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Master Thesis: Pitch tracking of killer whale calls
Be part of an interdisciplinary team and contribute to a signal processing project about pitch tracking of killer whale calls. The goal is a publication about the new method that we develop and test in various example cases.
**Research context**
To date, the best model systems for understanding language evolution have been non-human primates and songbirds. However, cetaceans represent an evolutionary peak in terms of their cognitive capacities, complex communication systems and their multilevel societies, providing striking parallels to some human societies. Cetaceans display a behavioral skill set that make them an ideal study system for questions surrounding the evolution of complex communication.
**Our approach**
We follow a data driven approach and develop state of the art recording technology to acquire large datasets of underwater acoustic signals of communicating cetaceans. The challenge is to record all calls from all individual animals within a group and to attribute each call to the individual. We address this challenge with long base-line hydrophone arrays and signal processing methods to separate and localize the individual calls. Isolated calls serve the study of phonetics and vocal repertoire. The longitudinal datasets resolving group communication are the foundation for exploring the linguistic structure of cetacean communication systems with a data science approach.
**Research context** To date, the best model systems for understanding language evolution have been non-human primates and songbirds. However, cetaceans represent an evolutionary peak in terms of their cognitive capacities, complex communication systems and their multilevel societies, providing striking parallels to some human societies. Cetaceans display a behavioral skill set that make them an ideal study system for questions surrounding the evolution of complex communication.
**Our approach** We follow a data driven approach and develop state of the art recording technology to acquire large datasets of underwater acoustic signals of communicating cetaceans. The challenge is to record all calls from all individual animals within a group and to attribute each call to the individual. We address this challenge with long base-line hydrophone arrays and signal processing methods to separate and localize the individual calls. Isolated calls serve the study of phonetics and vocal repertoire. The longitudinal datasets resolving group communication are the foundation for exploring the linguistic structure of cetacean communication systems with a data science approach.
We aim to extract the pitch contours using phase locked loops (PLL). By tracking the phases simultaneously on an array of hydrophones, we aim to better separate overlapping calls and to track the animals in real space.
We are a team that collaborates towards the project goal to implement the algorithm and asses it’s viability and to publish our findings. Your tasks will be:
Literature review, implement a model to simulate signals, prepare example dataset, implement a pitch tracking algorithm, analyze performance, contribute to the scientific publication.
We have weekly meetings to discuss outcomes, ideas and next steps. The thesis workload is designed for 6-month full-time work.
We aim to extract the pitch contours using phase locked loops (PLL). By tracking the phases simultaneously on an array of hydrophones, we aim to better separate overlapping calls and to track the animals in real space. We are a team that collaborates towards the project goal to implement the algorithm and asses it’s viability and to publish our findings. Your tasks will be: Literature review, implement a model to simulate signals, prepare example dataset, implement a pitch tracking algorithm, analyze performance, contribute to the scientific publication. We have weekly meetings to discuss outcomes, ideas and next steps. The thesis workload is designed for 6-month full-time work.
We are looking for a motivated student with interests in bioacoustics, signal processing and programming. Depending on the interests of the applicant we can tailor the scope of the independent work. To apply please send a CV and transcript of records to one of the contacts below.
Collaborators:
Dr. Jörg Rychen: jrychen@ethz.ch
Dr. Kaje Wierucka: kaja.wierucka@uzh.ch
Elizabeth Ren: ren@isi.ee.ethz.ch
Supervisor :
Prof. Dr. Richard Hahnloser: rich@ini.ethz.ch
We are looking for a motivated student with interests in bioacoustics, signal processing and programming. Depending on the interests of the applicant we can tailor the scope of the independent work. To apply please send a CV and transcript of records to one of the contacts below.
Collaborators: Dr. Jörg Rychen: jrychen@ethz.ch Dr. Kaje Wierucka: kaja.wierucka@uzh.ch Elizabeth Ren: ren@isi.ee.ethz.ch Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Richard Hahnloser: rich@ini.ethz.ch