Biological Sciences: Fully Funded EPSRC DTP PhD Scholarship: Collective animal behaviour and artificial swarm systems
Funding providers: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) DTP
Subject areas: Computational biology, mathematical biology, animal behaviour, social networks, swarm intelligence, swarm robotics
Project start date:
- 1 January 2023 (Enrolment open from mid-December)
Project supervisors:
- Dr Andrew King
- Dr Miguel Lurgi Rivera
- Dr Ines Fürtbauer
Aligned programme of study: PhD in Biological Sciences
Mode of study: Full-time
Project description:
Swarm robotic systems are inspired by collective animal behaviour, and usually comprise coordinated groups of simple, autonomous agents that move and interact with each other in the same way. However, recent advances in animal behaviour observations show high individual heterogeneity in almost every collective animal behaviour system they study, and this heterogeneity is important for animal group structure and functioning. This PhD project will use unique datasets on the collective behaviour of fish shoals, bird flocks, and mammal groups, to address the mismatch between swarm model assumptions and reality. The aim is to understand heterogeneity’s role in the emergence of collective patterns, with a view to engineering better artificial swarm systems. The ideal candidate will have a masters level degree and research interests and expertise in computational/mathematical biology, or similar. If you are unsure about whether your background “fits” the PhD, please get in touch for a chat.