Functie

Are you an acoustic engineer passionate about the environment and the sea? VLIZ is creating a new underwater sound library with sounds from the North Sea.

VLIZ is hiring, for immediate employment, an underwater sound AI engineer in the framework of the SOUNDLIB project. Within this project, Task 1 and 3 will develop the automatic recognition of natural and man-made sound events in the Southern North Sea, which can populate the sound library. The aim is to eventually achieve the automatic recognition of various sound sources, using artificial intelligence (AI). This requires a scientifically substantiated library of sound signatures, characteristic of a specific sound source in a specific environment. The North Sea poses additional challenges. The shallow depth creates reflections and highly variable sound distribution. It is also a busy sea with many different human noise sources. An 'underwater sounds library' is also an essential step to develop innovative, automated applications with AI and to enable new research.

YOUR TASKS

• Defining a strategy for collecting and annotating sound signatures of sufficient quality;
• Researching, developing and testing methodologies and procedures for automatic processing of sound signatures;
• Assisting with database creation and populating;
• Project management, reporting and communication in English;
• Assist in the field recordings of some targeted human-made sounds;
• Contribution to A1 manuscripts.

For each function, VLIZ considers enthusiastic involvement, service minded, excellent professionalism and integrity as important characteristics.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

At the marine observation center (MOC), we are performing essential ad-hoc and long-term multidisciplinary observations in the marine environment to improve our understanding of dynamics and change of the marine and coastal ecosystems. One of our core activities is focused on the underwater sound of the Southern North Sea. Describing the marine underwater soundscape and its sources, either of biotic, abiotic or man-made origin, are key to understand and protect the marine ecosystem in a changing world.

VLIZ has been granted a 1-year project to develop an underwater sound library for the North Sea. With this project, VLIZ will: (1) establish a strategy for collecting sound signatures; (2) design a suitable database architecture; (3) conduct research into methods and procedures for the automatic processing of sound signals. In addition, the database architecture will allow sounds to be linked to other relevant data, such as AIS data regarding ship activity, information about the seabed, presence of animals, wind speed, etc.

Jouw profiel

YOUR PROFILE

• MSc or PhD in engineering, bio-engineering, (bio)acoustics, or equivalent, with an interest in sound processing and marine ecology;
• Experience in applying and developing ML models;
• Experience with signal processing;
• Strong skills in R or Python;
• Experience with databases is a plus;
• Experience with sound propagation modelling is a plus;
• Experience with the analysis of large data sets is a plus;
• Critical and creative thinking;
• Ability to work independently and in team;
• Willing to work in an international context;
• Knowledge of statistics;
• Good written and oral English communication skills;
• Academic writing skills are a plus.

• Methodes voor onderzoek en voor de gegevensverzameling en –analyse bepalen en ontwikkelen
• Berekeningen, metingen, experimenten en observaties uitvoeren
  Resultaten controleren
• Rapporten, publicaties en scripties opstellen
• Onderzoeksgegevens en –resultaten bestuderen en analyseren
• Het verloop en de vooruitgang van wetenschappelijke experimenten en observaties leiden en controleren

Aanbod

OUR OFFER

• A contract of 1 year in a vibrant and international environment at Innovocean Campus;
• A salary according to diploma/experience (salary scales of the Flemish Government); Relevant experience can be considered;
• Additional benefits: holiday allowance, end of year allowance, meal vouchers, bicycle allowance, free public transport between home and work;
• A good work-life balance, flexible working hours within a 38-hour working week and the possibility to work partly from home;
• Opportunities for personal development (training).

Solliciteren

Jan Mees
059 33 60 00
jobs@vliz.be