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Welcome to our September newsletter, a range of news from across our network reflecting and informing our community.
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UKAN+ research funding news
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In November 2021 UKAN+ is launching its first funding call, which opens following a collaborative workshop for interested participants. Project proposals will be accepted in areas across the Acoustics Research Priorities which UKAN+ has identified.
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Collaborative workshop: 4th or 5th November 10:00-13:00
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With the help of expert facilitators, UKAN+ will host collaborative workshops. These informal events are designed to build research communities to develop new, innovative ideas for proposals and opportunities to deliver a step change in world-class research. They will aid proposals to align with the agreed acoustic priorities and project proposal assessment criteria. The workshop calls will be limited in number to enable collaborative working. To facilitate participation, the same event will be run twice, as such it will only be necessary to attend one workshop per call.
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Deadline to apply for the workshop: 8th October 2021
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Applications for UKAN+ research funding will be through a simple 3 part application form via the UKAN+ website when the call opens:
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Call opens: 4th November 2021
Call closes: 15th December 2021
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Our shiny new site is now live!
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The UKAN website has had a complete refresh and is worth a look. Our website is so much easier to use (and look at)!
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We've improved the site with clearer signposting of who we are, and improved features on some old favourites. For example, following feedback from UKAN+ members our directory now has the option of including a photo. The new website also makes searching in both the directory and resources so much easier.
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Members are strongly encouraged to update their profile and to provide more details about themselves (Photo, ORCID account). We are keen to ensure that our network is for active members, a focal point for anyone who wishes to know more about acoustics related research in the UK and for key people involved in this research. In due course a review will take place where old and inactive profiles will be removed.
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Shout out to Chris Hadfield at HumanStudio for all his hard work!
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UKAN+ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
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“Understanding our network communities Survey”
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Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. The Network of Networks have confirmed that our network made up 70% of the total respondents which is fantastic. A meeting in early October will provide us with the summary of findings from the Network Community Survey. We will update you with those findings in our next newsletter.
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Applications for the new UK Acoustics Network Plus Early Career EDI Champion
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The UK Acoustics Network Plus is seeking to appoint an Early Career Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Champion to support the EDI work of UKAN+. The person appointed will be part of a core group of three who will lead thinking on EDI for UKAN+, and champion actions to embed EDI across UKAN+, working with and reporting into the UKAN+ Academic Management Team. The person appointed will also take a lead on EDI for the Early Career SIG and will be part of the Early Career SIG Management Team, chaired by Simone Graetzer.
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The successful applicant:
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i) will gain experience of working on EDI within a significant size organisation, as part of an experienced EDI team;
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ii) can expect to develop leadership, communication, and management skills;
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iii) will have opportunities for interactions at all levels across the network and with partners including industry, the Institute of Acoustics, other networks, and EPSRC. There will be opportunities for training and mentoring, and for leading on particular EDI-related events and activities.
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The person appointed should expect to contribute one to two hours of their time in an average week. The appointment will be for a two-year term, with the possibility of an extension. We welcome applications to carry out this role as a job share.
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Applicants should consider themselves to be early in their career. We are keen to receive applications from the widest range of backgrounds and we welcome expressions of interest from all suitably qualified persons. To increase the diversity of the UKAN+ leadership team we are particularly keen to receive applications from female applicants and from applicants with a minority ethnic background or with other minority protected characteristics.
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Deadline for applications is 23:59 on Friday 29th October 2021.
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More information can be found on the application form (link below) and the UKAN+ website.
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Questions about the role, about UKAN+ and EDI, or about the form and the selection process, can be sent to Simon Chandler-Wilde (UKAN+ EDI lead) at S.N.Chandler-Wilde@reading.ac.uk or to Simone Graetzer (UKAN+ Early Career lead) at earlycareersgroup@acoustics.ac.uk.
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Mathematical Analysis in Acoustics SIG
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We were very fortunate to be able to organise an in-person conference this summer supported by UKAN+. The timing could not have been better, since the conference coincided with the first week of restrictions being relaxed and the weather was good (even too hot). The conference built on the success of the online seminars Wavinars we held monthly during homeworking for the last year and a half. It had a particular emphasis on bringing the theoretical numerical community together with the acoustic community to share advances and challenges. It has been wonderful to bring 18 researchers together to listen about each other's talks, to facilitate discussion about research directions and funding opportunities. There were many PhD students including first year students for who it was the first possibility to talk about their work in person and experience a research atmosphere.
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We are planning a UKAN+ stand at New Scientist Live North, 29-31 January 2022 at Manchester Central. We want to showcase the multidisciplinary nature of acoustics, the huge variety of related career paths, and the many ways in which acoustic science can enrich and improve our lives. We would love to hear from you if you have ideas for demos, or would like to be involved in any way.
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Sensors Special Interest Group Early Career networking event
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Do you develop acoustic sensors or apply the existing sensors to science and engineering problems? The Sensors Special Interest Group is delighted to announce a networking event for early career researchers, including PhD students and postdocs. Anyone whose research involves acoustic sensors, or would like to find out more, is welcome!
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The event will run on Thursday 4th November from 10am to 2pm UK time (GMT+0) and will take place online via the Gathertown platform (link to follow). It will include two keynote presentations, one from an academic expert and the other from an industry professional. These talks will cover aspects of working with acoustic sensors but will also reflect on the career journeys of the speakers. We will also have a networking session where you can talk to like-minded researchers about your achievements and frustrations with developing and using acoustic sensors. We ask all participants to prepare one slide on how you use acoustic sensors in your work to spark conversations with fellow acousticians.
The link to Gathertown and slide preparation instructions will be emailed to you closer to the date. For any further information, please email Jenny Prisutova at j.prisutova@sheffield.ac.uk. Looking forward to seeing you all there!.
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For the past three months members of Harp and Monkey (the folk song and storytelling collective) have collaborated with dozens of residents from four villages in the Peak District National Park and volunteers working for the park itself. They have then been encouraged to engage with their surroundings in a different way – by closing their eyes and listening to what is going on around them. To capture these recording and to send the results to be used for a short film called ‘Birdsong and Bells: The Peak Sound Project’.
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The film provides a compelling snapshot of life in one of Britain’s finest national parks in the summer of 2021. The four villages that took part (Tideswell, Biggin-by-Hartington, Great Longstone, and Calton) in the project were chosen by the project organiser, the Derbyshire and High Peaks arts provider Live & Local. They were chosen to show the diversity of local life, from small rural communities to tourist towns. The wide and wonderful array of items they contributed were edited to take the listener on a journey from daybreak to sunset, taking in schools, farms, towns, pubs, gardens, industry and more, along the way.
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The finished work can be enjoyed with eyes closed or alongside a stunning visual put together by international award-winning animator and art photographer Simon J Jones.
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Martin Purdy, Harp & a Monkey’s principal storyteller, said: “We have been amazed by the level of public engagement, and it has been really interesting to see people start to recognise just how great a role sound plays in their everyday lives.
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“There is so much that goes on around us that we have stopped hearing, from birdsong to children playing. It can be hugely beneficial for our wellbeing to find the time to pause, listen, and live in the moment a bit more.”
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Support for the project also came from Arts Council England, The Peak District National Park, Derbyshire County Council, and the district councils of Derbyshire Dales and Staffordshire Moorland, and the International Year of Sound project.
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'Aural Diversity' is about how differences in hearing affect music and soundscape. Differences in hearing are typically framed as deviations from a tacitly agreed standard. This idealised notion of hearing is embedded very deeply in our culture and is only seriously challenged within the frame of disability. Yet aural diversity is a spectrum whose reality encompasses the whole of human and animal nature. Put simply: everybody hears differently. Our ears have different shapes, sizes and positions, our hearing changes frequently in ways which may be temporary or permanent, and an array of hearing conditions and auditory perceptual 'disorders' that affect roughly one sixth of the world's population (Vos et al 2013). Most people only experience 'normal' hearing for relatively brief periods.
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'Aural Diversity' will be published by Routledge in October 2021. The book is a wide-ranging collection of essays and artists' statements written from many different disciplinary perspectives. It is co-edited by John Drever and Andrew Hugill.
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Ted Humble-Smith photographer and film specialist
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Great images representing acoustics are rare and problematic. Charlotte Swain was very struck by images she saw at Edinburgh Science Festival 2021 and is keen to introduce Ted Humble-Smith Photography and Film, specialists in bringing innovation and research to life. "If you want to change the world, first you have to get the world's attention". Eye grabbing imagery can communicate your work and help you stand out.
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Ted has been representing science in images since 2016 when he was invited to conceptualise over 50 Patents both historical and current, helping showcase the UK as a home of innovation and celebrating 400 years of British IP. For example: Patents such GB190618057 Eugene Lauste’s Sound-On-Film technology and Alan Dower Blumlein’s Binaural Sound Patent GB394325.
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This small bespoke team is obsessed with accurately representing innovation, research, and engineering, by creating imagery that helps new and complex ideas to catch catch the attention of the viewer and lead them into finding out more.
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Ted considers "research is also the key to our imagery, we want to talk to those who are behind the ideas, conduct the research, had the vision, only then can we create an image with integrity at its heart".
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Poet and recording artist Mark Gwynne Jones creates ‘audio odysseys’ featuring the atmospheres, wildlife, and stories of landmark locations. His work is reviewed in The Times, and was recently featured by Samira Ahmed on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. 'Voices From The Peak', a series of immersive audio-artworks takes listeners on a journey through the UK’s first National Park – the Peak District. Using acoustics of place, wildlife, weather, and voices past and present to discover the unheard soundscapes and stories of this strange and beautiful region.
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Our acoustic webinars are back!
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The UKAN+ Events page provides you with all the latest links to our wide range of talks already scheduled for October and November.
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We are looking to plan our schedule six months in advance. Please do reach out to us if you are interested in hosting a UKAN+ Zoom webinar.
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You can replay our various webinars via our YouTube channel here
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If you have any news for our October newsletter do drop us an email before the 20th. We are interested to hear a range of news, perhaps you have a recent publication, or you would like to offer a blog for our community or maybe you know of some industry news we could share.
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