Data61 PhD Top-up Scholarship - 3D computer vision and 3D printing (Jun 2022)

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CSIRO’s Postgraduate Top-Up Scholarship Program provides enhanced opportunities in science and engineering for outstanding graduates enrolling each year at Australian tertiary institutions as postgraduates for research leading to the award of a PhD.  CSIRO’s Data61 is currently offering a PhD Top-up Scholarship for PhD students in 3D Computer vision and machine learning for 3D manufacturing.

CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarships are available to postgraduate students who have gained (or expect to gain), first or upper second class honours or equivalent, in relevant research areas. Students must also in receipt of, or expect to receive, a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship or an equivalent primary scholarship commencing in 2021 or early 2022.  Joint supervision of students by a university and a CSIRO supervisor is required and such joint supervisory arrangements must be consistent with the Higher Degree by Research Regulations of the host university. The students’ research will be co-supervised by CSIRO and university researchers.  

A CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship is a supplementary award, which add to the student’s support from a principal scholarship awarded by another body, e.g. RTP scholarship.  In all respects recipients of awards will be regarded as students of the University at which they are registered, and all rules relating to degree candidature and the primary award will apply. In particular, recipients will undertake research at CSIRO as a student of the university concerned and will not be employees of CSIRO.

Recipients of CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarships are generally required to be Australian citizens or permanent residents. However, in fields in which there is a national skill shortage, awards may be awarded to overseas candidates. 

Project Title:  3D Computer vision and machine learning for 3D manufacturing 

Project Details:   This project will explore novel 3D computer vision and AI approaches to the fundamental problem of 3D manufacturing or 3D printing. Traditional 3D printing is a one-way process without feedback to correct for mistakes, leading to a high failure rate, low accuracy and low speed. This problem leads to difficulty to use, high cost, low quality, and inflexibility in design and operation.

Adopting and developing suitable 3D computer vision and machine learning techniques will enable 3D printing to increase speed and quality. Recent developments in this direction give great promise to tackle this problem and positively impact a range of industries. However, more research is required to allow the approach to work with different 3D printing methods and materials, particularly solving the problem of high-speed imaging and/or high accuracy, limited space, challenging optical properties. The PhD candidate will review the 3D reconstruction, machine learning and 3D printing techniques, then work with supervisors and stakeholders to develop and experiment with different approaches. Finally, apply the solutions to CSIRO's science and industrial applications.

• Contact:  Click on the Apply now button to learn more.
• Location:  Black Mountain, ACT (Marsfield, Sydney considered)
• Scholarship:  AU$10,000 per year (stipend)
• Tenure:   Up to 2 years
• Reference:  76646

Pre-Requisites/Eligibility:

To be eligible to apply you must have (or expect to gain):

• first or upper second-class honours or equivalent in a relevant research area;
• admission to an Australian University as a PhD student;
• hold an appropriate visa to study in Australia (if international)*
• hold a primary scholarship; for example, a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship or other primary scholarship of similar value
• not be in receipt of any other Top-Up scholarship
• have experience in one or more of the relevant research areas include computer vision, machine learning, mechatronics, robotics, smart manufacturing
• a university supervisor who is willing and able to supervise you; and
• be available to commence with CSIRO no later than 30 June 2022

* International applicants must be residing in Australia and have the appropriate immigration approvals to allow them to take up the scholarship. 

The successful applicant will be required to obtain and provide a National Police Check or equivalent.

Applications will be assessed on:

1. Quality and relevance of student project:  The primary assessment criterion for a CSIRO Postgraduate Scholarship is the quality and relevance of the project being proposed.  The research must be aligned with the advertised priority research area.
2. Academic calibre of the student:  The quality of the student is also critical to the assessment of a scholarship and candidates must hold (or expect to gain) a relevant first or upper second class honours (or equivalent) degree from a recognised university.
3. Availability of appropriate university supervision:  The relevance of the university supervisor’s research background and their willingness to supervise the student in collaboration with the CSIRO supervisor should also be made clear. 

How to apply:

You will be required to:

1. submit a Resume/CV and Cover Letter (as one document) in the ‘Resume/CV’ field which includes:
   • the names and contact details of two previous supervisors or academic/professional referees; and
   • a one-page proposal stating how your research interests align with the project aims.
2. upload your academic results in the ‘Cover Letter’ field.

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