Biosciences (Aquaculture): Fully Funded KESS II MSc by Research Scholarship: Using novel machine-vision and deep-learning to monitor fish welfare in Aquaculture
*This scholarships is part funded by the Welsh Government’s European Social Fund (ESF) convergence programme for East Wales.*
Start date: April 2022
This project will use novel machine vision and deep-learning techniques developed by the commercial sponsor (VisiFish) to monitor the welfare of farmed fish, building on the development of Operational Welfare Indicators (OWIs) by Swansea University-CSAR. VisiFish is a UK-based company working on machine vision telematics and AI tools that can be used to monitor swimming activity, feeding behaviour, and fish size, as well as individual and population-based behaviours, useful for animal health and welfare assessment. The project will provide novel insights into the behaviour and welfare of multi-species aquaculture, and will focus on two multi-disciplinary areas:
1. Baseline testing of multi-species interactions under commercially relevant conditions
2. Development and testing of machine vision and deep-learning tools for the early detection of abnormal behaviours, before fish health or welfare are compromised.
Life Science & Health Scholarships are collaborative awards with external partners including SMEs and micro companies, as well as public and third sector organisations. The scholarship provides 1 year funding with a 3 month period to complete the thesis. The achievement of a postgraduate skills development award, PSDA, is compulsory for each KESS II scholar and is based on a 40 credit award.