Real-time Cognitive Load Measures to Improve Trust in Autonomous Systems

Scientia PhD Scholarship for a 2020 Start at UNSW Sydney, Australia

The Most Prestiguous PhD Scholarship offered by University of New South Wales - Australia

About Scientia Scholarship

The word Scientia means "knowledge based on demonstrable and reproducible data" (Merriam-Webster dictionary). The term sits at the heart of this particular PhD project.
UNSW Australia has launched a global drive to recruit 700 exceptional PhD students over the next 10 years. 
This prestigious PhD scholarship is fully funded and offers a significant stipend to the successful applicant. The UNSW Scientia PhD Scholarships were established to attract the best research students to UNSW to work on cutting-edge game-changer topics.
This prestigious scholarship offers $41,209 stipend per annum for four years. In addition, a travel and development support package up to $10,000 per annum. For International Students, the scholarship will also include tuition scholarship which waves the fees.
Detailed guidelines for the Scholarship can be found at https://www.scientia.unsw.edu.au/scientia-phd-scholarships
The university deadline for 2020 applications is 12th of July 2019. Make sure you contact the supervisors well before this deadline. The actual application process requires a detailed research plan and more information that needs coordination with the supervisors in advance.

Project Description

Autonomous systems (AS) are at our doorsteps. What will help humanity to trust them? Can we guide the design of AS with trust indicators? Our goal is to design novel real-time measures of cognitive load using multi-modal data streams, including speech, to be used to inform the design of graphical user interfaces (GUI) for, and increase trust in, AS. Research suggests that a reduction or spreading out of the cognitive load associated with GUI, we could improve human trust in AS. The innovation resultant from this project will contribute to numerous Artificial Intelligence domains including swarming robotics and autonomous vehicles.

Candidate

The ideal candidate will have first class Honours in Computer Science or equivalent, with design skills in Human Computer Interaction, an ability to create code/program, an understanding of digital signal processing, and ideally also machine learning. Other useful skills include knowledge or interest in Cognitive Science and/or some knowledge of Cognitive Load theory. Some experience dealing with Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous systems would be an advantage. Candidates with multi-disciplinary skills will be highly valued.


You should have:
  • First Class Honours or equivalent in cognitive science, computer science, mathematics or electrical engineering;
  • An unbounded aptitude to innovate; and
  • Ability to work in a team and strive for research excellence.

Supervisory Panel

  1. A/Prof Nadine Marcus (Primary Supervisor) is an Associate Professor in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), UNSW-Sydney. She leads the HCI group and has a cross-disciplinary background. Her research interests include novel measures of mental load used to inform Interface Design; the design of improved Human Robot Interactions guided by her cognitive load theory expertise; and design of multimedia educational technology to improve human performance and learning. The multimedia educational technology research includes collecting empirical data to inform instructional design theories and commercialization of a software platform, Smartsparrow. Within the field of Cognitive Load Theory she has been influential in the discovery of animation, element interactivity and transient information effects. She has been a Reviewer and published extensively in highly ranked international peer reviewed journals and conferences within Educational Technology, Human Factors, Interface Design and Educational Psychology (55+ publications,1600+ citations, 16 h-index, $2M+ grants). 
  2. Prof Hussein Abbass (Joint Supervisor) is a Professor of Information Technology. He is a Fellow of the Operational Research Society (UK), a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society, and a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders. His current research contributes to trusted autonomy with an aim to design next generation trusted AI systems that seamlessly integrate humans and smart autonomous systems; in particular, vehicle-based and software-based swarm systems. His work fuses AI, big data, cognitive science, human factors, operations research, and robotics.
  3. Prof Julian Epps  (Co-Supervisor) is a Professor at UNSW-Sydney, who has authored more than 230 publications, which have been cited 5,500 times. He has attracted $10M of research funding, and has supervised 15 PhD students to completion. He is currently an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, and has delivered invited tutorials and keynotes on topics closely related to this proposal, e.g. at IEEE Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction 2017, IEEE Int. Conf. on Systems, Man and Cybernetics 2016, INTERSPEECH 2014 and 2015. He is recognised internationally for research on the automatic assessment of mental state from behavioural signals.

How to Apply

The first screening of applicants will be done by the Principal Supervisor. Please send the following information in an email to A/Prof. Nadine Marcus at nadine.marcus "AT" unsw.edu.au. Please cc h.abbass "AT" adfa.edu.au and hussein.abbass "AT" gmail.com  
CV;
Copy of transcripts;
Copy of previous publications;
Explain how your work fits this project and why you are most suitable for this scholarship