Development of Acoustics at the New University of Oldenburg
Volker Mellert, Steven van de Par · 2024
In the 70s, new universities were founded in Germany, including in Oldenburg (1974).In order to prepare for teaching and research, planners from traditional universities had to support these new universities.Oldenburg received support from scientists from the renowned "Drittes Physikalisches Institut" (Göttingen), which covered subjects from room acoustics to high-frequency ultrasound, and in 1975, Volker Mellert moved from Göttingen to a professorship in Oldenburg.One goal of the new university was practical training and research for the well-being of the people.Together with the planner Ulrich Radek, a unit "Acoustics" was founded within the Physics Department.This newly founded Acoustics Group started research on environmental noise, in particular industrial and traffic noise.Measurements were carried out with students on real objects outdoors and evaluated in the laboratory.Many years of research into outdoor wave propagation, and the perception of sound followed.Research in the broader field of acoustics was significantly expanded with the appointment of Birger Kollmeier (1992), and the Acoustics Group participated in Collaborative Research Centres and a Cluster of Excellence (2018) on Hearing Research.The Acoustics Group became part of the new "Department of Medical Physics and Acoustics", now headed by Steven van de Par since 2010.