SONORUS: 2 Open Positions in the Field of Urban Sound Planning

SONORUS is an Initial Training Network (ITN, Nr. 290110, duration 1/10 2012 – 30/9 2016) in the 7th framework programme People of the EC. The coordinator of the project is Chalmers University of Technology.

Within this project there is a research school for 14 young researchers (early-stage researcher, ESR) with a duration of 36 months. Two positions are currently open:

ESR1: Perceptualization of urban sound environments – auralisation of traffic noise and other soundscape sounds in a visualized context, at Chalmers University of Technology, and

ESR14: Measurement, auralisation and control of urban noise sources in quiet areas, at SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden.

Project Background
Traffic noise pollution in urban areas is a major environmental problem within the European Union. Creating an acceptable acoustic outdoor environment is a big challenge of high need. Creating as well as preserving environments, which are supportive for health and wellbeing in a sustainable manner is an even bigger but unavoidable task. In order to succeed, specialists are required with a broad research competence covering areas such as acoustic prediction methods, noise control and soundscaping, but also aspects of city and traffic planning. However, specialists equipped with such a competence spectrum are hardly found.

Therefore, the goal of SONORUS is to close this gap and bring together universities, enterprises and public organizations that aim to offer training to ESRs in an arena of trans-disciplinary research. The training is designed around real-life urban test sites that are characterized by a poor acoustic environment due to noise from road, rail or air traffic. These test sites are provided by four major European cities (Berlin, Rome, Antwerpen and Brighton). To these test sites, the ESRs will apply their knowledge and skills gained from individual acoustics related research projects, in-depth courses on acoustics as well as on different aspects of spatial planning.

From SONORUS a new generation of researchers will emerge with the profile needed to reverse the negative trend of a deteriorating acoustic outdoor environment in urban areas.
Successfully Participation in the SONORUS will be awarded with an “Urban Sound Planner Certificate”.

Vacancy description
There are fourteen individual research projects within SONORUS. A detailed description of the positions can be found under www.fp7sonorus.eu.

The position includes individual research, research visits and secondments to other partners inside the project.

All candidates must be fluent in spoken and written English. The R&D is highly multidisciplinary. An ideal candidate has an M.Sc. in engineering (acoustical, mechanical, electrical, industrial or civil engineering, engineering physics, etc.) or an architecture exam. For some positions also a background in Psychology is of interest.

•    Knowledge in acoustics is a strong advantage.
•    Candidates who have the proper qualifications may get the opportunity to perform this work as part of a PhD study.
•    All members of the network are equal opportunity employers, both female and male candidates are invited to apply.

Marie Curie eligibility criteria – in short: Early-Stage Researcher (ESR): holds an M.Sc. degree in Engineering and has less than 4 years of experience and has not yet been awarded a doctoral degree. In addition the following criteria apply for eligibility

•    the researcher shall not be a national of the State in which the hosting partner's research team is located
•    at the time of appointment, the researcher may not have resided or carried out her/his main activity in the country of the hosting partner for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to her/his appointment.

Benefits:
Chalmers University of Technology offers to the selected candidate an extremely competitive salary, including social security (in line with the EC rules for Marie Curie grant holders and consists of a salary augmented by a net mobility allowance http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7). Additional funding for participation to courses, workshops and international conferences is ensured. The city of Göteborg offers a stimulating, young and multicultural working environment.

Start date and evaluation procedure
The start date is latest October 1, 2013. Applications received by July 5, 2013 will be considered. Please check the descriptions on www.fp7sonorus.eu. A common evaluation procedure is carried out for all positions.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20120370 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically via Chalmers webpage.

Application deadline: July 5, 2013

For questions, please contact:
Contact persons are named in the vacancy offers on www.fp7sonorus.eu. For more general questions contact Wolfgang Kropp (wolfgang.kropp@chalmers.se).