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Welcome to our August newsletter, a range of news from across our network reflecting and informing our community.
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The original aim of UKAN+ was set in 2019 to create strategic connections between the Acoustics Challenges (Acoustics Research Priorities) and 4 Grand Challenges (Clean Growth; Healthy Ageing, Future of Mobility; and AI and Data). It was proposed (see the original UKAN+ case for support) to tackle these challenges, alongside industry, through pilot studies leading to large-scale grant proposals for research projects involving the wider community. UKAN+ promised to support ongoing world-class research in acoustics and to initiate new research, strategically important to the UK.
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In March 2021 the government decided to abandon its Industry Strategy providing our Network with the flexibility to align our Research Priorities with broader EPSRC research Themes rather than with the 4 Grand Challenges related to the abandoned Industry Strategy. It was suggested through the discussions within the UKAN+ investigators team that these Themes should be: (i) Well-being; (ii) Manufacturing and Transport; (iii) Sustainability (Net-Zero); (iv) AI.
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Through wider consultation 21 Higher Order Acoustics Research Priorities have been proposed and mapped on the 4 EPSRC Themes. Consultation has been sought from the network throughout August.
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The first UKAN+ call will be launched in November 2021.
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The first stage of the process is a collaborative workshop. With the help of expert facilitators, UKAN+ will host two identical online networking events on the 4th November 10:00-13:00 and 5th November 10:00-13:00. 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.
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Application to attend for the events will be launched and opened in September. Attendance will be limited.
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We will provide up to £200,000 to fund the strongest research projects arising from the collaborative workshops.
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Applicants should make use of the Research Priorities to guide their applications for explorative (pilot) cross-disciplinary research projects between industry, government, third-sector organisations and academia.
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Collaborative Workshops 4th and 5th November 2021. More details will be sent around in early September.
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The UKAN website was designed and has been the reference point since UKAN commenced in 2017, serving the community well, but as we have transitioned to UKAN+ its time for a refresh.
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Following consultation with the network and the Academic Management Team the refreshed site will launch early September. The site will have new features including the online directory page. The directory serves as a hub helping build connections between our community. Members will be invited to update your profiles. We will issue an email on the launch date with more details. Any issues you find with the new website or any comments on its content and layout, send us an email on
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The original aim of UKAN+ was set in 2019 to create strategic connections between the Acoustics Challenges (Acoustics Research Priorities) and 4 Grand Challenges (Clean Growth; Healthy Ageing, Future of Mobility; and AI and Data). It was proposed (see the original UKAN+ case for support) to tackle these challenges, alongside industry, through pilot studies leading to large-scale grant proposals for research projects involving the wider community. UKAN+ promised to support ongoing world-class research in acoustics and to initiate new research, strategically important to the UK.
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In March 2021 the government decided to revise its Industry Strategy providing our Network with the flexibility to align our Research Priorities with broader EPSRC research Themes rather than with the 4 Grand Challenges related to the previous Industry Strategy. It was suggested through the discussions within the UKAN+ investigators team that these Themes should be: (i) Well-being; (ii) Manufacturing and Transport; (iii) Sustainability (Net-Zero); (iv) AI. In addition to this, in July 2021 BEIS published the revised UK Innovation Strategy document which lists the seven technology families of UK strength and opportunity:
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• Advanced Materials and Manufacturing
• AI, Digital and Advanced Computing
• Bioinformatics and Genomics
• Engineering Biology
• Electronics, Photonics and Quantum
• Energy and Environment Technologies
• Robotics and Smart Machines
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It makes sense to plan how to relate the 21 Higher Order Acoustics Research Priorities have been proposed in the July 2021 consultation document mapped on these technology families. The first UKAN+ call for UKAN+ grants will open November 2021. These grant applications are expected to align with the Acoustics Research Priorities.
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Therefore, first stage of the process is a collaborative workshop. With the help of expert facilitators, UKAN+ will host two identical online networking events on the 4th November 10:00-13:00 and 5th November 10:00-13:00. 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.
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Application to attend for the events will be launched and opened in early September. Attendance will be limited. Full details will be available on our website and an email will be issued with the application process and form.
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Our total funding for this call is £200,000, funding the strongest research projects arising from the collaborative workshops. We want to fund as many high-quality applications as possible. The below investments from UKAN+ should be viewed as maximum amounts, not targets.
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Pilot/explorative projects (PEP)
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Knowledge transfer project (KT)
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The Acoustics Bulletin Video Magazine
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the team at the IOA are looking for interesting contributors to interview for this issue. The format will be the same as last year with a varied reach for anyone interested in acoustics.
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UKAN+ are developing plans and actions to support Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and we ask all members to complete a brief anonymous survey to help us in that work, aiming to get as close to a 100% response rate as we can so that the feedback is properly representative.
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The survey will take 5-10 mins to complete and is open until 9 September. It has been developed in conjunction with other EPSRC networks through our membership of a network of EPSRC-funded networks (the Network of Networks). It is being delivered on behalf of all the networks by the EPSRC-funded networks based at Nottingham and Southampton.
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The “Understanding our network communities” survey aims to get a sense of
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- The diversity of our existing membership, so as to help us benchmark and plan our work.
- How inclusive our network is seen to be by our membership.
- How we should organise our online events and other activities as Covid restrictions are eased, to make these as inclusive as possible.
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We would appreciate it if you could take the time to complete the survey which will be a huge support for this important strand of our work.
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Tribo-Acoustic Sensors Workshop 1 September 10:00-17:00
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This is a reminder about the forthcoming workshop on the use of ultrasonic 'tribo-acoustic' sensors to measure oil films, viscosity, contact, and stress in machine elements.
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Hear about how PhD students and RA's in the Leonardo Centre at the University of Sheffield use ultrasound to measure of contacts in machine elements.
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The group has built sensors for the measurement of oil film thickness, asperity contact, contact stress, surface films, and film viscosity. These sensors have been applied to lab based machine elements, such as seals, journal bearings, thrust pads, piston rings, and rolling element bearings; as well as applications in the field from auto and marine engines, metal rolling, and wind turbine transmissions.
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This workshop will cover:
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basic physics of how ultrasound responds to dry and lubricated interfaces
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practical aspects on sensor manufacture sensors and the necessary instrumentation; including live demos.
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results from sensors applied to a variety of lab based machine elements.
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experience of field applications
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The event will be online and free to join. Feel free to drop in and out and attend the sessions of interest to you.
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Our acoustic weekly webinar took a break for the summer but we are actively planning future webinar schedule. Reach out to us if you are interested in hosting a UKAN+ Zoom webinar.
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The UKAN+ Events page provides you with all the latest links to our wide range of talks.
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You can replay our various webinars via our YouTube channel here.
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Association of Noise Consultants (ANC) are jointly sponsoring one of the John Connell Awards with ANV and it would be great to see some entries from the UK Acoustics Network
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This award recognises video shorts promoting acoustics as a STEM career and getting the acoustics community more involved in delivering STEM activities through resources to use at STEM events.
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Submissions should cover a particular aspect of acoustics, explain it to a lay person.
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- Duration and format: ideally 1 to 3 minutes, but no more than 5 minutes; MP4 format;
- Materials: any props used should be what you could easily purchase from the high street or on line and which would allow schools to replicate the activities in the video; ideally there would be no costs, but up to a maximum of £20 if incurred;
- Instrumentation: whatever is available at your place of work;
- Health and Safety considerations: the applicant will provide a quick risk assessment for the activity being promoted; and
- Written description: please also include a one page word document with your entry comprising a short description of the video and short pen portraits of who was involved.
Submit entries by Friday 17th of September 2021.
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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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If you have any news for our September newsletter drop us an email before the 28.09.2021.
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