PhD Positions: Sentech-Centre for 5G for Sustainability

Through this job advert we seek students to join our centre for 5G for sustainability (funded by Sentech) as PhD scholars. We are seeking students for three projects whose details are given in the Appendix.

 

Requirements

  • Master’s degree (Electrical or Mechanical Engineering or Computer Science or related field). Exceptionally bright students with BSc (Eng) would also be considered. In this case they will register as MSc student first and upgrade to PhD level within 12-18 months. Note than the stipend at MSc level is 135k ZAR. 
  • Strong coding and/or hardware skills. • Confidence with version control tools (specifically Git).
  • A strong publication record would be advantageous.
  • Good communication skills and ability/willingness to integrate within a multidisciplinary international research group.
  • A strong preference would be given to South African students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds or/and South African students with disability or/and South African female students.

 

Value and Tenure

The value of the fellowship R150,000 – R200,000 stipend (tax-free) + tuition fees and is a full-time position, based in Cape Town for a period of three years.

The stipend is paid quarterly (with the first payment being made in advance) on satisfactory progress in the preceding quarter.

No relocation expenses are available, and the fellowship carries no benefits.

We have thriving collaborations with multiple labs from Europe and the candidate may have opportunities to spend three months in our partner labs. They should be willing to take such an assignment.

 

Application procedure

Applications close 15th July 2023 and must include the following:

  • A 1-page cover letter explaining the candidate's suitability and experience, as well as their availability. Clearly mention which PhD topic you are most interested in.
  • The applicant's full curriculum vitae and a full list of publications.
  • Link to applicant’s GitHub page.
  • The names and contact details of three academics who have taught, supervised, or worked alongside the applicant.
  • Academic transcripts including undergraduate, honour’s (if applicable) and master’s (if completed already).

Potential candidates to email their applications as a single pdf to Ms Nicole Moodley (Nicole.moodley@uct.ac.za) with the subject line “SENTECH PHD APPLICATION - IRL”.

 

APPENDIX: LIST OF PHD TOPICS

Sl. No. Title Hypothesis & Research Questions

Supervisor(s)
1. 5G-enhanced Telerobotic surgery: Integration of robotics and communication towards Telesurgery

Hypothesis: 5G/6G communication help to facilitate the networking requirements of low latency and high reliability to enable telerobotic surgery.

Research Questions:

1. What are the main challenges in integrating haptic feedback, force and position tracking into modern robotic telesurgery systems?

2. What are the network performance requirements of telerobotic telesurgery?

3. How can these requirements be met over mobile networks, specifically 5G and beyond network architectures? 4. How can such system be integrated with the robotic surgery equipment in hospitals?

 Dr Joyce Mwangama joyce.mwangama@uct.ac.za and Prof. Amit Kumar Mishra (amit.mishra@uct.ac.za )
2. ZKML Based 5G M2M Datalinks

Hypothesis: Use of ZL-ML framework would make 5G more reliable and robust.

Research Questions:

1. What exact benefits can ZK-ML bring to AI based slicing in 5G?

2. Can it be implemented using current technology?

3. What would be the quantitative benefit ZKML can bring to Afro-centric applications of 5G?

4. Can ZKML be incorporated in some limited manner using edge-devices?

5. For a 5G modem using FPGA, can the resources be shared between modem and ZKML for an efficient utilisation of hardware?

 Prof. Amit Kumar Mishra (amit.mishra@uct.ac.za )
3. InLoCo: Sub-cm Indoor Localisation using 5G CommSense and AI

Hypothesis: Indoor localisation resolutions to the tune of cm and sub-cm can be achieved by fusing conventional UWB localisation devices with communication based sensing leveraging on 5G.

Research Questions:

1. Can you form an image of the region of interest using the UWB localisation sensors?

2. What is the best way to use the same UWB hardware for localisation as well as 5G/6G communication?

3. What can be limits of the resolution estimation (using Fisher Information or CR Bound) by fusing the information from UWB localisation sensors with 5G/6G CommSense sensors?

4. Using the metrics from RQ3, what is the optimal way to fuse the information from UWB localisation sensors with 5G/6G CommSense sensors?

 Prof. Amit K Mishra (amit.mishra@uct.ac.za ) and Dr Stephen Paine (Stephen.paine@uct.ac.za )