EPSRC UK Acoustics Network Plus

声学行业每年为英国经济贡献46亿英镑，雇用超过16，000人，全国750多家公司的总附加值超过65，000英镑。声学行业的生产力与其他使能技术的生产力相似，例如英国光子行业（2014年每位员工6.2万英镑）。通过声学研究进行创新是其行业成功的关键。英国的声学行业和研究为许多主要的全球市场提供了支持，包括100亿美元的建筑隔音材料市场，76亿美元的超声波设备市场和310亿美元的语音识别市场。这是在考虑声学在汽车，航空航天，海洋和国防中的重要作用之前，或者考虑利用声学专业知识的主要英国行业，或者考虑声学的间接环境和社会价值。2017年英国工业战略中确定的四大挑战都需要声学创新。工业战略挑战基金（ISCF，https：//www.ukri.org/innovation/industrial-strategychallenge-fund/）专注于所有需要声学支持的领域。英国声学研究的未来取决于其为四大挑战做出贡献的能力。许多例子都表明了声学在解决四大挑战中的核心作用，特别是通过更有针对性的研究。英国的声学相关研究基地具有国际竞争力，但重要的是继续将这项研究与四大挑战直接联系起来。在这个过程中，英国声学网络（UKAN）的作用非常重要。该网络联合了15个特殊兴趣小组（www.acoustics.ac.uk）的870多名成员，他们代表工业界，学术界和各种非学术组织，其成功依赖于英国声学相关研究的质量。UKAN由EPSRC资助，作为标准的网络赠款，其明确目标是将英国以前不同和不相交的声学社区聚集在一起，包括工业界和学术界。UKAN非常成功。它的成功体现在其成员数量众多，自2017年11月成立以来举办的众多网络活动以及对声学研究界的贡献。不幸的是，UKAN没有能力资助新的、试点的冒险或转化项目，也没有为正在进行的研究或知识转移（KT）活动提供任何资金支持。UKAN+的目的是超越UKAN，在声学挑战和重大挑战之间建立战略联系，并通过试点研究应对这些挑战，从而实现全面的大规模的拨款建议和系统的研究和KT项目涉及更广泛的声学社区。英国声学相关研究的未来有一个很好的机会超越这一点，建立在组装的临界质量和探索由UKAN发起的跨学科工作。因此，这项提案是为了让UKAN+将这个社区带到下一个阶段，在英国和国际上更广泛地连接这个网络，通过协调研究为政府制定的重大挑战的解决方案做出贡献。UKAN+将为英国与大挑战相关的声学研究制定新的路线图，向更广泛的社区授予探索性（试点）跨学科研究项目，以支持路线图中商定的冒险研究和知识转移活动，并支持开发与大挑战一致的政府研究资助机构的全面投标。UKAN+还将建立一个国家声学研究中心或协调中心，实现全面的可持续性，并支持最佳的平等、多样性和包容性实践。

The acoustics industry contributes £4.6 billion to the UK's economy annually, employing more than 16,000 people, each generating over £65,000 in gross value added across over 750 companies nationwide. The productivity of acoustics industry is similar to that of other enabling technologies, for example the UK photonics industry (£62k per employee in 2014). Innovation through research in acoustics is a key to its industry success. The UK's acoustics industry and research feeds into many major global markets, including the $10 billion market for sound insulation materials in construction, $7.6 billion ultrasound equipment market and $31 billion market for voice recognition. This is before the vital role of acoustics in automotive, aerospace, marine and defence is taken into consideration, or that of the major UK industries that leverage acoustics expertise, or the indirect environmental and societal value of acoustics is considered. All the four Grand Challenges identified in the 2017 UK Industrial Strategy require acoustics innovation. The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF, https://www.ukri.org/innovation/industrial-strategychallenge-fund/) focuses on areas all of which need support from acoustics as an enabling technology. The future of acoustics research in the UK depends on its ability to contribute to the Four Grand Challenges. Numerous examples are emerging to demonstrate the central role of acoustics in addressing the four Grand Challenges and particularly through more focused research. The acoustics-related research base in the UK is internationally competitive, but it is important to continue to link this research directly to the four Grand Challenges. In this process, the role of UK Acoustics Network (UKAN) is very important. The Network unites over 870 members organised in 15 Special Interest Groups (www.acoustics.ac.uk) who represent industry, academia and various non-academic organisations which success relies on the quality of acoustics related research in the UK. UKAN was funded by the EPSRC as a standard Network grant with the explicit aim of pulling together the formerly disparate and disjoint acoustics community in the UK, across both industry and academia. UKAN has been remarkably successful. Its success is manifested in the large number of its members, numerous network events it has run since its inception in November 2017 and contribution it has made to the acoustics research community. Unfortunately, UKAN has not been in the position to fund new, pilot adventurous or translational projects nor has it any funding support for on-going research or knowledge transfer (KT) activities.The purpose of UKAN+ is to move beyond UKAN, create strategic connections between acoustics challenges and the Grand Challenges and to tackle these challenges through pilot studies leading in turn to full-scale grant proposals and systematic research and KT projects involving a wider acoustics community. There is a great opportunity for the future of the UK's acoustics related research to move on beyond this point, build upon the assembled critical mass and explore the trans-disciplinary work initiated by UKAN. Therefore, this proposal is for UKAN+ to take this community to the next stage, connect this Network more widely in the UK and internationally to contribute through coordinated research to the solution of Grand Challenges set by the government. UKAN+ will develop a new roadmap for acoustics research in the UK related to Grand Challenges, award exploratory (pilot) cross-disciplinary research projects to the wider community to support adventure research and knowledge transfer activities agreed in the roadmap and support the development of develop full-scale bids to the government research funding bodies which are aligned with the Grand Challenges. UKAN+ will also set up a National Centre or Coordination of Acoustics Research, achieve full sustainability and support best Equality, Diversity and Inclusion practices.