Jonathan H. Manton
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Professor
Jonathan H. Manton
Department of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Australia |
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| Work: |
+61 3
8344 4972 |
| Mobile: |
+61
4
0171 4410 |
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Affiliations
Current
- Future Generation Professor, University of Melbourne
- Adjunct Professor, Mathematical Sciences Institute,
Australian National University
Recent
- Executive Director, Australian Research Council
- Professor and Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, RSISE,
Australian
National University
- Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Signal
Processing
- Committee Member, IEEE Signal Processing for
Communications
Technical Committee
- Committee Member, Mathematics Panel, ACT Board of
Senior
Secondary Studies
Brief
Biography
Professor Manton received his Bachelor of Science (mathematics) and
Bachelor of Engineering (electrical) degrees in 1995 and his Ph.D.
degree in 1998, all from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
From 1998 to 2004, he was with the Department of Electrical and
Electronic Engineering at the University of Melbourne. During that
time, he held a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship then subsequently
a Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship, both from the Australian Research
Council. In 2005 he became a full Professor in the Department of
Information Engineering, Research School of Information Sciences
and Engineering (RSISE) at the Australian National University. From
July 2006 till May 2008, he was on secondment to the Australian
Research Council as Executive Director, Mathematics, Information
and Communication Sciences. Currently, he holds a distinguished
Chair at the University of Melbourne with the title Future Generation
Professor. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Mathematical
Sciences Institute at the Australian National University. Professor
Manton's traditional research interests range from pure mathematics
(e.g. commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, differential geometry)
to engineering (e.g. signal processing, wireless communications).
Recently though, led by a desire to participate in the convergence
of the life sciences and the mathematical sciences, he has commenced
learning neuroscience. Professor Manton also has extensive experience in software development.
Professor Manton has served recently as an Associate Editor for
IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, a Committee Member for IEEE
Signal Processing for Communications (SPCOM) Technical Committee,
and a Committee Member on the Mathematics Panel for the ACT Board
of Senior Secondary Studies in Australia.
Current
Activities
I am currently involved in the following activities.
CONECT
— Centre of Neuro-Engineering and Computation
The research centre CONECT, once established, will engineer novel
interfaces to neuronal circuitry and will
investigate fundamental properties of how neuronal circuitry
functions and computes. Put simply, the aim is to talk with
networks of neurons to figure out how they work and how to interact
with them in useful ways. Research will also be carried out
into the theoretical limits of
computation and, where related to these activities, novel methods for
artificial computation will be developed.
Research Themes
The centre has three themes which build on each other and are
ultimately aimed at understanding how the brain works and how engineers
can design better algorithms and build better devices for computation.
- Interfacing to Neuronal
Circuitry
- Leading-edge electrical and optical interfaces to networks
of neurons
will be engineered. These interfaces will allow, among other
things, neuronal circuitry to be externally stimulated in a controlled
way and the response recorded in real-time.
- Understanding How the
Brain Computes
- Via practical experiments, theoretical modelling, computer
simulations and analytical reasoning, the fundamental mechanics of how
networks of neurons compute will be investigated.
- Furthering the Theory of
Computation
- Advances in computational complexity theory will be made,
including studying novel but pertinent questions such as what is the
minimum energy required to perform the control-related calculations
required to keep people upright when they walk. Alternative
architectures for computation will be studied and used to formulate
hypotheses about how the brain computes.
Outcomes
The anticipated outcomes of the centre divide into core outcomes and
related outcomes. Related outcomes are those which result
from work done partially by the centre but fall outside the centre's
core activities. For example, the research conducted by the
centre will benefit prostheses manufacturers, yet the development of
better prostheses falls outside the centre's core activities, hence
better prostheses is a related outcome.
The anticipated core
outcomes of the centre include:
- Leading-edge capabilities for interfacing machines and
computers to neuronal circuitry
- Platforms and in-house expertise for the modelling and
simulation of large networks of biological neurons
- Better understanding of how the central nervous system
works and how to interface with it
- Fundamental advances in the theory of computation
The anticipated related
outcomes of the centre include:
- Better prostheses, including bionic eyes and ears
- Novel cures and preventions for diseases, such as epilepsy
- Enhancements to open source software programs such as
NEURON for simulating neuronal networks
- Novel algorithms and architectures for high-performance
fault-tolerant computing
Computation:
How does Nature compute and how should we?
This initiative aims to facilitate cross-disciplinary research
activites in the life sciences and the mathematical sciences. The
unifying theme of "computation" was chosen because, when interpreted in
its broadest sense, it includes biophysics, computational biology,
computational neuroscience, systems biology and so forth, in addition
to the mathematical, statistical and engineering disciplines of
complexity theory, control, optimisation, signal processing and so
forth. In August 2008, an expression of interest document was drafted and is
available here.
Further information will be provided in the near future.
Research Areas
Computational
Neuroscience
The ultimate goal is to discover how networks of neurons compute. A current project, in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Christian Stricker,
is to model accurately the short-term plasticity in synaptic
transmissions in order to gain a better understanding of inter-cellular
communications.
Geometric
Computation (Control, Optimisation and Signal
Processing)
Geometry
provides a systematic approach to non-linear problems in signal
processing which traditionally have been treated using ad hoc
techniques. Similarly, optimisation and stochastic filtering problems
on curved spaces are best approached from a differential geometric
perspective. Algebraic geometry becomes relevant when the problem
contains polynomial equations or polynomial constraints. Current
projects in this area include non-linear filtering on Lie groups, and
optimisation on manifolds and algebraic sets.
Algebraic
and Differential Geometry
In pure mathematics, one current area of study, undertaken in collaboration with Professor Amnon Neeman, is the K-Theory of Triangulated Categories. The other current area of study is centred on the Jacobian Conjecture.Coding and Information Theory
In
wireless communications, for example, the received signal rarely bears
a resemblance to the transmitted signal. The challenge is to design
matched encoding and decoding schemes to enable reliable communications
to take place over noisy, unreliable channels. One project in this area
is the development of computer-assisted coding schemes for
communications over multi-path fading channels. Another project is
concerned with the well-studied SIMO channel identification problem and
aims to find new techniques for better estimating the channel without a
significant increase in the complexity of the algorithm.
Opportunities
Students
If you wish to study for your Masters or PhD under my supervision,
please apply
to the University of Melbourne and list my name as a
potential supervisor on the application form. The Faculty of
Engineering has general information about research degrees in
Engineering and study at Melbourne University.
International students do not need to apply separately for
scholarships, however, if you wish to apply the deadline for
scholarship applications each year is 31 August for International
students. Scholarships and other information is available
here.
In order to gain a place at The University of Melbourne you must meet
the language
requirements.
Visitors
Academics wishing to visit are invited to make contact.
Recent international visitors include Assoc. Prof. Shiro Ikeda and Dr
Nicolas Le Bihan.
Industry Partners
Companies
requiring specialised software to be written, or who are interested in
research collaboration or consultation in the general areas of control,
systems engineering, signal processing, optimisation or filtering, are
welcome to send a description of their interests or needs. There
are funding opportunities available for companies wishing to
collaborate on research projects.
致中國學者和學生
我非常熱誠的期待並致力於和來自中國大陸以及香港, 澳門, 台灣地區的學者,
學術機構進行交流與合作. 如果您有如下需要, 請與我聯繫:
-
已申請到出國訪問的經費的學者, 需要尋找海外接待的學術機構;
-
在中國大學註冊的在籍博士生, 需要海外導師指導,
或者希望獲得在海外學術機構的學習經歷
（時間不限, 但須符合中國大學的規定）;
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需要編寫特定程式, 有意開展學術合作或者獲得學術和技術指導
（請點擊這裡查看我的學術研究方向）的相關公司;
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有合作研究項目, 需要合作研究的團隊及經費的相關公司.
我們鼓勵來自中國的學生和學者申請中國政府以及港澳台當地政府的資金支持,
比如中國國家自然科學基金會, 中國國家留學基金會等的各種經費.
如果需要申請澳洲政府和大學的研究資金, 也可與我聯繫.
本人也有一定的科研經費, 以資助優秀的研究人員開展合作研究.