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Ph.D. Student Computational Musicology

There is an opening for a PhD student in the project Tunes & Tales (subproject Tunes).

The aim of this project is twofold:
1. To design a representation of melodies and tales as (layered) sequences of motifs (building blocks).
2. To design a model that explains and predicts the variation that occurs to melodies and tales in the process of oral transmission.
The project team will consist of two Ph.D. students, a post-doctoral researcher and a scientific programmer.

The Ph.D. student for the tunes-subproject will research the following questions: How to model a melody as a layered sequence of motifs? How to automatically detect motifs in a melody at various levels of abstraction? How to recognize a melody based on the detected motifs it consists of?

The PhD candidate should have a strong background in computer science, and a good knowledge of music theory. A master's degree in a relevant field (such as computer science, information science, computational musicology, or humanities computing) is required, as well as excellent English language skills both in conversation and in writing. The candidate is expected to be able to implement algorithms and data structures in a common programming language. Experience in Music Informatics, Music Information Retrieval, or a related field, as well as basic solfege/ear training skills is a plus.

The PhD-project will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Henkjan Honing and Prof. Dr. Louis P. Grijp, in collaboration with Dr. ir. Peter van Kranenburg. The candidate will complete and defend his/her PhD thesis within four years at the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

Please send in your application before 15 October 2011. For more information, see http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/cms/nl/vacatures-othermenu-334/ Or contact prof.dr. Henkjan Honing at

Please note that this newsitem has been archived, and may contain outdated information or links.