PhD Studentship Single view human reconstruction in large uncontrolled environments
Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship in the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP) at the University of Surrey. The student will work at the intersection of computer vision, computer graphics and machine learning with a focus on addressing open research challenges in the creative industry. Research topics include, but are not limited to, photo-realistic human reconstruction and synthesis; multimodal neural rendering; immersive content production.
The ideal candidate must be self-motivated and have a strong interest in cutting edge research. In addition, the candidate must have a strong mathematical background and programming skills (C++/Python), prior experience with computer vision and graphics, and hands-on experience with machine learning toolkits (tensorflow/pytorch) and/or 3D tools (unity/unreal/blender/maya) is desirable.
This research aims to address the challenges of single view human reconstruction in large uncontrolled capture volumes, where factors such as occlusion, lighting variations, and low-resolution degrade performance. The primary focus will be on developing robust learnt representations of humans leveraging the latest advances in AI and data generation techniques to accurately reconstruct human shape and appearance from monocular inputs.
Expected contributions include: Temporally stable single view human geometry reconstruction from unconstrained low-resolution video
- A learnt model of human appearance from unconstrained low-resolution video
- A unified model of human shape and appearance from unconstrained low-resolution video
- Ultimately this work aims to democratise human reconstruction technology by enabling its deployment in settings with minimal resources, dramatically lowering barriers to entry, and broadening its impact across industries and communities.
Studentship
Awards cover UK tuition fees and provide a stipend at the UKRI rate for a period of 3 years. The UK fees and stipend for 2025/26 have not yet been announced but for the academic year of 2024/25 the UK fees (paid directly to the Institution) are £4,786 and the stipend (Tax-free maintenance payment based on the UK Research and Innovation minimum rate) is £20,780 from 1 Oct 2025 (£22,780 if London weighting applies).
As a doctoral student, you may be able to access added funding to cover the cost of other related training and development opportunities.
How to Apply
Stage 1: Please contact the Lead Supervisor of the PhD opportunity via email. You will then need to work with the Lead Supervisor and supervisory team to send your CV and 500-word Expression of Interest by Friday March 14th, 2025.
Please label your files clearly with your surname plus PhD ID reference code plus your surname, for example: SURNAME_RHUL1. Please quote the relevant PhD topic in all correspondence.
Stage 2: Interviews will be held before Thursday March 27th, 2025.
Stage 3: Offers will be made by Friday April 25th, 2025.
Incomplete or late applications will not be considered
Informal enquires should be directed to Dr Marco Volino.
About CVSSP
Our Centre is ranked number one for Computer Vision in the UK and it is one of the largest in Europe with over 150 researchers and a grant portfolio in excess of £23million. CVSSP brings together a unique combination of cutting-edge sound and vision expertise, with an outstanding track-record of innovative research leading to technology transfer and exploitation in biometrics, creative industries (film, TV, games, VR, AR), mobile communication, healthcare, robotics, autonomous vehicles and consumer electronics.
Postgraduate research with CVSSP
CVSSP promotes an exciting, supportive, and inclusive research environment. Secondments with industry and international groups are encouraged during the PhD to broaden experience and to ensure research is kept relevant to real-world problems. Our PhD researchers contribute to advancing the state-of-the art through publication and by participating in leading international forums. The Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) 2018 ranked the University of Surrey 7th in the UK out of 63 and 4th for retention and completion.