will be jointly supervised by Prof. Jörg Bitzer and Prof. Simon Doclo.

THE “SOUNDS” PROJECT
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The SOUNDS European Training Network (ETN) revolves around a new and promising paradigm coined as Service-Oriented, Ubiquitous, Network-Driven Sound. Inspired by the ubiquity of mobile and wearable devices capable of capturing, processing, and reproducing sound, the SOUNDS ETN aims to bring audio technology to a new level by exploiting network-enabled cooperation between devices. We envision the next generation of audio devices to be capable of providing enhanced hearing assistance, creating immersive audio experience, enabling advanced voice control and much more, by seamlessly exchanging signals and parameter settings, and spatially analyzing and reproducing sound jointly with other nearby audio devices and infrastructure. Moreover, such functionality should be self-organizing, flexible, and scalable, requiring minimal user interaction for adapting to changes in the environment or network. It is anticipated that this paradigm will eventually result in an entirely new way of designing and using audio technology, by considering audio as a service enabled through shared infrastructure, rather than as a device-specific functionality limited by the capabilities and constraints of a single user device.

The SOUNDS ETN strongly values research integrity, actively supports open access and reproducible research, and strives for diversity and gender balance in its entire research and training program. The SOUNDS ETN adheres to The European Charter for Researchers and The Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.

More information about the European Training Network SOUNDS can be found on https://www.sounds-etn.eu/

What we expect from you
====================
- scientific university degree in Signal Processing, Informatics, Computer Science or equivalent
- knowledge about audio signal processing (single- and multichannel)
- knowledge about machine learning and state-of-the-art frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, etc.)
- programming skills in Python, C/C++, MATLAB
- Excellent proficiency in English is required, as well as good communication skills, both oral and written.
- Fulfillment of the MSCA Early Stage admission requirements: Researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Germany more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account. Researchers must have less than 4 years FTE researcher experience since their graduation and should not yet have a PhD.
- working independently
- team ability
- problem solving ability

What you can expect from us
=======================
- An interesting task area at the junction of science and application
- Excellent technical infrastructure
- Flat hierarchies, a loyal work environment in a committed, international team
- Room for creativity
- Very good work-life balance and family friendly arrangements (e.g. flexible working hours and a “parent-child office”)
- In case of identical qualifications preference will be given to severely disabled candidates.

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