The EAA Summer School will take place from Saturday, September 5, until Monday, September 7, 2026, preceding the Forum Acusticum Conference at the facilities of Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (KUG) at campus Inffeldgasse.
The Summer School is chaired by Katharina Groß-Vogt and Matthias Frank (Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics, KUG), Manfred Kaltenbacher (Institute of Fundamentals and Theory in Electrical Engineering, TU Graz), and Florian Kraxberger (Institute of Fundamentals and Theory in Electrical Engineering, TU Graz).
The Summer School is composed of several course topics that will run in parallel and have the same duration. It is important to note that they will be taught in parallel, so attendees should register only for one specific topic according to their interests.
The preliminary program is scheduled for Saturday 5th afternoon, until Monday 7th noon:
Saturday 5
13:00-14:00
Registration (Inffeldgasse 25D)
14:00-18:00
between 15:00-16:30
Topics
Coffee break
18:00
Opening and Dinner supported by Young Acousticians Network
Sunday 6
08:00-08:45
Yoga
09:00-12:00
Topics
12:00-13:00
Lunch
13:00-15:00
Career & World Café (with coffee break)*
15:00-18:00
Topics
*Program with sponsoring industrial partners on career development
Monday 7
08:00-08:45
Yoga
09:00-12:00
Topics
12:00-12:30
Closing
12:30-13:30
Lunch
The registration fee of 130€ includes the access to the courses, 2 coffee breaks, 2 lunches, and 1 dinner.
The workload of completing the EAA summer school corresponds to one ECTS, for which a certificate will be issued.
Locations
Click on the pins for more information.
Registration
The registration (Saturday, Sep 5, 13:00) will be in Inffeldgasse 25D, 8010 Graz, Austria
Lectures
The individual lectures take place in lecture halls around Inffeldgasse campus.
Dinner and Lunches
The dinner on Saturday and the lunches on Sunday and Monday, will be in our campus’ pizzeria NAPO in Sandgasse 34.
Coffee breaks, Career & World Café
Coffee breaks and the Career & World Café are in Inffeldgasse 25D.
Yoga
The Sunday- and Monday morning Yoga Session is in lecture hall HS i9, Inffeldgasse 13.
Sponsors
The summer school is sponsored by NAKAM Audio.
How to register
Registration for the EAA Summer School is facilitated through the conference registration system. After indicating your interest in the ‘Summer School Participant’ section, you can select your chosen Hot Topic from the provided list.
Registration is still open!
Topics
Click on “+” to expand.
ST1 Fundamentals in Acoustics
Discover the fascinating science of sound in this EAA summer school designed for students with a strong interest on acoustics. The course begins with a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of vibrations and sound waves, covering essential concepts such as period, frequency, wavelength, and amplitude, providing a solid scientific foundation for further study. As the program progresses, students will explore more advanced topics, including acoustic levels, level calculation, harmonic content, and frequency spectra, gaining insight into how sound is analyzed, measured, and perceived in real-world environments. These concepts will be illustrated through practical examples drawn from music, environmental acoustics, and everyday soundscapes. Participants will also develop a clear understanding of the core principles governing sound propagation. Topics include the wave equation, sound transmission through air and solids, reflection, absorption, and diffraction, as well as the acoustic behaviour of different materials. Special attention will be given to sound absorbers and strategies for controlling noise. The summer school emphasizes hands-on learning, with interactive laboratory sessions and guided exercises using professional acoustic measurement and analysis tools. Students will apply theoretical knowledge to practical challenges, interpret measurement data, and gain valuable experience in experimental methods commonly used in acoustics.
Organizers
Christian Adams (TU Graz, Austria)
Bio
Christian Adams is a full professor at TU Graz, Austria and holds an endowed professorship on acoustics and environmental noise funded by the Federal Ministry BMIMI and Austrian companies. He is researching physical noise mechanisms at the source, simulation of noise propagation into the environment, noise impact research including psychoacoustics and health effects, as well as noise protection measures. Christian Adams is member of the Austrian Acoustics Association, several technical committees in Austria working on transportation noise, and deputy head of the Technical Committee Physical Acoustics of the German Acoustical Society.
Manfred Kaltenbacher (TU Graz, Austria)
Bio
Manfred Kaltenbacher is a full professor at TU Graz, Austria and head of the Institute of Fundamentals and Theory of Electrical Engineering. His main research interests are advanced finite element (FE) methods for multi-physics (magneto-mechanics, vibro- and aero-acoustics, and piezoelectrics) and combined experimental and simulation-based methods for material parameter determination (magnetics, acoustics, piezoelectrics). Manfred Kaltenbacher is Editor-in-Chief of Acta Acustica, Senior Editor of the Journal of Computational Acoustics and president of the Austrian Acoustics Association. For details see https://www.tugraz.at/institute/igte/institute/team/kaltenbacher
Lecturers
Same as organizers
Lecture Room
MFEG200 Inffeldgasse 25/F, ground floor
Teaching and learning methods
Hands-on learning, with interactive laboratory sessions and guided exercises using professional acoustic measurement and analysis tools.
Exam mode
Written exam on Monday, just after closing of summer school
Previous knowledge expected of the students
Basic courses in physics and mathematics at university (bachelor level)
Objective (Expected results of the summer school and acquired competences)
After completing the course, students will be able to apply theoretical knowledge to practically relevant problems, interpret measurement data, and will have valuable experience in experimental methods used in acoustics.
ST2 Room Acoustics Simulation and Auralization
The Hot Topic “Room acoustics simulation and auralization” will cover aspects of sound field simulation in rooms and processing options for auralization. Starting with an introduction to Geometrical acoustics and wave-based approaches, the course will cover the general concept of auralization, followed by the topic of filter synthesis of room impulse responses, including the processing of sound source and receiver directivities. Furthermore, aspects of interactive and real-time processing and binaural rendering are covered. Finally, we will discuss multiple aspects and systematic approaches for subjective and objective evaluation of virtual room acoustic environments. In addition to the lectures, the course will also include hands-on exercises, where participants will be able to create and listen to their own auralizations.
Organizers
Lukas Aspöck (RWTH Aachen University, Germany)
Bio
Lukas Aspöck is the academic manager at the Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics at RWTH Aachen University, organizing and contributing to various research and teaching activities in the area of acoustic simulation and auralization. After receiving a diploma degree in computer engineering, he became a research assistant at the Institute of Technical Acoustics in 2013 and submitted his PhD thesis on the validation of room acoustic simulation in 2020. He is a member of the German Acoustics Association and the European Acoustics Association, where he is also the co-chair of the technical committee on Education. From 2019 to 2023, he was part of the steering committee of the Acoustical Knowledge Alliance (ASKnow), which created free online teaching material for five different courses on acoustics. Furthermore, he maintains the software RAVEN, a room acoustics simulation and auralization environment which is used by various researchers worldwide.
Marco Berzborn (TU/e, Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
Bio
Marco Berzborn earned his Ph.D. at the Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics (IHTA), RWTH Aachen, in 2025. His dissertation focused on the spatio‑temporal analysis and quantification of sound fields in reverberation rooms. His research interests include microphone‑ and loudspeaker‑array‑based analysis and synthesis of directionally dependent reverberation, inverse estimation methods for sound‑absorption parameters, and the development of open‑source software for acoustics research. Since September 2025 Marco has been a researcher in the Building Acoustics group at Eindhoven University of Technology, where he is involved in organizing and contributing to the CHORAS platform, a Community Hub for Open-Source Room Acoustics Simulation. Prior to this he held a postdoctoral position at the German Institute of Textile and Fiber Research (Feb – Aug. 2025) and a has been a visiting researcher at DTU – Technical University of Denmark. Marco is also a founder and active member of the pyfar community, which creates Python packages for acoustics research, and co-chair of the working group on Measurement, modeling and reproducibility of absorption and scattering coefficients within the EAA TC Room and Building acoustics.
Lecturers
Maarten Hornikx (TU/e, Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
Bio
Maarten Hornikx obtained his MSc in Architecture, Building and Planning with a graduation project in Building Acoustics in 2004, followed by a PhD in Applied Acoustics from Chalmers University of Technology in 2009. He received a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at KU Leuven from 2009 to 2011, after which he worked as a part-time senior researcher at Chalmers between 2011 and 2013. Hornikx joined Eindhoven University of Technology in 2012 as an assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 2019. In the same year he returned to TU/e, he was awarded a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant. At TU/e, he leads the Building Acoustics research group and coordinated the coherent course series Science of Sound and Music from 2013 to 2025. He has also coordinated the H2020-ITN project Acoutect. Since 2019, Hornikx has served as vice-dean of the Department of the Built Environment and acted as the scientific director of the 4TU.Built Environment Center during 2020–2021. Internationally, he has chaired the Computational Acoustics Technical Committee of the European Acoustics Association and is an Associate Editor of Acta Acustica. In 2022, he was appointed one of the first eScience Center Fellows. Hornikx has undertaken research sabbaticals at Aalto University and Stockholm University in 2018, and at Politecnico di Torino in 2022. In addition, he plays an active role in the Autumn School Series in Acoustics (ASSA) as an organiser of the training schools hosted in Eindhoven since 2022.
Annika Neidhardt (University of Applied Sciences, Mittweida, Mittweida, Germany)
Bio
Annika Neidhardt is a Full Professor of Audio Engineering at the Mittweida University of Applied Sciences in Germany. She received her PhD from Technische Universität Ilmenau in 2023 for her work on the plausibility of simplified acoustic room representations for listener translation in dynamic binaural auralizations. From 2023-2025, she was a postdoc at the Institute of Sound Recording in Surrey, working in the field of room acoustics models and their perceptual optimisation. Annika currently chairs the Technical Committee on Virtual Acoustics for the German Acoustics Society (DEGA) and the Technical Committee on Interactive Media and Gaming for the Audio Engineering Society (AES). Her research interests include audio for virtual and augmented reality, room acoustic simulation, virtual acoustics, psychoacoustics, dynamic binaural auralization, machine learning and statistical models in acoustics and psychoacoustics.
Peter Svensson (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)
Bio
Peter Svensson has been professor at the department of electronics and telecommunications since 1999, in the acoustics group. His research interests are room acoustics and electroacoustics, in particular computational methods and measurement techniques, but also auralization techniques (virtual acoustics), and psychoacoustics – the perception of speech and music in rooms. Peter Svensson has an MSc in eng. phys. (1988) and a PhD in acoustics (1994) from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. He has had research visits at Kobe University (1997-98), Rensselaer Polytech Institute (2007), University of Reading (2012-13), and University College London (2017). Previously he has been vice president of the European Acoustics Association (2007-13), president of the Norwegian Acoustical Society (2004-06), and board member of the Swedish Acoustical Society (1996-99).
Christoph Pörschmann (Technische Hochschule Köln, Germany)
Bio
Christoph Pörschmann studied Electrical Engineering at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany) and Uppsala Universitet (Sweden). In 2001, he obtained his doctoral degree (Dr.-Ing.) from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, based on his research at the Institute of Communication Acoustics. Since 2004, he has been Professor of Acoustics at TH Köln (Germany). His research interests include plausible reproduction of human voice and other sound sources, interpolation of HRTFs, as well as spatial hearing and related perceptual processes. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), the German Acoustical Society (DEGA), and the Audio Engineering Society (AES).
Marco Berzborn
Lukas Aspöck
Lecture Room
HS i4, Inffeldgasse 25/D, ground floor
Teaching and learning methods
Hands-on learning, with code implementations of room simulation and auralization tasks.
Exam mode
Written exam on Monday, just after closing of summer school
Previous knowledge expected of the students
Basic courses in signal processing and (room) acoustics at university (bachelor level)
Objective (Expected results of the summer school and acquired competences)
After completing the course, students will be able to apply theoretical knowledge of room acoustics and signal processing to create room acoustic simulations and auralizations.
ST3 Spatial Audio Production
This workshop offers a practical introduction to spatial music production, with a focus on both the artistic and technical dimensions of working with immersive audio. Participants will become familiar with current tools for spatial composition, explore recording techniques tailored to spatial formats, and develop approaches for crafting compelling and nuanced spatial mixes.
You can bring stems of your own music productions or use material provided by us. Depending on the setup, demonstrations and hands-on exercises will be conducted using either binaural playback over headphones or multichannel loudspeaker systems.
Organizer
Matthias Frank (Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics (IEM), University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz)
Bio
Matthias Frank is PostDoc at IEM and deals with virtual acoustics, Ambisonics, musical acoustics, and psycho acoustics. He studied electrical and audio engineering at Graz University of Technology and University of Music and Performing Arts (KUG) and graduated in 2009. In 2013, he finished his PhD at KUG about the perception of auditory events created my multiple loudspeakers.
Lecturers
Matthias Frank
Lukas Gölles (IEM)
Bio
Lukas Gölles is a researcher based in Graz. He studied Electrical Engineering and Audio Engineering at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. He completed his master’s degree in 2021 with a thesis on the curvature of arc-shaped sound sources. He subsequently pursued a PhD at the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics, focusing on immersive sound reinforcement technologies, which he successfully completed in 2025.
His research focuses on the development and optimization of spatial sound reinforcement systems, as well as on (immersive) recording techniques and online reproduction of three-dimensional audio content. In addition, he works on methods to improve the directional resolution of Ambisonic impulse responses.
Alongside his academic work, he is active as a sound engineer, combining research and practical application.
Felix Holzmüller (IEM)
Bio
Felix Holzmüller is a university assistant and PhD candidate in Sound and Music Computing at the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics (IEM), University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (KUG), Austria. He received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical and Audio Engineering, a joint program of KUG and Graz University of Technology, in 2019 and 2021, respectively. His research focuses on signal processing for active noise control, using both conventional techniques and neural networks. Since 2022, he has been the maintainer of the IEM Plug-in Suite for Ambisonic music production. He is a student member of the Audio Engineering Society and the Austrian Acoustics Association.
Thomas Röck (IEM)
Bio
Thomas Röck completed his inter-university studies in electrical engineering and sound engineering at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and Graz University of Technology in 2024. Since 2025, he has been working as a university assistant at the Institute for Electronic Music and Acoustics (IEM), where he is also pursuing his doctoral degree. His research interests include audio signal processing, compact microphone and loudspeaker arrays, and the use of artificial intelligence in acoustic applications.
Lecture Room
IEM CUBE, Inffeldgasse 10, third floor
Teaching and learning methods
Introduction to theory behind spatial audio, particularly Ambisonics. Demonstration of spatial audio productions. Independent work of participants on their own productions with joint discussion in the end.
Exam mode
Short online test on the theory at the end of day 1. Presentation of the work created during the Summer School.
Previous knowledge expected of the students
Knowledge and hands-on experience with DAWs (preferrably REAPER)
Objective (Expected results of the summer school and acquired competences)
After completing the course, students will have built theoretical knowledge on spatial audio formats, can evaluate and apply techniques for spatial audio recordings and know how to create spatial audio mixes.
ST4 Interpretable Machine Learning in Acoustics
This EAA summer school introduces participants to interpretable machine learning methods with applications in acoustics. The course highlights the importance of incorporating prior physical knowledge and consistency in data-driven acoustic modelling. The program begins with essential big-picture overview and key concepts in optimization that commonly appear in machine learning workflows. Participants then explore techniques for analysing complex acoustic data using dimensionality reduction methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) and dynamic mode decomposition (DMD), including their physically informed variants. Probabilistic modelling with Gaussian processes is presented as a tool for surrogate modelling and uncertainty quantification in vibroacoustic predictions. The course further introduces data-driven discovery of governing equations using sparse regression and symbolic regression, demonstrating how interpretable mathematical models of acoustic systems can be derived from data. Finally, an overview of physics-informed deep learning in acoustics is given, including physics-informed neural networks and autoencoders, showing how physical laws can be embedded into learning models.
Organizer
Viktor Hruška (CTU Prague, Czech Republic)
Bio
Viktor Hruška is an assistant professor at CTU Prague, Czech Republic, where his primary academic responsibility is lecturing in general physics courses. His research focuses on the acoustics of inhomogeneous media, aeroacoustics, and nonlinear acoustics, with particular emphasis on theoretical and computational approaches integrated with applied machine learning techniques. He is a member of the Czech and German Acoustical Societies.
Lecturers
Viktor Hruška
Stefan Schoder (TU Graz, Austria)
Bio
Stefan Schoder is an associate professor at TU Graz, Austria, and leads the research group Aeroacoustics and Vibroacoustics at the Institute of Fundamentals and Theory of Electrical Engineering. His main research interests are fluid-structure-acoustic interaction problems in technical and biological applications, and hybrid methods that combine experimental data, expert knowledge, and simulation-based approaches to determine material parameters and super-resolve experimentally obtained field quantities. Stefan Schoder is Associate Editor for Aeroacoustics of Acta Acustica, the technical advisor for numerical acoustics of the Austrian Acoustics Association.
Aneta Furmanová (CTU)
Bio
Aneta Furmanová is a PhD student at CTU Prague, Czech Republic, with research interest in data-driven approaches and machine learning in physical acoustics. Recipient of Dean’s Award for Diploma Thesis and 1st place in IT Student Project of the Year. Aneta Furmanová is a member of Czech and German Acoustical Societies.
Tereza Filipská (CTU)
Bio
Tereza Filipská is a Master’s student at CTU Prague, Czech Republic. Her research interests lie in numerical modeling of nonlinear acoustic propagation and data-driven discovery of wave equations. She received the Dean’s Award for her Bachelor’s Thesis.
Lecture Room
HS i5, Inffeldgasse 25/D, first floor
Teaching and learning methods
Each section includes roughly 45 minutes of lecture, 15 minutes of discussion, and 30 minutes of hands-on coding exercises using scripts provided on the course GitHub repository. Assistants are available during the practical sessions to keep activities running smoothly and to help participants overcome difficulties quickly.
Exam mode
Written exam on the last afternoon of the summer school
Previous knowledge expected of the students
Basic undergraduate courses in calculus and linear algebra are required. Knowledge of probability and statistics is good but not essential. All scripts will be provided, but a basic familiarity with Python is beneficial and recommended.
Objective (Expected results of the summer school and acquired competences)
After completing the course, participants will be able to apply the chosen machine learning methods to problems of wave phenomena in acoustics and understand the benefits and limitations of different data-driven approaches.
ST5 Computational Acoustics
The course provides an introduction to numerical methods for acoustics, beginning with the theoretical foundations of the acoustic wave equation and its formulation within the finite element method (FEM). Participants will develop a solid understanding of FEM theory, including discretization and boundary conditions. Building on this foundation, the course introduces the boundary element method (BEM) and highlights its applications, particularly in exterior and radiation problems.
Theoretical concepts are complemented by hands-on practical sessions using the open-source simulation framework openCFS. Through guided exercises, participants will apply FEM to solve acoustic wave problems, explore model setup and meshing strategies, and analyze simulation results for realistic engineering scenarios. Special emphasis is placed on room acoustic simulations, where FEM and BEM approaches are used to study sound propagation, reflection, absorption, and modal behaviour in enclosed spaces.
Participants will gain experience in selecting appropriate numerical methods, interpreting simulation results, and understanding the physical implications for room acoustics. Upon completion, students will be equipped with both the theoretical insight and practical skills needed to perform and critically assess modern acoustic simulations in research and engineering applications.
Organizers
Stefan Schoder (TU Graz, Austria)
Bio
Stefan Schoder is an associate professor at TU Graz, Austria, and leads the research group Aeroacoustics and Vibroacoustics at the Institute of Fundamentals and Theory of Electrical Engineering. His main research interests are fluid-structure-acoustic interaction problems in technical, medical, and biological applications, and hybrid methods that combine experimental data, expert knowledge, and simulation-based approaches to determine material parameters and super-resolve experimentally obtained field quantities. Stefan Schoder is Associate Editor for Aeroacoustics of Acta Acustica, the technical advisor for numerical acoustics of the Austrian Acoustics Association.
Dominik Mayrhofer (TU Graz, Austria)
Bio
Dominik Mayrhofer is a senior scientist at the Institute of Fundamentals and Theory in Electrical Engineering at TU Graz, Austria. His major research interests include advanced finite element and numerical simulation methods for acoustics and linearized compressible flows, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) design and modeling, multi-physical interactions on moving domains, and sound generation principles for miniaturized loudspeakers. In addition to his research, he serves as a peer reviewer for international journals and is a member of the Austrian Acoustics Association and the German Acoustical Society.
Lecturers
Stefan Schoder
Dominik Mayrhofer
Marcus Mäder (TUM, Germany)
Bio
Maarten Hornikx (TU/e, Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
Bio
Maarten Hornikx is a Full Professor Building Acoustics, Vice-Dean of the Department of the Built Environment, and he leads the Building Acoustics Chair of Unit Building Physics and Services (BPS). Hornikx’ research area is computational modeling sound propagation in the built environment. He has two target applications. First, development of sound reproduction in mixed reality platforms with applications in the built environments. Second, application of numerical models to investigate all kinds of propagation effects as the role of vegetation on sound propagation outdoors and indoors and the influence of meteorological effects on sound propagation.
Lecture Room
MFEG210 Inffeldgasse 25/F, ground floor
Teaching and learning methods
Hands-on learning, with interactive and guided exercises using professional acoustic simulation and analysis tools.
Exam mode
Written exam on Monday, just after the closing of the PhD summer school
Previous knowledge expected of the students
Basic courses in physics and mathematics at university (bachelor level), fundamental acoustic background (bachelor level)
Objective (Expected results of the summer school and acquired competences)
After completing the course, students will be able to apply theoretical knowledge to practically relevant problems, interpret simulation results, and will have valuable experience in simulation methods used in acoustics.
ST6 Toolboxes for auditory research
Auditory research requires many tools, ranging from frameworks for psychoacoustic experiments to toolboxes for spatial-audio signal processing. Research in ecologically-valid extended reality requires the consideration of multisensory perception, involving toolboxes designed for auditory-focused but multisensory stimulation. This hot topic aims to equip participants with versatile tools to enhance their research across the full spectrum of auditory science.
To this end, we will introduce the SOFA Toolbox for spatially oriented data and the auditory modeling toolbox (AMT) which offers a variety of auditory models, from loudness to sound localization. We will also demonstrate the binaural rendering toolbox (BRT), Python packages for acoustics research (pyfar), the real-time simulated open-field environment (rtSOFE) for rendering virtual sound sources with their reflections, and SPiNE, a toolbox that implements audiovisual tests for assessing speech intelligibility and listening effort using both real and virtual speakers. Each module includes hands-on sessions guided by on-site experts to provide immediate practical value.
Organizers
Piotr Majdak, Acoustics Research Institute (ARI), Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)
Bio
Piotr Majdak studied electrical and audio engineering at the University of Technology and the University of Music and Performing Arts, both in Graz, Austria. In 2008, he received his Ph.D. degree in “Psychoacoustics and signal processing”. He works at the Acoustics Research Institute (ARI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences at a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying spatial hearing. Piotr published over 50 journal articles and contributed more than 160 times at scientific conferences. Computer algorithms, toolboxes, and reproducible research are his keys to reaching out, see amtoolbox.org and sofaconventions.org.
Katharina Pollack, Acoustics Research Institute (ARI), Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)
Bio
Katharina Pollack studied electrical engineering audio engineering at the Technical University and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz and finished her PhD in sound and music computing at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in 2026. She is currently a PostDoc at the Acoustics Research Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and her main research interest is spatial hearing and individual head-related transfer functions. She is an active member of the Austrian Acoustics Association (AAA), the Austrian section of the Audio Engineering Society (AES), and the Austrian section of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineering (IEEE).
Lecturers
Piotr Majdak
Katharina Pollack
Fabian Brinkmann (TU Berlin, Germany)
Bio
Fabian Brinkmann heads the Binaural Processing and Perception team in the Audio Communication Group at Technische Universität Berlin, where he earned his Ph.D. in 2019. His research focuses on signal processing and evaluation approaches for spatial audio, including perception- and model-based evaluations, as well as the development of algorithms for room acoustic simulation and binaural rendering. He is also one of the developers of the Python packages for acoustics research (pyfar).
Federico Cioffi (Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy )
Bio
Federico Cioffi is a PhD student in Technologies for Resilient Living Environments at the Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, within an Industrial PhD program where he collaborates with the company Immensive s.r.l. Federico holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology and a postgraduate Master in Human-Centered Virtual Reality Applications. He has previously served as Research Fellow at the same university for the projects BRAVI (Brain Virtual Interactivity Platform) and MIELE (Multisensory Investigation for ELderly-centred design of common living urban Environments). He is author of 16 scientific publications in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings, with research contributions spanning environmental psychology, sound perception, immersive virtual environments, and multisensory design. He is an active member of the research groups Acoustics, Vibration and Multisensory Interactions (ACOUVI), contributing to interdisciplinary research at the intersection of built environment, human perception, and digital innovation.
Massimiliano Masullo (Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy )
Bio
Massimiliano Masullo is Associate Professor of the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”. Scientific responsible of the multisensory laboratory SENS i-Lab. Member of the research groups Acoustics, Vibration and multisensory Interactions (ACOUVI) and Energy Efficiency & Environment (E3). He is the author of more than 260 scientific publications on acoustics and building physics, which include chapters in books, papers in international journals, and proceedings of international conferences. His research activity is focused on investigate the perception, interaction, and responses of individuals to noise in build environment mainly through the: i) Simulation and design of multisensory, hybrid and immersive Virtual Reality Environment; ii) Development of participatory methods, tools/platform for human centred studies; iii) Experimental sessions on the perceptual, emotional, and physiological responses and their effects. He serves as a reviewer for many international journals and various research bodies. He is associate editor of Acta Acustica (EDP Sciences) and member of the editorial board other scientific journals.
David Meijer (ÖAW)
Bio
David Meijer works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Acoustics Research Institute (ARI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in Vienna. His research interests are Bayesian inference in perceptual decision making and dynamic sound localization. He received his PhD in 2019 at the psychology department of the University of Birmingham (UK) where he evaluated probabilistic models of audiovisual integration and metacognition. Before that David studied technical medicine at the University of Twente in The Netherlands. Throughout his studies and scientific career, he has applied computational modelling to analyse measurements of the human body and mind, be it electrophysiological signals, behavioral psychophysics, or other forms of data.
Michael Mihocic (ÖAW)
Bio
Michael Mihocic holds degrees in “Electronics” and “Innovation & Technology Management”. Since 2005, he has been a researcher at the Acoustics Research Institute (ARI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) in Vienna, focusing on spatial audio, sound localization, and auditory perception within the Hearing group. His work involves developing specialized software, standards, and toolboxes, notably the SOFA (Spatially Oriented Format for Acoustics), the SONICOM Ecosystem, and AMT (Auditory Modeling Toolbox). He designs and conducts psychoacoustical experiments and performs acoustical measurements in several fields (humans, loudspeakers, rooms, traffic). Michael also maintains the ARI’s Lab, ensuring optimal research infrastructure. He is an active member of the audio engineering community, serving on the board of the Austrian Section of the Audio Engineering Society (AES Austria).
Arcadio Reyes (University of Málaga, Spain)
Bio
Arcadio Reyes-Lecuona is telecommunication engineer (BSc+MSc), PhD in telecommunication engineering and psychologist (BSc+MSc). He is currently the head of DIANA research group, focusing his research in binaural audio for eXtended Reality and Psychoacoustics. He has been the main researcher of the University of Malaga contribution to several national and European projects in the field of virtual reality, like 3D Tune-In project (3D-games for TUNing and lEarnINg about hearing aids), SONICOM (Transforming auditory-based social interaction and communication in AR/VR) and MusicSphere (A Multimodal Approach for Digitizing, Analyzing, and Simulating Traditional Musical Organs Through 3D Technologies, Acoustic Analysis and Interactive Experiences). He was the technical coordinator of the 3D Tune-In Audio Toolkit and the Binaural Rendering Toolbox and is author of several publications about the topic in journals and conferences. He is the leader of the Malaga project at AABBA (Aural Assessment By means of Binaural Algorithms).
Bernhard Seeber (TUM, Germany)
Bio
Bernhard U. Seeber received the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering and information technology and the Dr.-Ing. degree with distinction from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany, in 1999 and 2003, respectively. Next, he was a post-doc at the Department of Psychology at UC Berkeley, USA. In 2007, he joined the MRC Institute of Hearing Research, Nottingham, UK, to lead the Spatial Hearing lab. Since 2012, he is the head of the Audio Information Processing lab and Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at TUM. He has worked on virtual acoustics since his PhD, developed selection techniques for head-related transfer functions, the Perceptually Equalized Panning technique, real-time room acoustic simulation and auralization tools (rtSOFE) and several setups for sound field synthesis. His research foci are on signal processing for hearing aids and cochlear implants, on spatial hearing and on non-destructive acoustic testing.
Prof. Seeber is a member of the German Acoustical Society (DEGA), the Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE), the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), the Association for Research in Audiology (ARO) and the Bernstein Network for Computational Neuroscience. He heads the technical committee on hearing acoustics in the Society for Information Technology (ITG/VDE) and was member of the executive board of the DEGA from 2016 to 2022. He received the Lothar-Cremer award of the DEGA, the doctoral thesis award of the ITG and the ITG publication award.
Chiara Visentin (University of Ferrara, Italy )
Bio
Chiara Visentin is a researcher in the Department of Engineering at the University of Ferrara, Italy. She obtained her M.Sc. in Civil Engineering in 2008 and completed her PhD in Engineering Science in 2012. Her work explores the relationship between acoustics and human perception, with a particular focus on speech communication in complex listening environments. She is especially interested in assessing listening effort beyond traditional performance measures, developing speech-in-noise testing protocols and multimodal evaluation tools, including audio-video approaches and immersive virtual reality methods. Her research involves both laboratory and field-based experimental studies. Chiara leads and contributes to several nationally and internationally funded projects examining how indoor sound environments affect occupants, to design comfortable and inclusive spaces. In 2022, she received the Editor’s Award for Best Article from Ear and Hearing (Wolters Kluwer Health). She is a member of the Editorial Board of npj Acoustics (Nature) and serves as a reviewer for multiple international scientific journals.
Pascal Palenda (RWTH Aachen, Germany)
Bio
Pascal Palenda studied electrical engineering at RWTH Aachen University, where he then started working as a PhD candidate at the Institute for Hearing Technology and Acoustics. His research focuses on the simulation and auralization of urban environments with a focus on diffraction effects. He also contributes to the Python package for acoustics research (pyfar).
Lecture Room
HS i6 Inffeldgasse 25D, first floor
Teaching and learning methods
In each workshop, the aim is to show students how to use a toolbox for their own research. Each workshop will consist of a brief theoretical lecture and then a longer session of hands on to solve some tasks.
Exam mode
Written exam on Monday, just after closing of summer school.
Previous knowledge expected of the students
Basic courses in signal processing and hearing at university (bachelor level)
Objective (Expected results of the summer school and acquired competences)
After completing the course, students will be able to use various toolboxes related to auditory research.
ST8 Neural Representations for Sound and Music
The capacity of neural networks to learn compact, meaningful representations of audio has transformed how machines process, analyse, and generate sound. This hot topic introduces participants to the landscape of modern neural audio representations — what they are, how they are trained, and how they can be applied and adapted to problems in acoustics, music, and beyond. The course begins with an overview of the three dominant families of models: variational autoencoders (VAEs) such as RAVE, which learn continuous latent spaces suitable for synthesis and timbre transfer; neural audio codecs based on residual vector quantization (RVQ) such as EnCodec and DAC, which compress waveforms into discrete tokens enabling generative modelling; and self-supervised transformer models such as MERT and HuBERT, which learn rich semantic representations from large unlabelled audio corpora. We will discuss what each architecture captures — acoustic texture, pitch, semantic content, temporal structure — and how these properties relate to classical audio descriptors familiar from signal processing. The second part of the course surveys practical applications of these representations: automatic tagging and classification, anomaly detection in mechanical and industrial sound, blind estimation of room acoustic parameters, music recommendation, and audio-language retrieval using contrastive models such as CLAP. A recurring theme is the surprising transferability of general-purpose audio representations to acoustics-specific tasks, including reverberation estimation and environmental sound monitoring, without any task-specific training. The final part of the course addresses the question of adaptation: given a pretrained model and a new acoustic domain or dataset, what is the most effective strategy? Participants will work hands-on through the full pipeline from frozen feature extraction and linear probing to parameter-efficient fine-tuning with LoRA, using an open benchmark dataset of their choice. Each module combines a theoretical lecture with guided coding exercises in Python using publicly available models and datasets.
Guest Lecture: Making Sense of Surroundings using sounds and AI (Arshdeep Singh)
Everyday soundscapes are rich sources of information about our surroundings. From birdsong and running water to human speech and emergency alarms, sounds provide important clues that help us interpret and understand the environment around us. By leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), we can automatically analyse these sounds to enable context awareness, remote monitoring, and acoustic scene and event detection.
In this lecture, I will share how AI can be used to understand the world through sound. I will introduce key application areas, demonstrate technologies such as audio generation and audio tagging, and discuss methods for improving the efficiency of AI models. In the end, we will see a live demonstration of E-PANNs for real-time acoustic event detection.
Organizers
Anna Aljanaki, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria
Paul Bereuter, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria
Bio
Anna Aljanaki is a Professor of Computational Methods in Time-Based Arts and Musicology at the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics, KUG, Graz. She has obtained her PhD from Utrecht University, Netherlands in 2016 on the topic of machine learning methods applied to music emotion recognition. Since then her research sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, music perception, and computational creativity. She worked at the University of Geneva, Johannes Kepler University Linz and University of Tartu. Her work spans music emotion recognition, symbolic music analysis,
generative music systems, and digital musicology (in collaboration with ethnomusicologists and
artists). She teaches Digital Musicology, Data Science, and co-wrote a textbook on Data Science.
Bio
Paul A. Bereuter received a joint Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Audio Engineering from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and Graz University of Technology in 2022. He is currently working towards his PhD at the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. In 2023 he received the Student Award from the German Acoustical Society (DEGA). In 2024 he was awarded the Marietta Blau-Grant by Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD) to conduct a six-month research visit at the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing at the University of Surrey in Guildford, UK, under the supervision of Prof. Mark D. Plumbley. In 2025, he was a research scientist intern at Meta’s Reality Labs Research in Redmond, Washington, USA. His research interests include musical source separation, speech enhancement, music information retrieval, and the application of deep learning to acoustics and audio-related tasks.
Lecturers
Anna Aljanaki
Paul Bereuter
Arshdeep Singh (King’s College London, UK)
Bio
Arshdeep Singh is a research fellow in Generative Audio AI in the Department of Informatics, King’s College London. He is funded by the UK AI Hub in Generative models. He is a co-lead for Gen AI Hub project “Sustainability and Efficiency of Multi-modal Generative AI models”. His research covers audio signal processing, machine learning, AI, compression of AI models, sustainable AI, privacy in audio AI, audio generation, multimodal AI, and condition monitoring of industrial machines. For more information, please visit Arshdeep’s
webpage.
Lecture Room
HS i3, Inffeldgasse 25/D, first floor
Teaching and learning methods
Each module consists of a lecture introducing the key concepts and model architectures, followed by hands-on coding sessions in Python. Participants will use publicly available pretrained models via HuggingFace, inspect learned representations, and fine-tune models on target tasks.
Exam mode
Hackathon and projects in teams on the second day
Previous knowledge expected of the students
Basic courses in signal processing and mathematics at university (bachelor level). Familiarity with Python is beneficial.
Objective (Expected results of the summer school and acquired competences)
After completing the course, participants will understand the principal families of neural audio representations, be able to select an appropriate pretrained model for a given acoustic task, and have practical experience adapting such models to new domains through fine-tuning on real datasets.
ST9 Design of acoustic absorbers and diffusers based on optimized parametric design approach
The aim of the workshop is to help the participants gain knowledge on optimized parametric design approaches for the development and fabrication of complex designs for acoustic absorbers and diffusers with improved and controllable performance. The workshop combines a multidisciplinary experimental (hands-on) and digital approach aiming to train participants with different backgrounds (engineering, design or architecture). The participants of the workshop will gain knowledge through both lectures and practical activities, such as group work collaboration on different phases (design, simulation and fabrication) required to achieve a highly performing acoustic material through creativity. The organizers’ goal is to introduce a workflow of the acoustic optimization process of acoustic surfaces in an easy, engaging and understandable way, and to highlight the potentials of new approaches in integrated acoustical design. The students will have the opportunity to work in teams and fabricate and test their design ideas.
Organizers
Louena Shtrepi (Politecnico di Torino, Italy)
Bio
Louena is an Associate Professor at the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, in the Department of Energy “Galileo Ferraris”. She holds a university degree in architecture from both the Politecnico di Torino and the Politecnico di Milano. Moreover, she obtained the Alta Scuola Politecnica diploma in 2010 as part of her master’s degree. She received her PhD degree in 2015 in Metrology: Measuring Science and Techniques, and she was awarded the Newman Medal (Newman Student Award Fund and Acoustical Society of America) for excellence in the study of acoustics and its application to architecture. Her research and teaching interests fall into the field of applied acoustics, and more specifically into the field of room acoustics and building acoustics. Since 2012, she has been working on the properties of acoustic materials, acoustic simulations and measurement uncertainties. Furthermore, the aim of her research is to raise awareness about acoustic issues and solutions, from the early stages of the design process, by actively involving architects and designers.
Milena Stavric (TU Graz, Austria)
Bio
Milena is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Architecture and Media (IAM) at Graz University of Technology. Her research focuses on the intersection of architectural geometry, digital design methods, and material-based performance, with a growing emphasis on acoustic behavior in architecture. She investigates how bio-based composites, porous materials, and digitally fabricated structures can enhance spatial acoustics while supporting sustainable construction practices. Her work combines parametric design, robotic fabrication, and additive manufacturing to develop materials and systems that integrate acoustic, ecological, and structural performance. Internationally active as a researcher and lecturer, she has contributed to numerous funded research projects and exhibitions, and has supervised a wide range of master’s and doctoral theses exploring material innovation and performance-driven design.
Arthur Van Der Harten (ORASE, USA)
Bio
Arthur has been a practicing acoustics consultant for nearly two decades, and in that time has gained experience in a wide range of building types, and solving a broad spectrum of problems. Concurrently, he has also been running the Pachyderm Acoustical Simulation open source software project, and the non-profit open source provifder ORASE. In his time working in the non-profit open source sector, he has had the pleasure of meeting some of the brightest and most talented people who could be using the software. He has worked as an acoustical consultant at Kirkegaard Associates in Chicago, The Foster + Partners Specialist Modelling Group in London, and Acoustic Distinctions/TLC engineering in New York. Arthur has contributed his expertise on high profile projects such as the Koningin Elizabethsaal in Antwerp, Hamer Hall in Melbourne, Apple Campus II in Cupertino, The Bloomberg Square office building in London, the TCU Van Cliburn Concert Hall, and many other high performing buildings. Arthur regularly lectures at architecture firms and for academic workshops in acoustics and computational design worldwide.
Lecturers
Louena Shtrepi
Milena Stavric
Arthur Van Der Harten
Yuanxin Xia (DTU, Denmark), Tutor Assistant
Lecture Room
HS FSI 1, Inffeldgasse 11, ground floor
Online Lectures (Sep 5th)
Acoustic Tectonics in Architecture
Isak Worre Foged (Royal Danish Academy, Danimark)
Bio
Isak Worre Foged is a Professor of Architecture at the Institute of Architecture and Space at The Royal Danish Academy, Center leader and founder of CEMAS – Center for Material Studies. He is currently building a new research environment including architects, designers, and engineers with affiliated material and computational scientists and physiologists. The research group investigates across material and structural scales, focusing on material compositions through qualitative and quantitative methods. His research aims to understand natural and constructed relations between materials, environments and humans, with a particular focus on analysing and characterising fast-growing wood species for thermal and acoustic phenomena and performances. Through these investigations, Isak Worre Foged have made contributions through experimental studies with material composites, thermal-active material structures, algorithmic models and methods for analysing, characterizing and organizing complex fibrous materials, paired with theoretical studies in tectonics, and the definitions of environmental tectonics, acoustic tectonics and thermal tectonics. His experimental and applied research has led to patents in architecture and design based on novel material structures. The research draws theory, concepts and techniques from architecture, design, engineering, computer science and material science.
Tectonics in architecture can theoretically be defined by the constructed synergies of material, form and fabrication techniques. Adding acoustics, sound energy, phenomena and experiences are investigated and defined by how materials shape sound, and sound shapes form. The lecture will outline architectural theoretical concepts, present hands-on experiments with materials, testing methods, and simulation models, and discuss how knowledge and methods are developed and activated to create architectural acoustic propositions.
Design and analysis of porous and resonant absorbers
Tomás Méndez Echenagucia (University of Washington, USA)
Bio
Tomás Méndez Echenagucia is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington’s department of Architecture. His research is focused on the use of simulation, computational geometry and optimization algorithms to make building components more sustainable. He holds a double degree in Architecture from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and the Politecnico di Torino, as well as a PhD in Architecture and Building Design also from the Politecnico di Torino. He has practiced as an architect and consultant in Europe and South America. His work includes several research pavilions and prototypes, including the “Armadillo Vault” for the Venice Biennale in 2016 and the ETH Pavilion in New York City in 2015. He completed a five year postdoctoral researcher position at the Block Research Group in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zürich, where he was a project lead in the HiLo research unit.
This presentation will showcase recent research on sound absorbing materials developed at the University of Washington. Porous absorbers known to be efficient in the middle-to-high frequencies are commonly made from plastic foams, raising concerns about waste streams and embodied carbon emissions. The first project to be presented studies the development of bio-polymer foams as potential replacements for traditional porous absorbers. The project makes use of several lab measurements, in combination analytical models to understand and optimize the performance of the new material class. Resonant absorbers are equally interesting from an environmental point of view as they have the potential to reduce low-frequency noise with minimal material use, relying mostly on the geometry of specially designed cavities. The second project to be presented showcases work on the use of experimental, numerical and analytical methods to design resonant absorber arrays.
Teaching and learning methods
Workshop (lectures, students’ design tasks, simulations, measurements in-field, analysis)
Exam mode
Design, characterization and fabrication of a prototype sample
Previous knowledge expected of the students
Students are expected to have previous knowledge in one of the following areas:
- Acoustic materials
- Acoustic simulations
- 3D modelling
- Parametric design
Objective (Expected results of the summer school and acquired competences)
- Acoustic absorbers and scattering surfaces design principles
- Parametric modelling for acoustic components
- Acoustic simulation and performance prediction
- Fabrication-aware design