Start date: 5th October 2015

Duration: 3 years

The project: Harnessing the urban surveillance infrastructure for crowd model updating and active crowd management.

The United Nations report that the urban population has grown from 746 million in 1950 to 3.9 billion, as of 2014. This is forecast to exceed 6 billion by 2045. Over half of the world’s population currently live in urban areas with the number of megacities (with population greater than 10 million) standing at 36 and set to continue growing rapidly. Against this backdrop the UN’s Population Division have stated ‘Managing urban areas has become one of the most important development challenges of the 21st century’.

To manage the urban environment, it is necessary to observe and monitor the behaviour of its occupants. As a city becomes more densely populated, the efficient movement of people within it becomes more challenging. When pedestrian traffic densities increase and public transport becomes overcrowded, the quality of the occupant’s experience is diminished. Larger cities also experience larger and more frequent crowd gatherings for celebration and festival events. As was recently demonstrated during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Shanghai, when large crowds congregate, emergent crowd behaviours can result in injury or death due to the high pedestrian densities that can develop.

Motivated by the challenges outlines above, and in line with the research objectives of the Warwick Institute for the Science of Cities (http://www.wisc.warwick.ac.uk), this project will seek to develop a framework for active crowd management that combines the state of the art in computer vision and crowd flow modelling. Of particular interest are the potential benefits of updating ‘live’ crowd models with information gleaned from video surveillance of unfolding crowd behaviour.

This project will involve both numerical and experimental work. The direction of the project will be influenced by the strengths of the successful candidate.

Eligibility:

Due to funding restrictions this award is available for well-qualified UK or EU students. Candidates are required to hold a 1st or 2.1 UK honours degree or equivalent in Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science or other relevant discipline. The admission process will also require two supporting academic references and an English qualification if your first language is not English.

Funding Details:

The Scholarship will pay an annual stipend at the standard rate (currently £14,140) and cover the UK tuition fees for 3 years.

How to apply:

To apply for this post you must complete the online application form and quote scholarship referenceSCTT.

As soon as you have a University ID number you will be invited to upload your degree certificate, transcripts, CV and a personal statement that explains your specific research interests and why you should be considered for this award.

Application Form Course Details:

Department: School of Engineering

Course Type: Research

Course: Engineering (PhD)

Application form: http://www.go.warwick.ac.uk/pgapply.