Acoustics

Salford Innovation Research Centre (SIRC)

Acoustics Research Centre

Acoustics and audio research has been conducted at Salford University for over 60 years. It is funded by research councils, national and international government bodies, and industry. Our research has fed into products that companies make and sell worldwide, as well as regulations and standards used in the UK, Europe and internationally.

‘particular strengths in acoustics’ and ‘outstanding impact in acoustics for the built environment.’

Architecture and Built Environment Panel, Research Excellence Framework (REF) feedback

We currently have about twenty research active staff and a lively community of PhD students. Staff and students have won numerous awards for their research.

1:12 scale model of Stonehenge
A 1:12 Acoustic Scale Model of Stonehenge being tested in one of our semi-anechoic chambers.

We have world-class acoustics laboratories: listening rooms, reverberation rooms, anechoic chambers, an accredited calibration laboratory and state of the art equipment and instrumentation. Through the laboratories we are able to bring much of our fundamental research into real life applications. The Acoustics Research Centre is the primary partner for Acoustics research in the BBC Audio Research Partnership. 

Salford Staff have authored and co-authored leading texts in Acoustics.

Our research focus

Click the links to find out more about our research areas:

Other things we do

We carry out a lot of testing and R&D work for companies, and you can find out more about this on our Commerical Acoustic Testing pages.

Since the 1970s we have been teaching courses on Acoustics and Audio:

Projects

Environmental noise and vibration surveys

Specialist test methods for automotive, aerospace, marine, energy and building

Acoustics properties of materials

  • Shock tube, flow resistivity and impedance tube measurements
  • Meta materials

SODAR

Standard laboratory measurements and calibration

  • International standard laboratory measurements
  • Accredited calibrations to international standards

Building elements and acoustic treatments

Predicting sounds in rooms

Design of the acoustics of spaces

Measurement in architectural acoustics

Perception of sound in rooms

Audio signal processing

Psychoacoustics

Example projects include:

Environmental Acoustics Projects

Porous materials

Metamaterials

Sonic crystals 

Soundscapes 

Environmental noise and vibration 

Perception of sound in rooms 

  • Low frequencies in small critical listening spaces
  • Perception of reverberation time in small listening rooms
  • Subjective perception of seat dip attenuation
  • The sensitivity of listeners to early sound field changes in auditoriums

Audio 

Product sound quality 

Teaching of sound within schools and colleges 

Research facilities

The acoustics laboratories are world class. They include a Listening room, Reverberation rooms, 3 Anechoic chambers, an accredited calibration laboratory, and a state-of-the-art equipment and instrumentation.

Find out more about our world-class acoustics laboratories…

Research Team

Professor Trevor Cox

Prof Bill Davies

Dr Ian Drumm

Dr Bruno Fazenda

Dr Jon Hargreaves

  • Research profile

Dr Jos Hirst

Dr Francis Li

Dr Antonio Martinez

Dr Joshua Meggitt

Professor Andy Moorhouse

Dr Ben Shirley

  • Research profile
  • Personal profile

Dr Olga Umnova

Dr Sabine von Hunerbein

Prof David Waddington

Dr Duncan Williams

Research Fellows

Dr Andy Elliot

Dr Simone Graetzer

Richard Hughes

  • Personal profile

PhD Opportunities

The Acoustics Research Centre has a thriving and growing student population studying a PhD program in subjects such as:

A research degree, such as a doctorate or masters by research, gives you an opportunity to explore an area of acoustics or audio that you find particularly interesting. The research challenge is usually to discover new science through measurement, prediction and developing an in-depth understanding of the subject.

Suggested future PhD Acoustics projects

Next steps towards a doctorate or other research degree in acoustics

  • Find out if we carry out research in areas of acoustics, audio, vibration and noise engineering that interest you; each research group contains a list of members to help you discover which members of acoustics research staff carry out work you find interesting;
  • Email these members of staff outlining the areas of research that interest you along with a brief CV. If you don’t have a definite funding source, detail what you are doing about this. Please only email one member of staff at a time to avoid us duplicating work.
  • If you are unsure who to contact, email the Acoustics Research Centre
  • Consult and follow the formal application procedure. This includes details about the information and documents you will need as well as guidance about submitting your application online.  

What jobs do our postgraduate researchers go on to do?

Find out more information about typical jobs our acoustic postgraduates take up at the end of their studies. In addition, some use a PhD or other research degree as a stepping stone to a career in academia.

Contact

Enquiries for specific areas of Acoustics research

Acoustics Measurements: Andy Elliott at a.s.elliott@salford.ac.uk.

Architectural and Building Acoustics: Trevor Cox at t.j.cox@salford.ac.uk.

Audio Engineering: Ben Shirley at b.g.shirley@salford.ac.uk.

Computer Modelling of Sound: John Hargreaves at j.a.hargreaves@salford.ac.uk

Environmental Noise and Vibration: David Waddington at d.c.waddington@salford.ac.uk.

Materials for Acoustics: Olga Umnova at o.umnova@salford.ac.uk.

Psychoacoustics: Bill Davies at w.davies@salford.ac.uk.

Public Engagement:  Trevor Cox at t.j.cox@salford.ac.uk.

Vibro-acoustics: Andy Elliott at a.s.elliott@salford.ac.uk.