- Vialab is at capacity and not accepting new students for fall 2018.
Dr. Christopher Collins, Canada Research Chair in Linguistic Information Visualization, is seeking highly motivated MSc and PhD students for funded research positions in information visualization, visual analytics, and human-computer interaction. Positions are available on an ongoing basis, including Fall 2015. Successful candidates will join the visualization for information analysis lab (http://vialab.science.uoit.ca), a well-equipped research facility at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Canada. UOIT, founded in 2002, is Canada’s newest university, located just 40 minutes east of the vibrant and multicultural city of Toronto.
Research Themes
Themes of research at the vialab include visual text analytics, interaction design for gestural and multi-touch interfaces, social media analytics, and computer-assisted learning. In our world of big data, experts who can research, design, implement, and manage projects to sift through, analyze, and reason about data are in very high demand. Business intelligence, data science, and text analytics are some of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. Graduates of the vialab are equipped with interdisciplinary skills in data analytics, visualization, interaction design, and research management and leave the lab well-equipped for a variety of opportunities with governments, business, industry, and academia.
Example new project areas include designing intuitive guidance for visual text analytics (how to help people use visualizations effectively), and investigating ways to infer and respond to user state (frustration, engagement) with a variety of state-of-the-art sensor hardware. Many topic areas are possible upon agreement with the supervisor.
Skills Needed
Good candidates will have:
- A bachelor’s degree or higher in computer science, information visualization, and/or human-computer interaction (non-traditional candidates with demonstrated technical skills are invited to apply)
- Strong programming skills
- Demonstrated design skills or an interest in learning about design
- Good written and oral communication skills (in English)
- Be excited to join a creative, motivated, fun team of people!
Funding
Funding is provided at levels commensurate with other Canadian and American universities as long as the student is in good standing in the graduate program. Students also receive full funding to attend international conferences (e.g. ACM CHI, ACM ITS, IEEE VIS) to present their research. Doctoral students are encouraged and supported to participate in internship opportunities at industry partners.
Applying
Interested applicants should email christopher.collins@uoit.ca as soon as possible and include a CV and a statement describing your interest in the lab’s research. After an initial contact, candidates will be encouraged to apply through the official application process.
More information about the CS Graduate Program at UOIT is available at http://www.gradstudies.uoit.ca/future_students/