Ben Shirley

Fully funded PhD studentship at the Salford Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford, in the UK. Project title: Modelling Dialogue Understandability in Media Using Listener Types and AI. This PhD addresses a major challenge in film, television, and streaming media: why dialogue can be hard to follow even when it is audible. The project moves beyond traditional speech intelligibility measures and focuses on dialogue understandability , i.e., how listeners comprehend narrative content without excessive cognitive effort. The research sits at the intersection of audio engineering , machine learning , speech processing , acoustics , and media-focused listener perception research. It is based at the University of Salford and involves collaboration with Xperi Inc. / DTS, Inc. Eligibility: the post is aimed at applicants with a background in machine learning and audio engineering, speech processing, or a related discipline. The post states that UK applicants only may apply. Funding: the studentship is fully funded and supported by DTS (Xperi). No stipend amount, tuition coverage breakdown, or additional financial details are provided in the post. Deadline: applications close on 30 September 2026 . The project is due to start in January 2027 . How to apply: review the details at the linked page, then submit an application before the deadline. Informal enquiries may be directed to Dr Ben Shirley by email.