Doctoral Network Candidate - PhD studentship in Psychology as part of VoCS (Voice Communication Sciences) Marie Curie Network

DC18: Creating Voice Composites:

A Doctoral Candidate position is available in the research group of Dr Nadine Lavan, Department of Psychology within the School of Behavioural and Biological Sciences, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Candidates will complete a PhD and have an employment contract from QMUL. 

This project is funded by Marie Sklodowska Curie Doctoral Networks Actions  within the Horizon Europe Programme of the European Commission.

The Voice Communication Sciences (VoCS) project is a groundbreaking initiative that aims to position Europe at the forefront of Voice Research. Its primary goal is to equip Doctoral Candidates with integrated knowledge spanning cognitive neuroscience, acoustics, phonetics, and computing science, via a unique combination of hands-on research training in labs, with cross-sectorial workshops in fundamental, technological, and clinical domains relevant to voice communication.

DC18 aim to develop novel experimental voice synthesis techniques through which listeners can re-create previously heard voices, i.e., ‘voice composites’ (cf. ‘face composites’ in forensic settings). The candidate will explore how low-latency participant-led voice synthesis and/or participant-led voice selection from a database of donor voices can be used to recreate previously heard voices from memory. This project will shed light on how humans encode, represent, and remember previously heard voices from a basic science perspective and can also have forensic and/or commercial applications.

The project includes two secondments, where candidates will spend 5 months working with OxfordWaveResearch (supervised by Dr Anil Alexander) during the second year of their PhD training, and 4 months at Charles University Prague (supervised by Dr Radek Skarnitzl) during the final year of their PhD training.

By the starting date of the PhD (October 2025), candidates must have completed their Masters programme in a relevant field (e.g., psychology, cognitive science, computer science) and should not have been already awarded a doctoral degree.

An English language qualification or evidence of degree taught and examined in English is essential and must be evidenced as per QMUL’s entry requirements at the point of application: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/sbbs/postgraduate/phd-programmes/entry-requirements/

Candidates can be of any nationality but must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.

 Skills/Qualifications:

• Masters-level knowledge of and a keen interest in voice perception
• Knowledge/experience of techniques for acoustic and/or voice analysis and synthesis
• Masters-level skills in quantitative statistical analysis of human and/or acoustic research data
• Experience in or willingness to learn designing, conducting, analysing, and writing up perceptual, psychological experiments
• Familiarity with at least one programming language (e.g., R, MATLAB, Python) and a willingness and aptitude to learn more if necessary.
• Effective written and verbal communication, able to convey ideas and concepts clearly and effectively
• The ability to meet UK ‘right to work’ requirements.
• The ability to travel to meetings and conferences in the EU and elsewhere, and work on two secondments. 

This post is full time (35hrs per week) for three years, starting between August and October 2025. PhD funding is for 36 months, which works out to £3,975 per month (with family allowance) or £3,532 per month (without family allowance). This is subject to funder’s euro/pound sterling exchange rate and compulsory social security deductions.

For further details and submitting an application, Click the 'Apply' button above.

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