PhD Scholarship: Combining Semantic Web and Machine Learning for Representing and Manipulating Point Cloud Data
University College Dublin invites applications for a fully-funded PhD scholarship to investigate the potential advantages of combining Semantic Web (SW) and Machine Learning (ML) for representing 3D point cloud datasets and improving the algorithms used to analyse them. The project aims to develop information representations that enable humans and machines to understand, interpret, and reason about point cloud data and their associated analytical methods.
Candidate will join the School of Computer Science, ranked among the world’s top, and be part of the Spatial Research Group—a multidisciplinary community focused on cutting‑edge research on Spatial Information Systems and GIScience. Access to leading experts, collaborative networks and career development opportunities is guaranteed.
University: University College Dublin
School: School of Computer Science
Primary Supervisor: Dr…Â Anh Vu Vo, Assistant Professor, School of Computer Science
Co‑Supervisor: Prof … Michela Bertolotto, Professor, School of Computer Science
Renumeration: Student will receive
4‑year tax‑free stipend (€25,000 per year)
Registration fee reimbursement
Travel and equipment budget
Optional teaching assistant hours as an additional income source
Research Area: 3D point clouds are increasingly vital data in urban planning, forestry, transportation and environmental monitoring. Their scale, heterogeneity and distributed nature create challenges for effective management, discovery and reuse. By integrating SW technologies (ontologies, knowledge graphs) with ML techniques (classification, segmentation, representation learning), this project will develop novel methods for creating reusable, semantically rich representations of point cloud data and associated analytical workflows.
Selection Criteria:
Undergraduate or postgraduate degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Science or a related technical discipline.
Strong background in computer programming and genuine passion for research.
Familiarity with information‑science concepts such as data representation, metadata, knowledge organisation or information retrieval is advantageous.
Prior research experience strongly encouraged.
Excellent interpersonal skills – ability to work independently and collaboratively within a research team.
Excellent English communication skills required; non‑native speakers must provide evidence of proficiency (IELTS ≥ 6.5 overall, no component