The department of Geosciences at the University of Padua, Italy, will soon be hiring a post-doctoral researcher to work under the supervision of Prof. Lapo Boschi, and in collaboration with an international, multidisciplinary team of acousticians, seismologists, biologists. The researcher will study the information carried by sound received by the auditory system of dolphins, exploring the role of anatomy and in particular of the head-related transfer function in the context of sound localization. Numerical simulations of wave propagation through scans of dolphin heads will be implemented. This requires wave-propagation software that accounts for the anatomical features of a true dolphin head. It will be determined whether high-accuracy localization can be achieved based on the identification of spectral cues (as is the case e.g. for humans), or whether dolphins must rely on a different, unique localization mechanism (e.g., correlation-based).
The successful candidate should have received a PhD in physics, mathematics, geophysics, engineering, computer sciences or related disciplines, and should have some expertise in numerical modelling.
The position is funded for two years. Interested candidates should get in touch with Lapo Boschi as soon as possible, and no later than December 1st, 2021. Please email: lapo.boschi@unipd.it