Lead Supervisor name: Dr Hamid Bouchachia

Project description:

In collaboration with RevoCom Ltd, UK and NAKAYO, Japan, the project will investigate the design and development of a Telecare platform to support independent living for elderly and people with disabilities. A Telecare platform assumes that the home is equipped with seamlessly embedded cheap, low-power and interconnected sensing technologies (sensors, actuators, etc.) attached to the occupants and the environment objects to assist and facilitate their daily life and also to provide carer/family members with remote monitoring solutions. The project will look at the third generation of care systems and beyond, where different classes of sensors are considered and various reasoning capabilities are enabled. In particular it will investigate the following:

1-         Which type of information needs to be sensed,

2-         Which sensing technology is able to capture that information,

3-         Sensor networking to be deployed, including: communication protocols, energy efficiency, self-management and self-configuration.

In terms of data, the project will look at the care needs for a range of older people, especially within the following categories:

1-         Elderly who are healthy but have predisposition to long term conditions or those suffering from mild or moderate impairment symptoms. These people are capable of living independently.

2-         Vulnerable elderly who lack cognitive senses and/or have physical mobility problems because of physical disability or because of early onset of dementia.

In this project we will investigate self-configuration and self-management as key characteristics for successful deployment of Telecare systems in diverse real-world applications.

This project offers a very interesting training opportunity for the candidate. Different subjects are involved in the project like sensor networks, system engineering, ageing, Telecare, Telehealth, etc. Issues like project planning and management will also be part of the learning process.

The candidate will be exposed to the academic and industrial environments by having access to secondments at RevoCom and NAKAYO. While at BU, the candidate will receive research-based training, at RevoCom and NAKAYO, he/she will get familiar with research and development in the industrial setting. The candidate will gain various skills, especially scientific skills, employability skills and industrial experience from interacting with the industrial partners. Moreover, the candidate will have the opportunity to interact with local and international researchers and will be expected to attend international conferences to present his/her results.

What does the funded studentship include?

Funded candidates will receive a maintenance grant of £14,000 per annum to cover their living expenses and have their fees waived for 36 months. In addition, research costs, including field work and conference attendance, will be met.

Eligibility criteria

All candidates must satisfy the University’s minimum doctoral entry criteria for studentships of an honours degree at Upper Second Class (2.1) and/or an appropriate Master’s degree. Candidates should have an excellent knowledge of sensor networking (communication protocols), very good Java programming skills, a good background in Home Automation/Smart Homes and basic knowledge of Electronics.

An IELTS (Academic) score of 6.5 minimum (or equivalent) is essential for candidates for whom English is not their first language.

Closing date: The first call for applications will close on 1 May 2015

For further information on how to apply click the ‘Apply’ button below or emailpgradmissions<στο>bournemouth.ac.uk