Graduate Study in Visual Science at York University, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
http://www.yorku.ca/dept/psych/yorkvis/
Sixteen faculty members at York University conduct research in sensory
processes, perception and computer vision. They have appointments in
Psychology, Biology, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physiology and
Physics. Two also have appointments in Ophthalmology and one in
Biomedical Engineering and Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Several are members of the Human Performance in Space Laboratory, which
is part of the Centre for Research and Space Technology. These visual
scientists, together with post-doctoral fellows and graduate students
constitute the Centre for Vision Research. Although the members of the
Centre come from a variety of scientific backgrounds, their research
interests converge on the same problems and they pool their expertise,
engage in cooperative research and form a close-knit academic community
that forms an ideal environment for graduate students.
We train graduate students for a research career and all our past
graduates have obtained good academic or research jobs. Students must
complete the course requirements of the graduate programme in which they
are registered but the most important things can be learned only by
working in the laboratory and by interacting with others similarly
engaged. Therefore, from the moment they arrive at York, students get
involved in research, at first with help and guidance but with more
independence as time goes on until, at the doctoral level, they are
planning and conducting their own research. Students are encouraged to
attend colloquia and scientific meetings and to become identified with
the international scientific community. By the time students receive a
Ph.D. they will typically have published or cooperated in the
publication of several papers, and will have presented posters or papers
at scientific meetings. In other words, they will have become
independent creative scientists ready to take their place in the
scientific community.
Facilities
We have over 9,000 square feet of laboratory space and excellent
workshop, surgery and animal-care facilities. A wide variety of
computing facilities are available, including Silicon Graphics, Pentium
and Macintosh workstations. We are particularly well equipped to offer
training in the following areas:
Psychophysics. Psychophysical procedures are used to investigate sensory
and perceptual processes in the human visual, auditory and vestibular
systems. We are particularly interested in spatial aspects of vision,
including stereopsis, visual motion and pattern vision. |Applications of
the research to virtual reality technologies are also studied. We have a
sound-proof chamber and a fully equipped laboratory for auditory
psychophysics.
Sensory neurophysiology. We have well-equipped laboratories and animal
facilities for recording responses in single-cells in the sensory and
sensory-motor systems of animals in response to computer-generated
stimuli.
Electrophysiology of the human brain. Evoked potentials are recorded
from the surface of the scalp and new signal-processing techniques
reveal basic properties of sensory systems. We have the
Visual-motor control and ergonomics. Studies of human visual-motor
control and man-machine interfaces are conducted in the laboratory and
at various applied settings. A multi-channel Watsmart system records the
movements of human limbs in three-dimensional space. Mathematical
modelling is applied to sensory-motor processes.
Oculo-motor performance and physiology. Several faculty members are
interested in physiological and behavioural aspects of the oculo-motor
system, including mechanisms of visual pursuit, gaze control and
binocular eye movements. We have the latest devices for measuring eye
movements in animals and humans, including a double Purkinje-image eye
tracker and three 'Robinson' and one 'Collewijn' scleral induction-coil
recorders.
Computer vision and robotics. Several Faculty members are in the
Department of Computer Science and work on designing and implementing
computational models of certain aspects of the visual system. We are
also interested in applications to virtual reality, computer graphics
systems and robotics.
Clinical neurophysiology, psychophysics and biophysics. Several of us do
research on sensory or sensory-motor aspects of clinical conditions such
as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, early loss of sight, colour
blindness and vestibular disorders. Two of us have appointments in
Medical departments of the University of Toronto and have access to
patients and clinical testing facilities in several hospitals in
Toronto.
Human performance in aeronautics and space. Several members of the
Centre and other visual scientists, including one of Canada's
astronauts, operate a well-funded Human Performance in Space Laboratory
which is part of the Centre for Research on Earth and Space Technology.
We have close relations with NASA and space-related industries in Canada
and access to flight simulators and to NASA's zero-gravity parabolic
flights.
Faculty members
Doug Crawford - jdc@yorku.ca
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Biology.
Interests: three-dimensional eye and head movements, visuomotor
neurophysiology.
James Elder - jelder@yorku.ca
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Computer Science and Mathematics
Project Leader, Human Performance Laboratory.
Interests: visual psychophysics, computational vision, visual attention,
virtual reality.
Keith Grasse - grasse@yorku.ca
Associate Professor of Psychology and Biology.
Project Leader, Human Performance Laboratory.
Interests: neurophysiology of the visual system, eye movements,
auditory, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology.
Laurence Harris - harris@yorku.ca
Professor of Psychology and Biology.
Project Leader, Human Performance Laboratory.
Interests: neurophysiology and psychophysics of visual, vestibular and
oculomotor systems.
Ian Howard ? ihoward@hpl.crestech.ca
Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology and Biology.
Director of the Centre for Vision Research.
Co-Director of the Human Performance Laboratory.
Interests: space perception, eye movements, visual-vestibular
interactions.
Michael Jenkin - jenkin@cs.yorku.ca
Associate Professor and Chair of Computer Science.
Project Leader, Human Performance Laboratory.
Interests: computer vision, robotics and image understanding.
Evangelos E. Milios - eem@cs.yorku.ca
Associate Professor of Computer Science.
Interests: computer vision, computational auditory scene analysis,
human-computer interaction.
Hiroshi Ono - hono@yorku.ca
Professor of Psychology.
Project Leader, Human Performance Laboratory.
Interests: visual perception of direction and distance, eye movements.
Jonathan Ostroff - jonathan@cs.yorku.ca
Associate Professor of Computer Science.
Research Associate, Human Performance Laboratory.
Interests: real-time systems, control systems.
David Regan - dregan@yorku.ca
CAE/NSERC Industrial Research Professor.
Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology and Biology, York
University.
Professor of Ophthalmology and Medicine, University of Toronto.
Co-Director, Human Performance Laboratory.
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Interests: psychophysics of spatial vision, motion, stereopsis, colour
vision, vision aviation, visually evoked magnetic and electrical brain
activity, visual disorders, auditory psychophysics.
JosČe Rivest ? jrivest@nexus.yorku.ca
Associate Professor of Psychology, Glendon College
Interests: multiple attributes in localization of contours and
perceptual learning.
Wolfgang Stuerzlinger - wolfgang@cs.yorku.ca
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Interests: Computer Graphics, especially the problems associated with
rendering massive models. Computer Vision and Human Computer Interaction
(including Tracking of eye
movements and Speech recognition ). Designing algorithms for working
with Datastructures and databases.
Paul Stager - pstager@yorku.ca
Professor of Psychology.
Research Associate, Human Performance Laboratory.
Interests: human factors in aerospace performance and system design.
Martin Steinbach - mjs@yorku.ca
Professor of Psychology and Biology, York University
Director, The Eye Research Institute of Canada.
Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Toronto.
Senior Scientist, Dept. of Ophthalmology, Hospital for Sick Children.
Director of Research, Department of Ophthalmology, University of
Toronto.
Interests: eye movements, visual-motor coordination, clinical disorders
of the oculomotor system.
Evan Thompson - evant@YorkU.CA
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Interests: philosophical foundations of cognitive science, the
philosophy of psychology, and the philosophy of perception.
Laurie Wilcox - lwilcox@yorku.ca
Assistant Professor of Psychology.
Interests: stereopsis/depth perception.
Admission Requirements
Students with an Honours Degree who are interested in sensory
neuroscience, perception or computational vision are invited to apply
for graduate work at York University. Students apply to the Graduate
Programme in Psychology, Biology, Computer Science, Mathmatics,
Philosophy or Physics according to their undergraduate qualifications.
Details of admission procedures and application forms at the M.A. or
Ph.D. levels can be obtained from:
Graduate Admissions
N914, Ross Building,
York University
Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3
(416) 736-5592
Students may e-mail faculty members listed above or phone (416) 736-5659
and ask to speak to any member of faculty. Students would be supervised
by one of the members of faculty affiliated with the graduate programme
in which they register. Faculty affiliations are listed above.
Students are also welcome to visit our laboratories and talk with
members of the faculty.
Financial Support
NSERC Scholarships, Research and Teaching Assistantships. Grants from
the Province of Ontario and York University. Canadian students should
apply for NSERC Scholarships or Provincial Grants at their own
universities before Fall deadlines.
The University
York University occupies a spacious campus on the northern perimeter of
Metropolitan Toronto. The city offers a rich cultural programme of
concerts, theatre, ballet, opera, etc. The population is culturally
diverse which makes Toronto a very interesting city to live in. Toronto
is a clean city and has a low crime rate. Its good international
airport makes travel to all parts of the world convenient. The city
attracts many academic visitors and it hosts numerous national and
international scientific meetings. Diverse off-campus housing is
available. Although the winters are cold, the proximity of Lake Ontario
produces a climate which is milder than that of most North American
cities of comparable latitude.
The University was founded in 1959 and is now the third largest in
Canada. It has good library facilities, several graduate student
residences and excellent sports facilities, including an outdoor track
and field centre for training Olympic athletes and the site of the
Canada Open Tennis Championships.