EPSRC UK Acoustics Network Plus
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Mechanical Engineering
Abstract
The acoustics industry contributes £4.6 billion to the UK's economy annually, employing more than 16,000 people, each generating over £65,000 in gross value added across over 750 companies nationwide. The productivity of acoustics industry is similar to that of other enabling technologies, for example the UK photonics industry (£62k per employee in 2014). Innovation through research in acoustics is a key to its industry success. The UK's acoustics industry and research feeds into many major global markets, including the $10 billion market for sound insulation materials in construction, $7.6 billion ultrasound equipment market and $31 billion market for voice recognition. This is before the vital role of acoustics in automotive, aerospace, marine and defence is taken into consideration, or that of the major UK industries that leverage acoustics expertise, or the indirect environmental and societal value of acoustics is considered.
All the four Grand Challenges identified in the 2017 UK Industrial Strategy require acoustics innovation. The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF, https://www.ukri.org/innovation/industrial-strategychallenge-fund/) focuses on areas all of which need support from acoustics as an enabling technology. The future of acoustics research in the UK depends on its ability to contribute to the Four Grand Challenges. Numerous examples are emerging to demonstrate the central role of acoustics in addressing the four Grand Challenges and particularly through more focused research. The acoustics-related research base in the UK is internationally competitive, but it is important to continue to link this research directly to the four Grand Challenges. In this process, the role of UK Acoustics Network (UKAN) is very important. The Network unites over 870 members organised in 15 Special Interest Groups (www.acoustics.ac.uk) who represent industry, academia and various non-academic organisations which success relies on the quality of acoustics related research in the UK. UKAN was funded by the EPSRC as a standard Network grant with the explicit aim of pulling together the formerly disparate and disjoint acoustics community in the UK, across both industry and academia. UKAN has been remarkably successful. Its success is manifested in the large number of its members, numerous network events it has run since its inception in November 2017 and contribution it has made to the acoustics research community. Unfortunately, UKAN has not been in the position to fund new, pilot adventurous or translational projects nor has it any funding support for on-going research or knowledge transfer (KT) activities.
The purpose of UKAN+ is to move beyond UKAN, create strategic connections between acoustics challenges and the Grand Challenges and to tackle these challenges through pilot studies leading in turn to full-scale grant proposals and systematic research and KT projects involving a wider acoustics community. There is a great opportunity for the future of the UK's acoustics related research to move on beyond this point, build upon the assembled critical mass and explore the trans-disciplinary work initiated by UKAN. Therefore, this proposal is for UKAN+ to take this community to the next stage, connect this Network more widely in the UK and internationally to contribute through coordinated research to the solution of Grand Challenges set by the government. UKAN+ will develop a new roadmap for acoustics research in the UK related to Grand Challenges, award exploratory (pilot) cross-disciplinary research projects to the wider community to support adventure research and knowledge transfer activities agreed in the roadmap and support the development of develop full-scale bids to the government research funding bodies which are aligned with the Grand Challenges. UKAN+ will also set up a National Centre or Coordination of Acoustics Research, achieve full sustainability and support best Equality, Diversity and Inclusion practices.
All the four Grand Challenges identified in the 2017 UK Industrial Strategy require acoustics innovation. The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF, https://www.ukri.org/innovation/industrial-strategychallenge-fund/) focuses on areas all of which need support from acoustics as an enabling technology. The future of acoustics research in the UK depends on its ability to contribute to the Four Grand Challenges. Numerous examples are emerging to demonstrate the central role of acoustics in addressing the four Grand Challenges and particularly through more focused research. The acoustics-related research base in the UK is internationally competitive, but it is important to continue to link this research directly to the four Grand Challenges. In this process, the role of UK Acoustics Network (UKAN) is very important. The Network unites over 870 members organised in 15 Special Interest Groups (www.acoustics.ac.uk) who represent industry, academia and various non-academic organisations which success relies on the quality of acoustics related research in the UK. UKAN was funded by the EPSRC as a standard Network grant with the explicit aim of pulling together the formerly disparate and disjoint acoustics community in the UK, across both industry and academia. UKAN has been remarkably successful. Its success is manifested in the large number of its members, numerous network events it has run since its inception in November 2017 and contribution it has made to the acoustics research community. Unfortunately, UKAN has not been in the position to fund new, pilot adventurous or translational projects nor has it any funding support for on-going research or knowledge transfer (KT) activities.
The purpose of UKAN+ is to move beyond UKAN, create strategic connections between acoustics challenges and the Grand Challenges and to tackle these challenges through pilot studies leading in turn to full-scale grant proposals and systematic research and KT projects involving a wider acoustics community. There is a great opportunity for the future of the UK's acoustics related research to move on beyond this point, build upon the assembled critical mass and explore the trans-disciplinary work initiated by UKAN. Therefore, this proposal is for UKAN+ to take this community to the next stage, connect this Network more widely in the UK and internationally to contribute through coordinated research to the solution of Grand Challenges set by the government. UKAN+ will develop a new roadmap for acoustics research in the UK related to Grand Challenges, award exploratory (pilot) cross-disciplinary research projects to the wider community to support adventure research and knowledge transfer activities agreed in the roadmap and support the development of develop full-scale bids to the government research funding bodies which are aligned with the Grand Challenges. UKAN+ will also set up a National Centre or Coordination of Acoustics Research, achieve full sustainability and support best Equality, Diversity and Inclusion practices.
Organisations
- University of Sheffield (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Bath (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM (Collaboration)
- University of Stirling (Collaboration)
- MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- International Year of Sound (Collaboration)
- KING'S COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- Frontiers Media SA (Collaboration)
- QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- University of Sussex (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF YORK (Collaboration)
- Edinburgh Napier University (Collaboration)
- University of Oulu (Collaboration)
- Action on Hearing Loss (Project Partner)
- Winchester Science Centre (Project Partner)
- Apex Acoustics Ltd (Project Partner)
- Royal Academy of Music (Project Partner)
- Jasco Applied Sciences (UK) Ltd (Project Partner)
- John Cotton Group Ltd (Project Partner)
- Meridian Audio Ltd (Project Partner)
- Arup Group (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- General Dynamics (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- RS Aqua Ltd (Project Partner)
- Dragonfly Insulation Ltd (Project Partner)
- Systems Engineering and Assessment (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Aecom (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Project Partner)
- Institute of Acoustics (Project Partner)
- Aquatec Group (Project Partner)
- Seiche Ltd (Project Partner)
- Qinetiq (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- GlaxoSmithKline (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Precision Acoustics (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (Project Partner)
- Atomic Weapons Establishment (Project Partner)
- Hoare Lea (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Project Partner)
- Carbon Air Limited (Project Partner)
- Acoustics and Noise Consultants (Project Partner)
- Thales (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- British Tinnitus Association (Project Partner)
- Mvoid Technologies GmbH (Project Partner)
- Noise Abatement Society (Project Partner)
- Natural England (Project Partner)
- National Physical Laboratory (Project Partner)
- Campbell Associates (Project Partner)
- Matelys Research Lab (Project Partner)
- Environment Agency (Project Partner)
- Comsol (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
Publications
Bradfer-Lawrence T
(2023)
Using acoustic indices in ecology: Guidance on study design, analyses and interpretation
in Methods in Ecology and Evolution
Dance S
(2022)
Teaching acoustics during a pandemic: Lab in a Box for experiments at home.
in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Francesco Aletta
(2022)
Frontiers 2022: Noise, Blazes and Mismatches
Horoshenkov K
(2021)
UK Acoustics Network and International Year of Sound
in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Makris K
(2023)
Sonic assessment of physical ageing of plastic pipes
in Journal of Sound and Vibration
Smith D
(2022)
Noise Source Analysis in Counter-Rotating Open Rotors
in AIAA Journal
Wang L
(2023)
Drone audition for bioacoustic monitoring
in Methods in Ecology and Evolution
| Title | A World of Sound |
| Description | To celebrate the year of sound, a collection of articles written by experts from the UK Acoustics Network and the International Year of Sound team. These articles explore the fascinating world of sound and how it benefits and causes problems to people, other animals, and our environment. |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Everything vibrates and makes sound, from the smallest living cells in the human body to the biggest skyscrapers. Sound itself is a travelling wave of vibrating particles but, amazingly, our brains can understand sounds - gathering information and meaning from these vibrations. Sounds are the building blocks for language, and culture, and can be a source of both pleasure and pain. In the modern world sound is also fantastic tool for medicine, industry and monitoring the natural environment. But it can also be polluting and bad for our health. For many animals, sound is essential for survival, enabling them to communicate, hunt and navigate their world. Hearing loss affects around 5% of the world's population, and encouraged by the WHO, scientists across the world are working to find new ways to improve deaf people's lives. The science of sound cuts across many disciplines - from medicine and neuroscience to the environment - and people who study sound use complex mathematics and cutting-edge technology to help us understand how sound affects us and our planet. |
| URL | https://kids.frontiersin.org/collections/17985/a-world-of-sound |
| Description | Developing best-practice guidelines to integrate long-term ecoacoustic methods into UK biodiversity monitoring |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Based on the peer reviewed literature, this guidance will enable a crossover between academia and the practical use of bioacoustics in areas such as agri-environment monitoring, Biodiversity Net Gain, habitat creation, rewilding and species conservation. The benefits of ecoacoustics are significant and they have the advantage of being objective, eliminating surveyor bias, being easily repeatable and the equipment and data is inexpensive. |
| URL | https://drive.google.com/file/d/12ps-ldG4tlXB6VlujAQLWnw_PxopYvFs/view |
| Description | House of Lords Science and Technology Committee |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Details to follow |
| URL | https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/4020b1b9-a72a-48ff-9f8e-4f47c9139865 |
| Description | Sounding our National Parks |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| URL | https://www.bit.ly/nationalparkssoundscapes |
| Description | Determining favourable conservation status for the UK's birds: creating population targets to conserve biodiversity |
| Amount | £100 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 2784640 |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 06/2026 |
| Title | Bioacoustic monitoring using drones - Hardware prototype |
| Description | - Hardware prototype. Two hardware prototypes were developed for bird sound recording from a flying drone platform. The first prototype suspends a microphone underneath the drone with a long rope; the second prototype fix a microphone underneath the drone body. A shotgun microphone pointing downwards is used to collect the bird call from the ground and to reject the ego-noise from the ego-noise from the off-axis. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The two hardware's are both ready for data collection in real environments. The first prototype has better noise suppression capability while the second prototype has better manoeuvrability. |
| Title | Computational Acoustics Knowledgebase |
| Description | A collection of tutorial materials, user code and data for learning about and doing computational acoustics research. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | No measurable impact yet. |
| URL | http://knowledgebase.acoustics.ac.uk |
| Description | Acoustic attenuation using advanced nanoporous materials |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The team investigated the potential of using advanced nanoporous materials for acoustic attenuations. Sponge-like materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and zeolites offer extremely small pores that are comparable to the size of water molecules. Squeezing liquid water into these tiny nanopores can create large solid-liquid interfaces and dissipate huge amount of mechanical energy. The team developed techniques to combine pressurisation and acoustic measurement and carried out a feasibility study to demonstrate the acoustic attenuation of the new material system which may bring ground-breaking technologies in acoustic control. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This project is built up collaboratively between investigators in the areas of nanoporous materials (Birmingham) and physical acoustics (Oxford). During this project, the team engaged industrial partners including the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) who can contribute to the follow-up project in larger-scale under-water vessel experiments, and QinetiQ who can do liquid-filled impedance tube tests of the new material system. |
| Impact | (1) We designed and validated two experimental methods to investigate the acoustic attenuation of nanoporous liquids including a water tank and a pressurised testing setup, which serves as a foundation for a systematic investigation. (2) We identified and investigated candidate materials that are effective in acoustic attenuation under certain conditions, opening further investigations into more materials in the full-scale project, with a clearly defined application scenario, i.e., pressure controlled switchable acoustic attenuator. (3) We gained an initial hypothesis on the molecular-scale mechanism: the new attenuation phenomenon might be related to the nano-confined state of water molecules with disrupted hydrogen bonds and enhanced water mobility, this guides the direction of further experimental and modelling investigations. This project provides promising preliminary results on using a new class of materials for acoustic attenuation based on a completely new mechanism. Such results have not been applied in a practical situation but has a good potential of bringing ground-breaking technologies in the acoustic sector. The team aims to continue fundamental research in this direction and engage potential research users to develop application case studies and demonstrators in the next project. Industrial partners engaged so far include NPL and QinetiQ, and the PI is recently awarded the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) related to this project which can facilitate the wider impact delivery from this project. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | An investigation of temporal variability in non-pathological speech: a pilot study towards a robust protocol for remote speech collection for psychological assessment |
| Organisation | King's College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKAN+ was awarded funding to coordinate a portfolio of exploratory projects which will accelerate the acoustic community. The funding will support new, ambitious, speculative research spanning the interdisciplinary science of acoustic related research in the UK. The award is to provide funding to address the Acoustics Research Priorities which UKAN+ has identified. In September 2022 UKAN+ opened our second call. 6 Pilot projects were successful. |
| Collaborator Contribution | As acoustic signals, our voices are a valuable window into our mental health. They reflect not only our mood but also the functioning of our brain and its ability to coordinate the 100+ muscles needed to produce speech. Using recordings made on mobile devices, speech analysis could meet the large unmet need for convenient, objective tools that monitor mental health. However, speech analysis is not yet ready for use as a reliable clinical tool in the general population. In this context, how speech is recorded and which metrics to extract for processing are currently neglected steps in analysis pipelines. Improving our understanding of the natural variability of an individual's voice, that is not caused by illness, and its impact on AI analyses of speech is one aspect that can facilitate translation. For example, could a croaky 'morning' voice hide an improvement in our mood? To begin to tackle this, this project has three core objectives: (i) to record healthy volunteers speaking in the morning, afternoon, and evening of a single day; and on three further days at the same time; (ii) to assess the sensitivity of different speech features to variations in individuals' speech; and (iii) to assess the performance of AI analyses performing depression detection using speech features selected according to their sensitivity to within- and between-day variations in people's voices. This project is led by Dr Nicholas Cummins and Dr Judith Dineley, Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London. |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Binaural Acoustic Response in Canines (BARC) |
| Organisation | University of York |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKAN+ was awarded funding to coordinate a portfolio of exploratory projects which will accelerate the acoustic community. The funding will support new, ambitious, speculative research spanning the interdisciplinary science of acoustic related research in the UK. The award is to provide funding to address the Acoustics Research Priorities which UKAN+ has identified. In September 2022 UKAN+ opened our second call. 6 Pilot projects were successful. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Assistance dogs carry out a variety of tasks that enable people to lead independent lives. When training for and executing these roles, the dogs rely heavily on spoken word cues from their handlers and learn to react to important sounds in their environment. However, very little is known about how their spatial hearing affects how they carry out these jobs. How well can a guide dog localise sounds associated with danger, such as the sound of oncoming traffic? How difficult is it for a hearing dog to localise the sound of a phone ringing? Further complicating our understanding of dog spatial hearing is the variety of ear shapes and sizes in and between breeds. Recent advances in the study of human spatial hearing use scanned 3D models of human ears to model sound localisation. We will these models and investigate dog spatial hearing by 1) Creating models of dog's ears using 3D scanners 2) using these 3D scans to generate Head Related Transfer Functions, and 3) determining the accuracy of the models by comparing them to Head Related Transfer Functions collected using traditional methods. We hope to use these models to inform assistance animal training methods. |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Bioacoustic monitoring using drones |
| Organisation | Queen Mary University of London |
| Department | Queen Mary Innovation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | UKAN+ was awarded funding to coordinate a portfolio of exploratory projects which will accelerate the acoustic community. The funding will support new, ambitious, speculative research spanning the interdisciplinary science of acoustic related research in the UK. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The project aims to develop a drone audition prototype system for bioacoustic monitoring and address the challenging ego-noise suppression problem. The project has three objectives. 1) To develop a hardware prototype that captures environmental sound with an audio recorder carried by a quadcopter drone; 2) to collect wildlife vocalization dataset with the developed prototype; and 3) to develop wildlife species detection and identification algorithm in the presence of ego-noise and validate the performance with the collected data. |
| Impact | To follow |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Characterising Spatial Freshwater Soundscapes On An Urban-Rural Gradient |
| Organisation | Edinburgh Napier University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKAN+ was awarded funding to coordinate a portfolio of exploratory projects which will accelerate the acoustic community. The funding will support new, ambitious, speculative research spanning the interdisciplinary science of acoustic related research in the UK. The award is to provide funding to address the Acoustics Research Priorities which UKAN+ has identified. In September 2022 UKAN+ opened our second call. 6 Pilot projects were successful |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project Investigator: Professor Rob Briers, Edinburgh Napier University Co-I: Dr Alastair Moore, SquareSet Sound There is significant interest in the potential for measures of freshwater soundscapes to act as a proxy for biodiversity in the same way as has been developed for terrestrial ecosystems. Spatial variability in sound within freshwaters could have a significant influence on the outcome of any assessment and is a key consideration in relation to sampling methods. Effects of urbanisation such as pollution and differences in habitat may also influence both diversity and identity of sound-producing species in urban and rural ponds. These differences are likely to be reflected in bioacoustic characterisation and may provide an indicator of pressures on the sites. This project aims to compare existing acoustic sampling methods with a new methodology based on sensor arrays and utilising spatial audio algorithms to examine spatial variability and directionality of sounds. It will also determine the variation in acoustic characteristics of ponds along an urban-rural gradient and the implications of this for acoustic-based biodiversity assessment. |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Developing best-practice guidelines to integrate long-term ecoacoustic methods into UK biodiversity monitoring |
| Organisation | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We hosted a symposium, also co-funded by UKAN, attended by over 160 people, to introduce and discuss the idea of the guidelines with the UK ecoacoustic community. Following this, we have convened an expert panel to co-author and advise on the guidelines, resulting in a Slack group with 25 members and the final guidelines having 18 co-authors. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We hosted a symposium, also co-funded by UKAN, attended by over 160 people, to introduce and discuss the idea of the guidelines with the UK ecoacoustic community. Following this, we have convened an expert panel to co-author and advise on the guidelines, resulting in a Slack group with 25 members and the final guidelines having 18 co-authors. |
| Impact | Passive acoustic monitoring has great potential as a cost-effective method for long-term biodiversity monitoring. However, to maximise its efficacy, standardisation of survey protocols is necessary to ensure data are comparable and permit reliable inferences. These guidelines outline a basic long-term acoustic monitoring protocol that can be adapted to suit a range of projects according to specific objectives and size. We provide an executive summary giving basic recommendations for audible-range terrestrial ecosystem monitoring, a Quick Start Guide based on a synthesis of the latest academic research, and over 100 pages of in-depth discussion of the requirements and considerations for undertaking good-practice use of long-term ecoacoustic monitoring. Deliverables 1 and 2 have been achieved. The final guidelines will undergo some professional formatting so that Deliverable 3 will be completed by the end of January 2023 (agreed with UKAN+/ZH). This means that the guidelines will be released in time for the upsurge in field studies at the start of spring, and is likely to maximise impact. We know that the guidelines are eagerly anticipated by the community, and have been discussed at several recent high profile academic events (e.g. the British Ecological Society annual conference 2022 in Edinburgh and EcoHack 2022 in Stirling). |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Ecoacoustics and Long-term Ecological Monitoring Workshop |
| Organisation | University of Oulu |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I was invited for a week long research workshop as an expert in ecoacoustics to support the design of acoustic surveying and analysis methods at Kilpisjarvi biological station |
| Collaborator Contribution | University of Oulu, Biodiverse Anthropocenes funded the workshop. Kilpisjarvi biological station hosted the workshop. |
| Impact | Report and collaborative funding bids will follow. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Feasibility of a Marine Acoustic Sensing Network using the UK Archipelago of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Infrastructure |
| Organisation | University of Bath |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKAN+ was awarded funding to coordinate a portfolio of exploratory projects which will accelerate the acoustic community. The funding will support new, ambitious, speculative research spanning the interdisciplinary science of acoustic related research in the UK. The award is to provide funding to address the Acoustics Research Priorities which UKAN+ has identified. In September 2022 UKAN+ opened our second call. 6 Pilot projects were successful. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project Investigator: Dr Anna Young The UK has an extensive network of offshore renewable energy (ORE) infrastructure for wind and tidal power generation, and this is growing rapidly to meet the ambition of a net-zero future by 2050. Offshore wind power capacity was 11 GW in 2021 (approximately 10% of the UK's consumption). Tidal power capacity is currently <10 MW but will be expanding by over 400% to 41 MW in the next 5 years with three new or expanding sites in Scotland and Wales. Floating offshore wind has also had its first success in the recent Government Contract for Difference (CfD) auction (32 MW to be installed). These rapid expansions in ORE generation give significant opportunities and challenges for infrastructure design and use. In this project we will explore the potential of multi-purposing the UK's ORE infrastructure to support an extensive underwater acoustic monitoring and surveillance network. Potential applications include monitoring of infrastructure integrity, defence and security of UK waters, biodiversity and population monitoring, underwater navigation and communication, and oceanographic and climate science. The project is led by Dr Anna Young, Dr Phillipe Blondel and Dr Cormac Reale at the University of Bath and we invite collaboration from interested parties. |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Frontiers for Young Minds (FfYM) / UKAN |
| Organisation | Frontiers Media SA |
| Department | Frontiers for Young Minds (FfYM) |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Appointing 4 editors, 25 authours and 20 Science mentors facilitating the publication of 25 Articles during 2021 to showcase / celebrate first International Year of Sound: a UNESCO triggered celebration of sound and how it enters our lives in so many ways. This collection will explore the many faceted science of sound: how humankind and other animals perceive it, its many uses, and the problems it can bring to us and the environment. Sound cuts across many disciplines: from medicine and neuroscience to the environment. It applies mathematics and technology to these domains. Sound is a global health concern: Hearing loss affects 5% of the world's population (WHO estimate). A special collection about sound could inspire a new generation of scientists, medics and engineers. Our experts from the UK Acoustics Network (>1000 members), and the International Year of Sound team (195 participating countries) will cover a wide range of topics cutting across journal specialties. We are collating articles which portray the diversity and wonder of how sound reflects and affects the world, and how it reflects and affects us. These articles can either review a core concept in acoustics or cover a recent scientific article by the authors, rewritten for a young audience (8-15). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Access and support from their editorial team and illustrator/copywriter and international membership of readers. |
| Impact | Webpage with 2,403 views Muntidisciplinary: acoustics, sound and vibration relating to the broad themes of biodiversity, earth and its resources, neuroscience, health and mathematics |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | International Year of Sound (IYS2020) |
| Organisation | International Year of Sound |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are a UK representative publicising IYS2020 and encouraging people to host events and publicise them on IYS2020 website attracting global attention to UK activity, skills and expertise in acoustics. UKAN provide two acoustic demonstrations at the Launch of IYS2020 on 30th January in the Grand Amphitheatre, Sorbonne University. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Offering a global platform to share information on activity and priorities, increasing network, collaborations and contacts. |
| Impact | Sharing resources on an international platform such as UKAN supported 'Acoustics Ventilation Overheating: Residential Design', published by the ANC Jan 2020 |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Patterned ionogel based acoustic sensors (PI-BASe) |
| Organisation | University of Strathclyde |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKAN+ was awarded funding to coordinate a portfolio of exploratory projects which will accelerate the acoustic community. The funding will support new, ambitious, speculative research spanning the interdisciplinary science of acoustic related research in the UK. The award is to provide funding to address the Acoustics Research Priorities which UKAN+ has identified. In September 2022 UKAN+ opened our second call. 6 Pilot projects were successful. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project Investigator: Dr. Andy Reid The acoustic properties of gels could be game changing if applied to acoustic sensors. Their chemical and material properties can be tailored so that they match the acoustic properties of their environment, such as water, tissue or polymer composites. An acoustic sensor made with this type of material would not be as acoustically intrusive as a rigid ceramic sensor. The large energy loss of a piezoelectric transducer due to the sharp change in acoustic impedance could be avoided, rather than mitigated with coupling gels and matching layers. This work explores the use of ionogels as acoustic sensors: which are room temperature stable ionic liquids captured in a polymer matrix. Where an ionogel contacts an electrode, a strong interfacial capacitance is formed as the ions from the gel accumulate on the counter charged electrode. This effect is the electrical double layer effect, and creates an extremely high capacitance over a length scale of nanometres. If we exploit this effect by giving the gel a patterned surface, the contact area between the electrode and the gel will change in response to pressure, leading to a rapid change in capacitance and a highly-sensitive impedance-based sensor. |
| Impact | None to date. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Toward a Measure of Soundscape Dynamical Acoustic Complexity using Causal Analysis and AI |
| Organisation | University of Sussex |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKAN+ was awarded funding to coordinate a portfolio of exploratory projects which will accelerate the acoustic community. The funding will support new, ambitious, speculative research spanning the interdisciplinary science of acoustic related research in the UK. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This project will build evidence and partnerships for a large-scale grant to validate measures of the emergent complexity of soundscapes through four objectives: O1) Partnerships. To establish partnerships with 1) ecological restoration programmes 2) policy actors and 3) conservation technology organisations through a series of workshops (Q4) O2) Pilot. To establish the potential value of this approach by carrying out exploratory analyses on existing terrestrial, marine and freshwater data sets. O3) Publish. To publish a peer-reviewed position paper and a technical report. O4) Grant. To write at least one large grant (~4 year, £2M) to validate the approach. |
| Impact | To follow |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Ultrasonic stimulation and degradation monitoring of electrochemical processes |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | UKAN+ was awarded funding to coordinate a portfolio of exploratory projects which will accelerate the acoustic community. The funding will support new, ambitious, speculative research spanning the interdisciplinary science of acoustic related research in the UK. The award is to provide funding to address the Acoustics Research Priorities which UKAN+ has identified. In September 2022 UKAN+ opened our second call. 6 Pilot projects were successful. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Project Investigator: Dr. Frederic Cegla Co-I: Dr. Yifeng Zhang (ECR) NDE group, Mech Eng., Imperial College London The net-zero energy transition requires us to shift more and more of our energy generation towards renewable sources for which electrochemical processes are very important. These electrochemical systems are usually diffusion limited and if excessively large charge transfers are imposed degradation in the form of dendrite growth can form. Dendrites are needle like structures that form on the electrode surfaces due to non-uniform ion exchange mechanisms that are driven by the high charge/dis-charge rates. The investigators have already investigated the use of ultrasound to monitor degradation on the electrode surfaces (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2022.231730) and this project will further investigate if ultrasonic stimulation can enhance diffusion at the electrode/electrolyte interface thus enabling faster charge transfer rates before degradation onset occurs. |
| Impact | None to date |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop on sound recording analysis |
| Organisation | University of Stirling |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The first edition of EcoHacK - a hands-on workshop on ecological sound recording analysis -took place between the 31st of October and the 2nd of November 2022 at the University of Stirling, United Kingdom. The event was fully sponsored by the UK Acoustic Network and the venue was provided by the University of Stirling. |
| Collaborator Contribution | With the advent of low-cost passive detectors and the recent development of new acoustic sampling methods, the collection of ecological sounds in the field has gained momentum amongst researchers and practitioners worldwide to answer key ecological questions. The analysis of sound recordings was traditionally done manually but quickly became a time-consuming process. To overcome this issue, acoustic indices have recently been developed to summarize the sonic environment. Furthermore, the use of sound recognition algorithms based on machine learning now allows to discriminate with high confidence specific sounds of interest. As these modern techniques are evolving rapidly, this workshop provided an opportunity to work collaboratively on projects (hackathon format), learn, discuss, and exchange on state-of-the-art methods in eco-acoustics. The main objectives of EcoHacK were to: • bring together students, early-career, postdoctoral and senior researchers as well as key stakeholders (e.g. charities and private sector bodies) interested in sound recognition, bioacoustic, and soundscape ecology, • foster links and collaboration between institutions and across disciplines, as well as encouraging dialogue between the academic and private sector, • discuss, exchange, and share experiences and best practices in sound recording analysis, • explore novel ways of linking acoustic data with environmental variables at different spatiotemporal scales, • work collaboratively on eco-acoustics projects in an intensive, focused three days long "hackathon" format |
| Impact | Most of the time (11 hours in total) of the workshop was dedicated to the Hackathon, an event where participants engage in rapid and collaborative programming to find high-quality solution to an emerging issue. The idea of the hackathon was also to gather participants to work together during a short period of time on a subject that can be outside of their daily routine, or to learn about other techniques used by other researchers. We asked the participants during the registration to propose a project for the hackathon and to give a short presentation during the first day. The list of projects can be found here (https://github.com/brain-zh/EcoHacK-2022). After some discussions around the 15 different projects, there were a strong will from participants to work on three main projects: • Developing a Shiny App to visualise eco-acoustic recordings from different sources • Creating an interactive Acoustic Index Manual that offers a step-by-step breakdown of the index calculations, coupled with example simulated and real-world recordings, to aid wider understanding within eco-acoustics and beyond. • Using different machine learning techniques for classifying Eurasian Curlew vocalisations to different call types to make inferences on productivity and predation at breeding sites. Participants presented their results the last day and it was a great opportunity for the community to reflect about the methods used. For instance, three working groups developed different deep learning algorithms for classifying Curlew vocalizations and the final project presentation gave them time to compare and discuss about algorithm performance and validity. Other notable outputs from the Hackathon are (i) the creation of the Acoustic Index Manual that participants plan to submit in a peer reviewed paper, and (ii) the development of a Shiny App to visualize recordings that will be used for creating the Acoustic Index Manual. We created a slack group for facilitating data/resources sharing during the event and communication post-event: ecohackgroupe.slack.com. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | 'Seeing with Sound' Interactive display |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | UKAN, and UKAN+ via the Bioacoustics SIG have funded an exciting new outreach interactive game 'Seeing With Sound', which has just gone on display at the @WinSciCentre. Winchester Science Centre is the only science and discovery centre in the central South of England and one of the largest in the country, with a strategic vision of sparking curiosity and a mission to build science capital for all. Here is what they say about the new exhibit: "Have you spotted the new exhibit at the Winchester Science Centre? It's based on scientist Marc Holderied's research, from @BASElabBristol, into bats' use of echolocation to locate their prey. Have a go and see how you'd get on as a bat. Discover how moths have developed a way to hide from hungry bats. Let's go!" The scientist behind the research, and Bioacoustics SIG co-leader Prof Marc Holderied from the University of Bristol says: "Moths possess an amazing defence against detection by echolocating bats - an acoustic invisibility cloak. The tiny hairs and scales covering their bodies and wings are such incredibly efficient sound absorbers that they are helping us develop better and thinner noise control solutions for our homes and offices." The details of the above event were shared with the UKAN+ community (1414 at time of publish) via the monthly newsletter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/WinSciCentre |
| Description | AI Hub Stakeholder Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | UKAN+ leadership wished to co-create a bid for an EPSRC-funded Hub in AI for Acoustic and Multimodal Data, being led by the UK Acoustics Network. AI Hubs will be large (up to £10M EPSRC funding) 5-year critical-mass investments. UKAN+ leadership wished to hear the views about the real-world challenges and applications in attendees area that could benefit from AI technologies, and the underpinning research that is needed to address these challenges. The primary objective was to understand how attendees could contribute to the success of such an AI Hub. A pair of online 90-min workshops to gather views from potential stakeholders in industry, government and third sector organizations were arranged. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Acoustics 2021 joint UKAN+ and IoA event on effective collaboration between academia and industry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The session on effective collaboration talks from Prof. Barry M. Gibbs (Honorary Professor in the Acoustics Research Unit, University of Liverpool, Past President of the Institute of Acoustics) Nick Sheppard (Technical Director, Thales) Dr Antonio Torija Martinez (Lecturer in Acoustic Engineering, University of Salford) Andrew Mitchell (Doctoral Researcher, University College London). Each speaker reflected on their own experiences, through knowledge transfer partnerships, funded research projects and collaborative projects, to focus on what makes for effective and successful collaboration. Following the presentations there was a panel discussion, opened by Kirill Horoshenkov (Professor of Acoustics, University of Sheffield), which outlined the recent UKAN+ survey on research priorities, followed by a wider discussion regarding effective collaboration between academia and industry and innovation and future research from the perspective of each of the speakers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.ioa.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=662 |
| Description | Bradford Science Festival 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Kirill Horoshenkov and Dr Viktor Doychinov took part in the Bradford Science Festival this year. This year was bigger than ever, with shows and performances, installations, make and takes, demonstrations, experiments, crafting activities and more. Dr Doychinov ran a small stand about Pipebots with a short activity for children to participate in. The stand was busy day and Professor Horoshenkov and Dr Doychinov talked to approximnately 40 families about Pipebots, UKAN+ and robotics and wireless communications in general. · A whopping 10,000 visitors came to the Museum during the festival · There were over 25,000 visitor engagements in STEM activities · Over 70 contractors and organisations took part in the festival The event also had some great press coverage this year. Festival photos featured in the Guardian's photos of the week section; The i and The Daily Telegraph along with the local press the Yorkshire Post and Telegraph and Argus. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/what-was-on/bradford-science-festival-2021 |
| Description | Buddy Scheme for Inter-noise 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of the scheme is to enable people who are not confident about attending Internoise 2022 ('buddies') to have a point of contact ('mentor') throughout the conference starting with the breakfast on the first day and other social/networking events (e.g. conference dinner) so that they feel less nervous about the conference and more inclined to attend. The scheme will also enable people to meet other attendees of the conference, as well as a few of the Leaders of the Institute of Acoustics, with their mentor there to introduce them. There will be two buddies to each mentor to maximise opportunities for buddies to be involved in the conference. It will be up to buddies and mentors to decide how often they would like to meet |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/inter-noise-2022/ |
| Description | COUCH TO £500K: TURNING AN IDEA INTO A FELLOWSHIP PROPOSAL |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Twelve UKAN+ members applied for a 10-session programme about writing a Fellowship proposal. The training incorporated a mix of instruction, peer-to-peer learning, and in-depth participant feedback to allow attendees to better understand the funding process in general, the person-specific aspects of a Fellowship in particular, and the importance of clear communication in all grant proposals. Thus far, one participant has successfully been awarded a university fellowship, and others are due to submit in the near future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Connecting SIG Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of research topics in Mathematical Analysis in Acoustics based on critical research challenges for acoustic survey. Lot of networking opportunities and future collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | EcoHacK-2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The first edition of EcoHacK - a hands-on workshop on ecological sound recording analysis -took place between the 31st of October and the 2nd of November 2022 at the University of Stirling, United Kingdom. The event was fully sponsored by the UK Acoustic Network and the venue was provided by the University of Stirling. With the advent of low-cost passive detectors and the recent development of new acoustic sampling methods, the collection of ecological sounds in the field has gained momentum amongst researchers and practitioners worldwide to answer key ecological questions. The analysis of sound recordings was traditionally done manually but quickly became a time-consuming process. To overcome this issue, acoustic indices have recently been developed to summarize the sonic environment. Furthermore, the use of sound recognition algorithms based on machine learning now allows to discriminate with high confidence specific sounds of interest. As these modern techniques are evolving rapidly, this workshop provided an opportunity to work collaboratively on projects (hackathon format), learn, discuss, and exchange on state-of-the-art methods in eco-acoustics. The main objectives of EcoHacK were to: • bring together students, early-career, postdoctoral and senior researchers as well as key stakeholders (e.g. charities and private sector bodies) interested in sound recognition, bioacoustic, and soundscape ecology, • foster links and collaboration between institutions and across disciplines, as well as encouraging dialogue between the academic and private sector, • discuss, exchange, and share experiences and best practices in sound recording analysis, • explore novel ways of linking acoustic data with environmental variables at different spatiotemporal scales, • work collaboratively on eco-acoustics projects in an intensive, focused three days long "hackathon" format. 2. Structure of the workshop The programme included three workshop talks, one keynote talk, two blitz talk session (unconference event, with 3 short presentation/discussion), one project pitch session (with 15 short presentations), a hackathon, two courses and a project presentation session at the end of the workshop. 2.1. Workshop and keynote talks The workshop talks were designed to introduce the principles behind the use of eco-acoustic indices and machine learning in biological sound analysis. The talks were given by: • Dr Amandine Gasc, researcher at the French Institute of Research and Development (IRD): 'An introduction to eco-acoustic indices' • Dr Tom Bradfer-Lawrence, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Stirling: 'Acoustic indices for soundscapes and species' • Dr Nicolas Farrugia, associate professor at IMT Atlantique, France: 'Applications of recent advances in machine learning to eco-acoustic indices: transfer, few shot and self-supervised learning' The keynote talk was given by Dr Oliver Metcalf who is a postdoctoral fellow at the Manchester Metropolitan University and the UKAN+ Early Career rep for the Bioacoustics Special Interest Group. His talk was entitled 'Acoustic monitoring of Amazon wildlife in human-modified landscapes'. Most of the time (11 hours in total) of the workshop was dedicated to the Hackathon, an event where participants engage in rapid and collaborative programming to find high-quality solution to an emerging issue. The idea of the hackathon was also to gather participants to work together during a short period of time on a subject that can be outside of their daily routine, or to learn about other techniques used by other researchers. 23 participants from the UK, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Czech Republic, Norway, and Sweden attended the event. Most of the participants were postgraduate students (N = 14), followed by postdoctoral fellows (N = 4), lecturers (N = 4) and a data scientist (N = 1). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Facing the Music: Acoustics for the benefit of musicians |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An Inaugural Lecture by Professor Stephen Dance, School of the Built Environment and Architecture. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/facing-the-music-acoustics-for-the-benefit-of-musicians/ |
| Description | February online event - UK Metamaterials SIG |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Online Group discussion 9 short talks from UK speakers in academia and industry. Group discussion intended to steer future engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://tinyurl.com/metamaterial-showcase |
| Description | Frontiers for Young Minds |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Scientific articles written by scientists and reviewed by a board of kids and teens 2020/21 was the first International Year of Sound, initiated by the International Commission for Acoustics, in response to UNESCO resolution 39C/49, as a celebration of sound and how it enters our lives in so many ways. To celebrate the year of sound, a collection of articles were written by experts from the UK Acoustics Network and the International Year of Sound team. These articles explore the fascinating world of sound and how it benefits and causes problems to people, other animals, and our environment. Centred around a single theme of research and hosted by researchers, all articles within Frontier for Young Minds Collections are freely downloadable and available as an eBook upon their completion. As at March 2022, over 110,000 views. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://kids.frontiersin.org/collections/17985/a-world-of-sound |
| Description | Hearing, Audio and Audiological Sciences Meeting Sept 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The UK Acoustics Network "Hearing, Audio and Audiological Sciences Meeting" took place in Southampton University on the 12-13 September 2022, hosted by the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research. This meeting represented the post-pandemic reboot of the Basic Auditory Science meeting, a long-running meeting of UK hearing scientists, which was originally conceived of as The British Society for Audiology Short Papers Meeting, the brainchild of auditory physiologist Ted Evans. The ethos of the meeting is to facilitate the friendly exchange of work and ideas, while providing an excellent value for money. This year, 115 students and academics attended the meeting. Across two half-day sessions there were 21 talks across covering a wide range of topics across 7 sessions: Hearing-Assistive Technologies; Spatial Hearing and Immersive Audio Rendering; Advances in Our Understanding of Hearing from Neuroimaging; The Physiology of Hearing; Measuring and Understanding Hearing Loss; Modelling and Measuring Hearing and Hearing-Assistive Devices; and New Technologies for the Hearing Sciences. In between talks, attendees met around the 49 posters which covered a wide range of topics. The full programme, with abstracts, can be accessed here: https://acoustics.ac.uk/uk-hearing-audio-and-audiology-sciences-meeting/. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/uk-hearing-audio-and-audiology-sciences-meeting/ |
| Description | Hearing, Audio and Audiology Sciences Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This conference is of interest to anyone in the UK and the world who has an interest in the science of Hearing, Audio and Audiology. The plan is for a two-day meeting, in the mould of Basic Auditory Science & BSA Short Papers meetings of Legend. The aims of the conference are to meet the need for in-person scientific exchange after the COVID disruption Expanded the scope of the meeting to include more interdisciplinary aspects that are part of UKAN. Specifically, we invite participation of other UKAN SIGs: Bioacoustics, Biomedical, Communication, spatial and immersive audio). The goal is to enable to look over the horizon: if we want to solve the big problems of the future, we need to get out of our comfort zone and we need to engage the next generation! The meeting will start mid-morning on Monday and end mid-afternoon Tuesday, with most of the presentation being via poster, and several sessions of talks (~10 talks across two days). University accommodation is provided - bookable at the time of registration - low cost (determined by our university's non-negotiable costs: accommodation, morning coffee, room rent). We hope to provide a free BBQ Monday night for everyone to attend in a more social environment Opportunity to listen to talks online, streamed as much content as possible to allow people to participate who can't travel (poster sessions are not streamed). Opportunity to present 'electronic posters' on numerous large screens. Tours through the ISVR new world-leading anechoic chambers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Ingleborough Soundscape Project: Final Report |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In 2019 we set out to examine whether the success of contrasting rewilding initiatives in the Ingleborough National Nature Reserve could be gauged by using acoustic monitoring. We also took the opportunity to model the impact of transportation noise within the Yorkshire Dales National Park; by using SoundPLAN software. The findings of this two-year study are ready to share with interested parties. This event in April 2022 provided an overview of the Ingleborough Soundscape Project via a series of presentations from the authors of the Final Report, followed by a half-hour Q&A session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | International Year of Sound (2020 - 2021) - The year 2020, now extended to 2021 due to the pandemic. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The International Year of Sound is a project that the International Commission for Acoustics (ICA), an Affiliated Member of the ISC, has been preparing for many years. The theme of the international year is the Importance of Sound for Society and the World and is underscored by the UNESCO Charter of Sound and resolution 39C/49 on the ''Importance of sound in today's world - Promoting best practices''. Other partners for the international year include "La Semaine du Son" (LSdS), the International Science Council and ISC members the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM). The main goal of any international year is to to promote international collaboration and to raise awareness on how science contributes to innovation for the benefit for all society. The year 2020, now extended to 2021 due to the pandemic, has therefore been declared the International Year of Sound, which celebrates the global importance of sound in both technology and quality of life. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://council.science/current/news/year-of-sound-2020-21/ |
| Description | JustNoise Podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | UKAN+ is happy to support The Rest Is Just Noise, a monthly podcast which explores the relationship between sound and our cities. Each episode our passionate and excitable hosts are joined by an expert guest from fields such as acoustics, architecture, and environmental psychology, to discuss their latest work and introduce our audience to the science, beauty, and noise of urban sound. Each episode is hosted by UCL soundscape researchers Andrew Mitchell, Francesco Aletta, and Tin Oberman, and has featured guests like Ellie Ratcliffe (the "Queen of the Birds" from University of Surrey), Marion Burgess from the Year of Sound, and Gascia Ouzounian from the University of Oxford. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rest-is-just-noise/id1547078918?itsct=podcast_box_link&its... |
| Description | KPMG Leadership programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Raising awareness of acoustics through the KPMG Leadership programme using Experiential Lecturing (30 Directors form FTSE100 companies) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Knowledgebase Hackathon |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On 16th and 17th June 2022, the Computational Acoustics SIG are holding a hackathon centred around the knowledgebase. If you'd like to improve the existing materials, add something new, contribute your own code or just find out a bit more about the project, please join us! During each day we will have multiple breakout rooms running where we will be discussing and developing different areas of the knowledgebase, getting to grips with GitHub and the process of contributing to community projects, and other relevant ideas. Whether you're an experienced site developer wanting to get stuck in, or you just want to let us know how you think we could improve the resource, please do try to pop in. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/knowledgebase-hackathon/ |
| Description | Masterclass in Public Engagement |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Sophie Duncan from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement will share insights into the why and how of public engagement, and share a framework for impactful engagement to help you explore and enhance your approach. Trevor Cox from the Acoustics UK network will give an example of how they have developed their PE strategy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/masterclass-in-public-engagement/ |
| Description | Metamaterials for Orchestra pits |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On-line seminar |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | NDE SIG - Educational Ultrasonic Inspection Education Suite |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Procured and setup a 15 seat Educational Ultrasonic Inspection Education Suite which introduces Ultrasonic inspection principles with a focus on weld inspection. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | New Scientist Live - London 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | New Scientist Live 2022 welcomed 23,386 attendees, and the average dwell time on Saturday and Sunday was fantastic at over five hours. It was fantastic to be back at ExCeL London meeting such engaged visitors, learning from inspirational speakers, and of course enjoying the fabulous exhibits! For the first time, the event was streamed and show floor content to a further 2,195 international viewers. The widening participation programme was very well received, 2,810 students from schools with a high proportion of disadvantaged students were welcomed through the NSL complimentary tickets, UKAN+ stall advertising material - Everything around us makes a sound or vibrates, from the smallest molecules to the largest of buildings, acoustics is pretty much in all walks of everyday life. Our visitors have the opportunity to perform hands-on experiments based on various types of Acoustics and participate in a series of ''scientific games'' accessible to everyone. Our team, consisting of PhD researchers and academics from the UK Acoustics Network Plus (UKAN+) showcase a plethora of acoustic technology, some of which include: an ultrasound machine, sound haptics and acoustic levitator. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | One day symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Following the successful first PhD Student day at the University of Bath in 2019, the UK Acoustics Network (UKAN) Special Interest Group for Underwater Acoustics (SIGUA) held its second one day symposium. Final programme: 0930 Gary Heald Dstl Opening 0940 Ben Thomas University of Bath Invited talk: The PhD: A journey, not a destination. 1000 Jack Greenhalgh University of Bristol Phd talk#1: Ecoacoustics as a novel tool for assessing pond restoration success: Results of a pilot study 1020 George Masters Newcastle University Phd talk#2: Extremely high data rates in underwater acoustic communications 1040 Evan Ricketts Cardiff University Phd talk#3: Resonant Triads of Acoustic Gravity Waves in Shallow Water 1100 Break 1130 Oscar Bryan University of Bath Phd talk#4: Machine learning that utilises multiple sonar views for object classification in historic chemical munitions dumpsites 1150 Ellen White University of Southampton Phd talk#5: Deep Delphinids: Applied Deep Learning for Big Marine Acoustic Datasets 1210 Ben Ford & Ben Thomas NPL & University of Bath Research Sounding Early Career Competition 1230 Lunch / Networking 1400 Adrian Brown Atlas Elektronik UK Invited talk: Measurements, modelling and analysis 1420 Jose Almanza Medina University of York Phd talk#6: Underwater motion estimation using DL networks with sonar images with different FoV 1440 Shaula Garibbo University of Bath Phd talk#7: Low frequency ocean acoustics at the Lofoten Vesteralen Observatory, Norway - 1 year later 1500 Break 1525 Andy Smerdon University of Aberdeen Phd talk#8: Inversion of near-bed sediment load, particle size, settling velocity and turbulence from a multi-frequency acoustic backscatter instrument 1545 Edward Clark University of Bath Phd talk#9: Exploring the use of AI in marine acoustic sensor management 1605 Kirill Horoshenkov University of Sheffield Invited talk: UK Acoustics Network Plus 1625 Nikhil Banda Seiche Closing 1630 onwards ECR Network Event The aim of the day was to allow PhD students to present details about their research to like-minded colleagues and promote feedback and discussion. Aim was to to attract students at all stages of their PhD, including people who may have completed their PhD in the last couple of years. Event of interest to all researchers, practitioners and users of underwater acoustics in government, industry, and academia and members of the SIGUA were encouraged to attend. During the day showcased entries to the Research Soundings Early Career Competition and the winner will be invited to give a talk about their research and to describe their winning audio clip. Opportunity to hear from everyone about the research challenges that they see as a priority for underwater acoustics. If you are interested in sharing your ideas we will be arranging a series of video interviews during the day that can then be used to support future SIGUA workshops and other events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Pipebots webinar - NDE (EMAT) sensor platform for robotic contact inspections - Dr Frederic Cegla, Imperial College London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Dr Frederic Cegla from Imperial College London gave a talk at the Pipebots webinar series on Thursday 13th January 2022. The talk, titled 'NDE (EMAT) sensor platform for robotic contact inspections' was well attended by the Pipebots team and members of UKAN. There was a good disucssion following the talk. Dr Cegla was interested in hearing more about the Pipebots programme grant and suggested a webinar with his reseach group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | RAEng - 2020 New Fellows' Celebration Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Professor Kirill Horoshenkov attended the RAEng - 2020 New Fellows' Celebration event at The Royal Academy of Engineering on 22nd September 2022. The event was well attended and provided the opportunity to meet with colleagues to discuss opportunities for collaboration. Following the event, Prof Horoshenkov met with Prof Tong Sun OBE FREng from City, University of London to discuss opportunities for collaboration. Prof Sun is also giving a talk at the Pipebots webinar series on 28th October 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Research soundings competition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | What does your research sound like? Underwater SIG challenged the membership to present research through the medium of sound and help us to highlight the importance of underwater acoustics in everyday life. The request was for a 30-second audio clip related to your work with up to 150 words explanation to accompany it to underwater@acoustics.ac.uk with the subject "RESEARCH SOUNDINGS". The audio clip can contain any audible sound except for the human language. Submissions were judged on creativity, clearness of the relationship between the sound and the research, and the quality of the explanation of the sound. All submissions will be made available on the UKAN+ website and will be on display at the UKAN+ Underwater Acoustics PhD student symposium day (13 December 2021). The competition was open to UKAN+ members from industry and academia in the early stages of their careers. Particularly encouraged participation from PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, and early career acousticians, engineers and lecturers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Sensors SIG Early Career networking event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of this event was to encourage networking and exchange amongst early career researchers in the acoustics community. We had two invited speakers (one industry and one academic) to set the scene with technical talks but also talking about career development. We had an informal poster session and students got to know each other over that and round table lunch-time discussions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Twitter - The UK Acoustics Network |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | f |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/acoustics_uk |
| Description | UKAN Impactful Public Engagement Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The UKAN Impactful Public Engagement Programme aimed to support UKAN members to develop their knowledge and skills in public engagement. Running from March - September 2022, this online programme supported delegates to gain insights and understanding about public engagement, hear from speakers with a range of different practices and perspectives, and work on their own public engagement project. Learning objectives included: • To gain understanding on how to plan public engagement with your work, including the use of evaluation to improve and evidence the value of your public engagement work • To develop understanding in how to achieve impact from public engagement activity • To explore how to develop partnerships to develop public engagement programmes • To create a project plan for your own public engagement project The programme included: • Three online events: 2-day long events with training modules, external speakers, plenary discussion, and small group activities to consolidate learning; and one 2 hour event to further develop participant public engagement plans, gain peer feedback on them, and to problem solve together. • Opportunities to build connections, learn from one another, and develop peer support networks. • Learning groups: Peer learning was supported through learning groups of up to 6 participants. Groups also had access to mentors with expertise in public engagement. • Self-directed learning: Delegates were provided with content to support their planning, including a template to support development of their public engagement approach. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | UKAN+ ANNUAL MEETING 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | UKAN+ invited members to attend our first in person* meeting in Manchester. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/ukan-annual-meeting/ |
| Description | UKAN+ Call 1 PI: Yueting Sun Talk on HYMA 2022 (Genova, Italy) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Talk on HYMA 2022 (Genova, Italy) that built new collaborations with a number of chemists and material scientists offering new porous materials. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | UKAN+ Call 1 PI: Yueting Sun Talk on Internoise2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk on Internoise2022 (Glasgow) to disseminate the work to the acoustic community, including UKAN members and potential industrial partners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | UKAN+ Call 1 PI:Dr Lin Wang & CI Dr Axel Rossberg, QMUL sustainability week, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Public engagement activity: The PI and CI participated in the QMUL sustainability week, and introduced to public the use of auditory drones for bird call monitoring in the biodiversity walk event, on 17 and 19 October 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.qmul.ac.uk/about/sustainability/sustai%20nability-week/ |
| Description | UKAN+ Connecting SIGs Events |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | UKAN+ is organised a series of Connecting SIGs events, the aim of which was to enable members across all special interest groups (SIGs) to learn more about the research conducted in other SIGs. Connecting SIGs: AI - 3rd December 2021 Connecting SIGs: Wellbeing - 24th February 2022 Connecting SIGs: Sustainability - 4th March 2022 Connecting SIGs: Manufacturing and Transport - May 2022 This should especially benefit early career members, who might have not had a chance to find out more about research that other UKAN+ members are carrying out due to pandemic-induced restrictions. Four events were held, each highlighting the activities relating to four of the UKAN+ SIGs. The events covered three parts: • an overview of research conducted in each of the four SIGs (4 speakers) • a series of short 3-minute presentations (12 speakers from the four SIGs) • a panel discussion with senior academics from the four SIGS (Prof Euan Spence, Prof Nick Ovenden, Prof Rob Dwyer-Joyce, Prof Stephen Dance) Events offered fantastic networking opportunities and potential future collaborations, as well as offering researchers exposure to a broad interdisciplinary audience across both academia and industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/connecting-sigs-2021/ |
| Description | UKAN+ Impactful Public Development Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The programme A dynamic six-month professional development opportunity will bring up to 40 members of UKAN together to develop their public engagement work. The programme is designed and facilitated by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and involves a range of contributors from inside and outside of higher education. Key components of the programme are: Three online events: These engaging, and specifically tailored events will provide the chance to: Explore the core components of impactful engagement and put them into practice in your own context Consider the role of partners in developing your approach Develop skills in evaluation, to improve your work, and to evidence its impact Hear from others about their engagement and impact work Participate in interactive group discussions to improve your work and share your feedback with others Dedicate time to developing your research and engagement projects, including evaluation plans There will be two day-long events (10am - 3pm) and one 90-minute event Networking: Opportunities to build connections, learn from one another, and develop your peer support network. Learning groups: Peer learning will be supported through learning groups of up to 6 participants. Groups will also have access to mentors with expertise in public engagement. Self-directed learning: Delegates will be provided with resources to support further learning, including a template to support development of their public engagement approach. There is no fee to take part, and the programme will take place online. We are considering whether some elements of the programme can be delivered face-to-face, though this will depend on the current situation when the programme launches, and safety and accessibility remains our highest priority. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/ukan-impactful-public-development-programme/ |
| Description | UKAN+ Monitoring Biodiversity Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Oliver Metcalf was awarded a UKAN+ Knowledge Transfer Partnership grant to work with Carlos Abrahams of Baker Consulting to develop a set of best practice guidelines for acoustic monitoring of biodiversity in the UK. On the 15th-16th June, a symposium at Manchester Metropolitan University was held, with 70 in-person attendees and a further ~90 online registrants (from as far afield as Australia, France, Italy, and Germany). An audience from a diverse range of user-groups, including academia, Natural England, the British Trust for Ornithology, the RSPB, The Bat Conservation Trust, the Natural History Museum, rewilding organisations, and a range of ecological consultancies and tech companies attended. We were also pleased to see that over one third of attendees identified themselves as early-career. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://acoustics.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Blogpost-on-the-development-of-best-practice-guide... |
| Description | UKAN+ Webinars |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | UKAN+ webinars The network runs a series of webinars. Inviting both new members to share their research and existing members either as an invited speaker through the UKAN+ series or to contribute via the community of SIGs. Events, including UKAN+ webinars are advertised on the UKAN+ website, in the monthly newsletter and members can be alerted to webinars of specific interest via their Mailpoet subscription. All webinars can be found on the UKAN+ website https://acoustics.ac.uk/past-events/. The network has a zoom webinar account which UKAN+ and one SIG, Underwater use. Stats from these two webinars are available. Month 21/22/23 Registered Attendees May 158 58 June 131 80 July 345 115 August 0 0 September 156 33 October 190 108 November 224 34 December 39 30 January 167 February 167 March 294 47 April 282 47 May 326 35 June 353 69 September 64 35 October 92 53 December 202 107 February 55 52 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/past-events/ |
| Description | UKAN+ Website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The UKAN website was designed and has been the reference point since UKAN commenced in 2017, serving the community well, but as we transitioned to UKAN+ a full refresh was undertaken. Following consultation with the network and the Academic Management Team the refreshed site launched early September. A clearer landing page was designed and written including providing details of the Academic Management Team and Advisory Board members. The sites new features included amendments to the online directory page. The directory serves as a hub helping build connections between our community. Members were invited to update profiles. including a photo and ORCid details. The resources page was amended to allow for searches on the site as well as categories created for easier referencing. Mailpoet plug in was added to support newsletter engagement with the established community and to also support the development of the community to be active members. We restructured profiles so newsletter subscriptions and SIG data is now separate. A new page was generated for the UKAN+ funding call. Providing full information including eligibility requirements. A further page provided the simple 3 part application form allowing for blind assessment and a voluntary ED&I form. 129 events since 01.04.23 15.02.23- inc webinars/workshops/sponsored events/funding call network projects Google stats - Year 02.22-02.23 there has been 23K users with 35K sessions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/ |
| Description | UKAN+ Workshop on Soundscapes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | On the 5th of April, the UK Acoustics Network held its first Workshop on soundscapes with the purpose of exploring UK research, encouraging knowledge exchange and discussing future directions. A recording of the event can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecNYqDRoAi0 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecNYqDRoAi0 |
| Description | UKAN+ Youtube channel |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The UK Acoustics Network Youtube channel is a resource for past online and in person events. In March 2023 the site had 77 videos, and 276 subscribers. Videos regularly receive views in the range of 60-130. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/@theukacousticsnetwork880/videos |
| Description | UKAN+ and Pipebots stand at New Scientist Live |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | New for New Scientist Live Manchester 2022 New Scientist Live is a mind-blowing festival of ideas and discoveries for everyone curious about science and why it matters. Following its multi-award-winning shows in London, on 12-14 March 2022 for the first time it is moving to Manchester, transforming the Manchester Central venue into the most exciting place in the universe for three days. More than 40 speakers and 30+ exhibitors will come together in Manchester Central to create an unrivalled atmosphere and energy, packed with thought-provoking talks, ground-breaking discoveries, interactive experiences and hands-on activities, workshops and performances. Fun, entertaining, informative and inspirational, New Scientist Live stimulates the mind and senses like no other event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://live.newscientist.com/new-for-2022 |
| Description | UKAN+ funding call collaborative workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Collaborative workshop: 4th or 5th November 10:00-13:00 Prior to UKAN+ launching its first funding call, with the help of expert facilitators, UKAN+ hosted collaborative workshops. These informal events were designed to build research communities to develop new, innovative ideas for proposals and opportunities to deliver a step change in world-class research. They aided proposals to align with the agreed acoustic priorities and project proposal assessment criteria. The workshop calls were limited in number to enable collaborative working. To facilitate participation, the same event was run twice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | UKAN+ monthly newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The UKAN+ newsletter is a cost effective tool used to share relevant and valuable information to our network. Following a refresh of the WordPress website, Mailpoet plugin was added to allow emails to be sent to our subscribers. Subscribers are added to one or more lists to allow SIG coordinators to directly connect with members with specific interest areas of acoustics. Email data will provide audience insights. The newsletter is customised for stronger engagement allowing the UKAN+ team to connect with our community. Details of UKAN+ activity are shared, announcements of the UKAN+ calls and news from across the acoustic industry is promoted. The newsletter is issued each month. The Mailpoet subscription for March 2023 edition was 1228. 53.1% opened with 3.% clicking links. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022,2023 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/resources/?_types=newsletters |
| Description | UKMM UKAN+ Acoustic Metamaterials Showcase Event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Joint showcase between UK Acoustics Network and UK Metamaterials Network to showcase research in acoustic metamaterials in the UK. This is an opportunity to see a broad range of the current research taking place in UK universities and industry. Researchers from across the country will give short talks on their area of expertise. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://acoustics.ac.uk/ukmm-ukan-acoustic-metamaterials-showcase-event/ |
| Description | Workshop on Soundscapes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of this workshop is to explore UK research in soundscapes, encourage knowledge exchange and discuss future directions, and provide an opportunity to form teams and consortia for future research collaborations and funding proposals. To ease the discussions, the workshop will take place in person (assuming COVID regulations will allow it). The presentations might be recorded and streamed. The workshop focus will be on both outdoor and indoor soundscapes, and will move beyond the more traditional research on the subject, looking at different aspects such as sensing, AI, policy, etc. Thereby, participants will have the opportunity to explore research from different areas and topics, and meet others who might not normally attend the same conference venues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Young Muslim Leadership Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In cooperation with the Prince's Charities, and with the support of the Amanah Foundation and ISESCO, the Centre organises the Young Muslim Leadership Programme to encourage greater participation by Muslims in public life. This nine-day residential summer school is held at Oxford each year and is attended by young British Muslims, men and women between the ages of 21 and 30, who have demonstrated leadership potential in their chosen career-paths. They are drawn from a variety of backgrounds and interests, including national and local government, academia, the legal profession, media, and the voluntary sector. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.oxcis.ac.uk/young-muslim-leadership-programme |