York University Biology Professor Kohitij Kar, in the Faculty of Science, will host the recipient of a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Global Fellowship in his lab for two years starting this November to advance cutting-edge work in artificial intelligence and visual tracking.
The recipient, Matteo Dunnhofer from the University of Udine in Italy, received a fellowship valued at C$340,000 from MSCA, which empowers researchers wishing to carry out their work abroad.
Dunnhofer is an award-winning researcher at the Machine Learning & Perception Lab in the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, & Physics of the University of Udine.
His fellowship project, titled “Towards primate-like artificial neural networks for visual object tracking,” will focus on studying algorithms at the intersection of artificial intelligence and neuroscience in the field of visual object tracking. Visual object tracking is the use of algorithms in continuously recognizing objects, such as people and vehicles, and has applications in fields like autonomous driving, robotics and medicine.
The project will draw on Kar’s expertise as a Canada Research Chair in Visual Neuroscience and his experience leading the Visual Intelligence & Technological Advances Laboratory, which is a core part of the Vision: Science to Technology Application Program, the Centre for Integrative & Applied Neuroscience, and the Centre for Vision Research at York University. His research lies at the intersection of neurophysiological investigations of visual intelligence in non-human primates and artificial intelligence systems. He is using his findings to develop artificial intelligence systems that mimic the primate brain in hopes of developing treatment strategies for neurological disorders.
As typically encouraged by the Marie Curie fellowships, Dunnhofer will augment his expertise in computer vision with Kar’s lab’s expertise in studying computations within biological vision systems like non-human primates.
For more information about the fellowship program, visit the MSCA website.