[Infovis] PhD studentship: Interactive Visualization of Biological Pathways (EE/DRFCOM7P/61931)

[Sara Johansson Fernstad]

INTERACTIVE VISUALIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS

Applications are invited for a funded PhD studentship in Information Visualization/Biological Data Visualization in the Department of Computer Science and Digital Technologies at Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
http://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=61931&LID=2315

ABOUT THE PROJECT
Technological advances are constantly increasing the amount and complexity of data that are gathered in both scientific and industrial domains. Biology and biomedicine are examples of areas that in recent years have become increasingly data driven. Information Visualization techniques utilize interactive and visual representations to facilitate the understanding of structures and gaining of insights from large and complex data. Visualization may act as a link between complex biological data and the human interpreter and has, through this, become crucial for gaining insights from biological data. The growing interest in Biological Data Visualization is supported through initiatives such as VizBi (vizbi.org), BioVis (biovis.net) and BiVi (bivi.co).

Biological networks, such as metabolic pathways, can be seminal tools in understanding biological functions and processes. However, such pathways are often large and complex, making them difficult to overview and interpret. The gaining of insights may be further obfuscated by the large number of pathways that can be related to a biological phenomena of interest, as well as by substantial amounts of meta-data that have the potential to further increase understanding of the biological process if included in the analysis.

Building on the supervisory team’s previous work in multivariate data visualization, biological visualization and bioinformatics this project will address some of the challenges involved in gaining insights and understanding into biological processes, by developing novel interactive visualization methods for exploration of biological pathways. Particularly by investigating how common visual representations of pathways can be extended to facilitate the gaining of further insights into biological phenomena, while improving the usability of such representations and through this support human interpretation and understanding of complex biological phenomena.

This project will suit a candidate who has experience of visualization/visual analytics, HCI, data mining and object oriented programming.

APPLICATION AND ENQUIRIES
Application deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2015

For further details of the project and how to apply, see
http://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=61931&LID=2315

For further details about the University and Department, see
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/study-at-northumbria/visit-northumbria/life-in-newcastle/
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/academic-departments/computer-science-and-digital-technologies/

Enquiries regarding this studentship should be made to: Dr Sara Johansson Fernstad, sara.fernstad at northumbria.ac.uk<mailto:sara.fernstad at northumbria.ac.uk>