Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow DN, Acoustic Control

Institute of Sound & Vibration Research

Location:  Highfield Campus
Salary:   £33,906 to £36,573 subject to bi-annual review due to exchange rate
Full Time Fixed Term (3 years)
Closing Date:  Wednesday 30 November 2022
Interview Date:   To be confirmed
Reference:  2043522DA

Applications are invited for a Doctoral Researcher with an interest in acoustics, signal processing and active noise control, who will be part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network IN-NOVA. The network will support 13 doctoral Marie-Curie Fellows hosted at high-profile universities, research institutions and companies located across Europe. The technical focus of IN-NOVA is on the active reduction of noise transmitted into and from enclosures through encapsulating structures and this particular position will focus on Directional microphone arrays for remote microphone virtual sensing. This is an excellent opportunity for you to benefit not only from the training and world-leading research environment offered by the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, but also that provided by the high levels of engagement with the other partners. In particular, this includes 3 periods of secondment to both academic and industrial partner organisations to benefit from broader research and training opportunities, as well as experience different engineering research environments. In addition, you will benefit from a variety of training modules as well as transferable skills courses and active participation in workshops and conferences.

Objectives: The remote microphone technique is used to estimate the acoustic signal at a virtual sensor location using the outputs from a remote array of monitoring sensors and is used in the implementation of active sound systems for both local control and for noise barriers. Current arrangements use pressure microphones as the monitoring sensors, but it is known that complimentary information about the sound field is available from pressure gradient microphones. Directional microphones, such as cardioids, are also available that combine elements of pressure and pressure gradient response. This PhD would investigate the optimum directivity and geometry of the microphones in a monitoring array for a local active control problem.

Expected results: The project is expected to evaluate the performance of different microphone directivities in the context of local active sound control. As a result of this insight, it is then expected that the project will develop optimised strategies for the definition of microphone directivity in remote sensing strategies and validate these strategies experimentally.

This full-time post will be available from February 2023 and is offered on a fixed-term 36 month contract. The post will be held in the Signal Processing, Audio and Hearing Group of the ISVR, which is part of the School of Engineering.

Funding for this project is guaranteed for its full duration by the UKRI regardless of any changes in the UK's association to the Horizon Europe Programme.

Eligibility Requirements

At the time of recruitment (i.e. first date of employment), you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc…) in the UK for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before your date of recruitment under this project. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account. At the time of recruitment you must not yet have been awarded your doctorate. You will also need to meet the entry requirements for a PhD at Southampton and thus require a minimum of a 2:1 (or equivalent) in a relevant engineering subject. In order to be considered for this post, you will also need to complete the postgraduate application process for a PhD in Engineering and the Environment; this process is described at the following link: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/apply. When applying please indicate the supervisor as Dr Jordan Cheer and the Project as IN-NOVA - Head Tracking for Local Active Noise Control.

Salary

The salary payable to you will differ from the ‘researcher unit cost’ as set in the Grant Agreement. The unit cost is to cover all employment costs and Employer’s liabilities to HMRC and any applicable employer’s pension contributions must therefore be deducted before from the available budget before arriving at the amount available as salary. Under UK legislation the living allowance, mobility allowance and any applicable family allowance are all deemed taxable. The gross salary calculated after Employer’s costs will then be subject to Employee’s deductions for Tax, NI and Pension contributions where applicable. The sterling salary payable will also be affected by exchange rate fluctuations and will therefore be subject to six monthly reviews.

Informal Enquiries

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr Jordan Cheer at ISVR University of Southampton j.cheer@soton.ac.uk. Formal applications must be made through the University’s online application system.

Application procedure:

You should submit your completed online application form at www.jobs.soton.ac.uk. The application deadline will be midnight on the closing date stated above. If you need any assistance, please email recruitment@soton.ac.uk or call Samantha Stubbs (Recruitment Team) on +44 (0) 23 8059 2750. Please quote reference 2043522DA on all correspondence.