Fully funded 3 year PhD Studentship

Fully funded 3 year PhD studentship

Investigating speech motor control: From the brain to the vocal tract

Dr. Charlotte Wiltshire

Funding: The studentship covers the full cost of tuition fees for PhD students, plus a maintenance stipend (approx. £17,668 per annum for 3 years) as well as a generous research allowance.

Start Date: October 1^st. 

Project: Speech production is one of the most complex processes that humans perform. In just one second of speech, we can produce approximately ten speech sounds that require the precise coordination of over 100 muscles. However, producing fluent speech is not always easy. Dr Wiltshire’s research aims to understand how the brain controls speech production in typical and diverse speaker populations. Her research addresses the entire speech production system, from the brain to the vocal tract. To do this, she takes an interdisciplinary approach, often combining tools from cognitive neuroscience (brain MRI, brain stimulation) and phonetics (vocal tract MRI, electromagnetic articulography, acoustics). For example, a recent project combined Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) with techniques that record the movement of the articulators (lips, tongue, velum) to understand the role of the Supplementary Motor Area in rhythmic speech production in people who stutter and people who don’t (Wiltshire & Hoole, 2022).

The exact PhD project will be developed by the post holder and Dr. Wiltshire. Candidates are encouraged to contact Dr. Wiltshire (c.wiltshire@bangor.ac.uk) prior to applying to discuss research topics and ideas. The candidate should have an interest in such as (but not limited to):

• What physical properties of speech movements characterise disruptions to speech?
  • What can this tell us about why a disruption starts, continues and ends?
• How does the brain coordinate the actions involved in speech production?
  • How does the brain signal to “start” and “stop” speech movements?
• What is the role of rhythm and timing in speech production?
• What skills are associated with developmental stuttering?

Supervision:

Dr Charlotte (Charlie) Wiltshire received her doctoral degree in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Oxford in 2020. She then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute for Phonetics and Speech Processing at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. For more information and to access recent publications, see www.charlottewiltshire.com

Requirements:

Essential requirements:

• First or upper second class in psychology, neuroscience, phonetics or a cognate subject.

Desirable qualities:

• A masters level qualification in psychology, neuroscience, phonetics or a cognate subject and/or extended experience working in a research laboratory (i.e. a placement year or research assistant post).
• Experience of running research studies with adults.
• An interest in working with the public and participant groups (e.g. people who stutter, persons with Parkinson’s Disease, people who have had a stroke) to develop, conduct, and report on research activities.

Research Environment: There are extensive facilities for behavioural, physiological and neuroscientific studies, including a brand-new research-dedicated 3T MRI centre, and TMS, fNIRS and EEG facilities.

Residency requirements: This studentship is primarily aimed at UK students. However, those who are interested, but are from outside of the UK, should contact Dr Wiltshire to discuss the conditions for the funding of international students.

How to apply:

All applications must be received via the ‘Apply’ button above.

https://www.bangor.ac.uk/studentfinance/postgraduate/funding#psychology

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