I am super excited about our new Nordic Sound and Music Computing Network, which has just started up with funding from the Nordic Research Council.

This network brings together a group of internationally leading sound and music computing researchers from institutions in five Nordic countries: Aalborg University, Aalto University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, University of Iceland, and University of Oslo. The network covers the field of sound and music from the “soft” to the “hard,” including the arts and humanities, and the social and natural sciences, as well as engineering, and involves a high level of technological competency.

At the University of Oslo we have one open PhD fellowship connected to the network, with application deadline 4 April 2018. We invite PhD proposals that focus on sound/music interaction with periodic/rhythmic human body motion (walking, running, training, etc.). The appointed candidate is expected to carry out observation studies of human body motion in real-life settings, using different types of mobile motion capture systems (full-body suit and individual trackers). Results from the analysis of these observation studies should form the basis for the development of prototype systems for using such periodic/rhythmic motion in musical interaction.

The appointed candidate will benefit from the combined expertise within the NordicSMC network, and is expected to carry out one or more short-term scientific missions to the other partners. At UiO, the candidate will be affiliated with RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion. This interdisciplinary centre focuses on rhythm as a structuring mechanism for the temporal dimensions of human life. RITMO researchers span the fields of musicology, psychology and informatics, and have access to state-of-the-art facilities in sound/video recording, motion capture, eye tracking, physiological measurements, various types of brain imaging (EEG, fMRI), and rapid prototyping and robotics laboratories.