Vision, Speech and Signal Processing PhD

Why choose this course
At the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP) we’re developing exciting and ground-breaking technologies, from facial recognition for security and medical imaging through to 3D spatial audio and 3D reconstruction from the video for visual-effects production in films, games, and virtual reality. Our research is creating machines that can see, hear and understand the world around them.

The Centre is one of the largest audio and vision research groups in Europe, and we’re internationally recognized for our pioneering research and novel technologies in audio-visual machine perception. We bring together a unique combination of cutting-edge sound and vision expertise with over 120 researchers and currently have over £18 million in research grants.

Our research aims to advance the state-of-the-art in audio-visual signal processing, computer vision, and machine learning, with a focus on image, video and audio applications. We have expertise and activities in computer vision, digital signal processing, machine learning and artificial intelligence, computer graphics and human-computer interaction, data science for media, medical image analysis, and multimedia communication.

We often collaborate with industry and our research has led to frequent technology transfer and exploitation, with previous research projects having resulted in award-winning spin-out companies in biometrics, communications, medical technologies and in the creative industries.

Our audio-visual research facilities are cutting-edge, and include a unique multiple UltraHD performance capture studio and high-performance computing capabilities for real-time analysis and machine learning.

What you will study
You can take a maximum of four years of full-time study to complete our PhD programme. After 12 months, you’ll write a confirmation report, which is assessed by two independent examiners. After that, you’ll submit a written PhD thesis after a minimum of three years of full-time study. We’ll work with you to make a detailed evaluation of your progress and future research plans every six months to help you keep on track to complete your Ph.D.

You’ll be allocated two Surrey-based academic supervisors, in addition to any external collaborative supervisors. Your principal supervisor will be an expert in your area of research and will be in charge of monitoring your research progress on a regular basis. Your supervisors will help you to define the initial objective and scope of your research, and to refine these as your project evolves. They’ll direct you to resources to help you learn the necessary experimental, theoretical or computing skills you need, and will be able to advise you on how to complete your PhD and your thesis. We often appoint external collaborative supervisors to contribute specific expertise or to allow access to external resources or organisations.

You’ll also be assigned to a research group, which includes a team of academics, postdoctoral researchers, guest scientists and fellows. Lots of our research at CVSSP is interdisciplinary and you’ll likely have the opportunity to collaborate with scientists at universities, research establishments, and industries around the world. We encourage active interaction your peers and our researchers and academics, and offer a friendly environment that nurtures openness and collaboration. You’ll be encouraged to present your research at well-renowned national and international conferences to gain experience and establish networks with leading researchers.

Our monthly seminars are open to all postgraduate researchers and host leading experts from other institutions within the UK and from overseas who give talks to members of the Centre in specific areas of research. In addition, our postgraduate researchers also attend regular internal seminars, where you’ll be able to present your individual research or practice presentations you’d like to give at conferences or events.

The University also holds an annual postgraduate researcher conference on campus, where you’ll be able to showcase your work and network with other researchers and academics.

You may also be eligible to apply for membership with the British Machine Vision Association, the Audio Engineering Society, the British Computer Society and the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). You may also apply for Chartered Engineer status with the Engineering Council UK and with the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Research support
The professional development of postgraduate researchers is supported by the Doctoral College, which provides training in essential skills through its Researcher Development Programme of workshops, mentoring and coaching. A dedicated postgraduate Careers and Employability team will help you prepare for a successful career after the completion of your PhD.

Research themes
Our research activities within the CVSSP are grouped into the following labs:

• The A-Lab focuses on machine audition, developing audio signal processing technology relating to speech recognition, and blind source separation.
• The B-Lab focuses on biometric and security related technologies, specialising in facial biometrics and lip tracking.
• The C-Lab focuses on cognitive systems, covering a broad range of technologies relating to visual interaction with computers. These include sign language recognition and robotics.
• The I-Lab focuses on multimedia communications, including audio-visual coding, annotation, search, broadcast and streaming technologies.
• The M-Lab focuses on medical imaging technologies and works closely with leading healthcare institutions.
• The V-Lab focuses on  computer vision and machine learning for visual media, specialising in 3D and 4D content production for film, TV and VR including performance capture, animation, visual action recognition and audio-visual scene understanding.

Our six research themes cover a range of topics, including but not limited to the following:

• Computer vision
• Machine learning
• Robotics and autonomous systems
• 3D and 4D video
• 3D spatial audio
• Biometrics
• Blind source separation
• Coding and transmission
• Facial analysis
• Human motion analysis
• Media adaptation
• Media networking
• Medical image acquisition
• Medical image analysis
• Quality of experience
• Sign and gesture analysis
• Speech and audio processing
• Surveillance
• Video and audio retrieval
• Interfaces/visual interaction.