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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:105%">3 PhD positions “Visual factors underlying aesthetic image preferences”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US">Three full-time PhD</span><span lang="EN-GB"> positions are available to work on the GRAPPA project, funded by an ERC Advanced Grant, recently awarded to Johan
Wagemans at KU Leuven (Belgium). The GRAPPA project (acronym for “Gestalts Relate Aesthetic Preferences to Perceptual Analysis”) aims to develop and test a model to predict, explain and understand aesthetic preferences for natural images and pictures of artworks
on the basis of mid-level vision factors. The central working hypothesis is that these factors (e.g., figure-ground segmentation, symmetry, composition, colour harmony, perceptual ambiguity) provide a bridge between supposedly universal principles of low-level
perceptual analysis based on image statistics and high-level style and content preferences that may vary between different cultural groups and individuals (“the eye of the beholder”). The GRAPPA project will combine large-scale online testing of aesthetic
preferences for images and psychophysical experiments on specific perceptual organization principles with gradually more sophisticated modelling based on machine learning and computer vision. The validation stage will go beyond mere preference and beyond images
to include more general measures of aesthetic appreciation, mobile eye-tracking studies in museums, and collaborations with contemporary artists. For more information on the project, see
</span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.kuleuven.be/english/research/EU/p/he/p1/erc/GRAPPA">https://www.kuleuven.be/english/research/EU/p/he/p1/erc/GRAPPA</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-GB">The three PhD students we are recruiting now will work on the following topics, with specific interests and skills:
</span><span lang="EN-US">PhD1 with background in psychology for the theoretical and experimental work on factors of perceptual organization determining aesthetic appreciation; PhD2 with background in image processing or computer vision for the automatic computation
of factors of perceptual organization in real images; PhD3 with background in machine learning or neural networks for the development, training and use of DNNs. For PhD positions 2 and 3, co-supervisors in computer vision and/or machine learning are possible
in Leuven or Nijmegen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Eligible candidates have
<span lang="EN-US">relevant Master degrees with some </span>research experience <span lang="EN-US">
obtained through their Master thesis and/or research internship. All candidates</span> are
<span lang="EN-US">expected to be keen on conducting interdisciplinary research</span>,
<span lang="EN-US">with </span>a creative mind, good problem solving skills, and a collaborative, open-minded, and collegial attitude.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">We currently have funding for
<span lang="EN-US">four</span> years<span lang="EN-US"> for each of these positions</span>, starting with a one<span lang="EN-US">-</span>year contract. We have a good track record helping
<span lang="EN-US">PhD students to </span>obtain their own <span lang="EN-US">PhD</span> fellowships afterwards, allowing them to extend their stay and broaden the range of research questions. The net amount of the salary will be competitive and in accordance
with the <span lang="EN-US">u</span>niversity fellowship scales for <span lang="EN-US">
PhD students</span>. The position is <span lang="EN-US">mainly for </span>research, with<span lang="EN-US"> 120 hours of
</span>teaching <span lang="EN-US">support per year in a course related to their background or interests</span>. KU Leuven is one of the best European universities according to international rankings (#4<span lang="EN-US">1</span> world-wide in the
<span lang="EN-US">2021 </span>THE ranking). Our research group belongs to the department of Brain & Cognition<span lang="EN-US">,
</span>located in the centre of Leuven, a vibrant university town which is only a 25-minute commute from the centre of Brussels and its international airport.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN-US">Interested candidates should email
<a href="mailto:johan.wagemans@kuleuven.be">johan.wagemans@kuleuven.be</a> as soon as possible, with (1) a motivation letter indicating for which of these 3 positions they apply, (2) an extended CV including their study curriculum, skills, and relevant experience,
as well as (3) two names and email addresses of colleagues who know the candidate through course work or research projects. Relevant candidates will be contacted to apply formally through the KU Leuven recruitment system. Candidates who will participate in
the Visual Science of Art Conference (<a href="https://vsac2022.tudelft.nl/">VSAC</a>) in Amsterdam (August 24-27) and/or the European Conference on Visual Perception (<a href="https://2022.ecvp.eu/">ECVP</a>) in Nijmegen (August 28 – September 1) should try
to meet Johan Wagemans there. There is no formal deadline yet but the positions will be filled as soon as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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