A PhD is available for an Australian citizen with our industry partner The AiLECS Lab. The project is Detecting Threats in Temporal Networks. The project aims to better understand communications in networks of criminal activity.
This will be led by OPTIMA AI Dr John Betts and OPTIMA CI Prof. Peter Stuckey at Monash University, and Dr Janis Dalins and Dr Campbell Wilson at The AiLECS Lab.
Brief description of the project:
Crime in the modern world is characterized by large networks of criminals operating between national borders and transacting via multiple communication channels. The network is characterized by a sparse structure, often with key players only loosely connected to the main network in order to reduce the likelihood of detection. Networks of communication over time can expose the types of activity by players. It is possible to identify when individuals are becoming isolated, which may indicate they are in danger. There is a need to rapidly identify threats to life. The aim of the project is to better understand how when changes in communication behaviour can be indicative of threats to life or imminent major criminal operation. To do this we need to develop network analysis algorithms to identify changes in key elements of the network such as communities, relationship of individual nodes to the community, (change in topology),normal rate of change (evolution) vs unusual activity.
This project will be offered through Optima, the ARC Training Centre in Optimisation Technologies, Integrated Methodologies, and Applications. https://optima.org.au/
We offer this PhD opportunity with a stipend and a generous top-up scholarship at Monash University, Clayton. Our PhDs are 3.5 years which include up to one year of industry placement, ensuring that our graduates are industry-ready upon conclusion.
Required knowledge
Ideally you will have skills in one or more of the following areas: science, engineering, probability, statistics, programming and network analysis.
