I direct the Cognitive
Systems Laboratory. Statistical signal processing, machine
learning, information theory, differential geometry, and numerical
optimization are fundamental to our research. Our lab focuses on
biomedical signal and image processing, including brain computer
interfaces, biomedical image segmentation, and behavior analysis
from video. Translational research from concepts to prototypes is
our goal.
Dr. Bekir Dizdaroglu
(TUBITAK scholar; Asst. Prof. at Karadeniz Technical University,
Trabzon, Turkey)
FORMER GROUP MEMBERS
PhD; first position (current position, if different and known)
- dissertations available on my publications page
Dr. Tian Lan;
looking for a postdoc position Dr. Erhan Bas;
postdoc in Gene Myers' group at HHMI Janelia Farms, Ashburn,
Virginia (soon moving to GE Research, Schenectady NY) Dr. Olexiy Kyrgyzov;
postdoc in the OpenVIBE2 project at LIST-CEA, Paris, France Dr. Catherine Huang;
postdoc in our project group at OHSU BME Department (now at
Intel Energy Research Laboratory, Hillsboro, Oregon) Dr. Umut Ozertem;
researcher at Yahoo Research, Sunnyvale, California
(now at Microsoft-Bing)
Visiting scholars; first position
(current position, if different and known)
I anticipate hiring exceptional
new postdoctoral research associates and PhD student research
assistants in the area of brain interface and EEG signal
processing.
Only exceptional postdoc
candidates: Email me your CV, transcripts, brief
statement of purpose, one
journal publication you are most proud of, and any other
information you think will demonstrate your exceptional
background. Exceptional postdocs will demonstrate their claim with
tangible evidence in the form of publications at top venues
relevant to our research area, as well as a strong educational
background.
Only exceptional PhD student
candidates: Email me your resume, brief statement of
purpose, a copy of one publication if you have, documentation
about your academic comparison to your peers in your country/state
measured through standardized and centralized tests (if any), and
any other information you think will demonstrate your exceptional
background. I can currently advise PhD students at Northeastern
University in the following PhD degree programs: electrical
engineering, bioengineering, personal health informatics. If you
contact me prior to applying for one of these programs and I state
that your background seems to meet my initial screening criteria,
this is not a guarantee
of a research assistant to be offered at the time of application.
I receive these request from many extremely qualified candidates
and I will make my offers only after reviewing all applications
and interviewing some of the candidates.
Self-funded PhD/MS students:
If you wish to pursue research with my group towards a PhD
dissertation or MS thesis Northeastern University in one of the
programs that I listed above, I will be happy to discuss with you
in order to determine if there is a topic of mutual interest.
Please email me your CV and make sure to include details about the
conditions, duration, and the $ amount of the scholarship that
will fund your education. If you require a letter from me as part
of your scholarship application indicating that I will advise you
in such and such research area, we can arrange that after the
initial discussions we will have.
International visiting scholars
including PhD students and postdoctoral researchers:
Please send me an email to initiate a discussion about what
research project you may get involved with, as well as any letters
of support that I will need to provide for your scholarship or
travel grant application in your home country. It should be noted
that you will most likely visit under a J type visa and you will
need to demonstrate that you have sufficient financial means to
support yourself and anyone accompanying you during the entire
length of your stay. Northeastern University will not be making
any salary or stipend payments to you during your stay, however,
we will register you as a visiting research scholar so that you
have official and legal access to university academic resources.
SOME
NOTES FOR THOSE WHO PLAN TO CONTACT ME
International undergraduate
students seeking summer internships: Do NOT email me
please! I can not accept such applications. Your email goes to
trash immediately. These requests typically come from
undergraduate students studying at IIT campuses in India.
Undergraduate students studying EE or CS in one of the IIT
campuses in India: please wait until you are ready to graduate and
then contact me for a PhD student position. Most likely you will
meet my exceptional candidate criteria. Unfortunately the
university does not allow us to hire international summer interns. Undergraduate students at
NU or other institutions in USA who want to perform research or
summer internships: My group enthusiastically supports
undergraduate research activities. If you are interested and
willing to put in the extra time to do research and get involved
in preparing publications, please come to my office to discuss.
This will require regular attendance to group activities and
spending dedicated time at the lab. I do not usually have funds to
pay undergraduate research interns. When such candidates approach
me serioucly, I will then consider trying to secure some
additional REU suport from NSF and other funding sources.
If I have such REU funding available and there are still open
positions, these would be announced above under the open positions
section. Priority may be given to NU undergraduates.
MS students and applicants: I do not provide project funded
research assistantships to MS students except in extremely unusual
circumstances (happened only once since 2004 and lasted 3 months).
As of January 2012, I am not accepting any new students for MS
Projects. Unfortunately, I am too busy with existing students who
commit to my research activities for the long term and I need to
focus on advising them. I am happy to consider advising MS
students who are seriously interested in doing an MS Thesis. A
successful thesis will require at least 16 months, so please come
to me to talk about this as soon as you start your MS degree
studies at NU. MS thesis students will be expected to publish at
least one journal paper at a respected venue as a result of their
work.
PhD students and applicants: If
you are interested in working with me towards your PhD degree,
first you must be admitted to one of the PhD programs I am
affiliated with (electrical engineering, bioengineering, or
personal health informatics). I do not have the authority to
arrange for teaching assistantships (TA); please do not ask for
one. Research assistantships (RA) may be available to those who
express interest in working with me provided that they are
exceptional candidates! RA positions are extremely competitive.
Please do not send me an email to try your chance; this is not a
lottery. If you wish to inquire about your chances of getting an
RA, please send me (1) your ranking/percentile in some large-scale
national exam in your country/state such as centralized university
entrance exams (please indicate the number of people taking the
exam for best assessment and send official documentation showing
score and ranking if available), (2) transcripts of undergraduate
and graduate education, and (3) any evidence of your superb
math/physics backgroud including olymiad activities during high
school years or graduation from a selective and specialized
science and math oriented high school (e.g. selective magnet
schools in the US, NODET in Iran, Fen Lisesi in Turkey).
Prerequisites: Successful
candidates will be committed to dedicating many hours per week to
research (estimated effort for exceptional PhD work is 80 hours
per week at 80% efficiency), motivated to acquire and generate new
knowledge for humankind, and demonstrate an appreciation of
scientific principles and a keen interest in applying the
scientific methodology with the highest ethical standards to all
aspects of inquiry and reasoning.