Rate My Professor Gavin Kearney

Gavin Kearney is Professor of Audio and Music Technology in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology at the University of York, where he directs the York AudioLab, a multidisciplinary research group focused on immersive and interactive audio, and the CoSTAR Live Lab, one of the UK’s national research and innovation facilities for convergent creative technologies. He is also Co-Director of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Sound Interactions in the Metaverse. Kearney holds an honours degree in Electronic Engineering from Dublin Institute of Technology (2002) and MSc and PhD degrees in Audio Signal Processing from Trinity College Dublin (PhD awarded 2010 on Auditory Scene Synthesis using Virtual Acoustic Recording and Reproduction). He joined the University of York in 2011 as Lecturer in Sound Design in the Department of Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media, moved to the Department of Electronic Engineering in 2016 as Lecturer in Audio and Music Technology, was promoted to Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor) in 2017, and appointed Professor of Audio Engineering in October 2022. Earlier roles include research fellowships and lecturing positions at Trinity College Dublin from 2006 to 2010.

Kearney’s research specializations include spatial and immersive audio psychoacoustics, binaural and Ambisonic rendering, virtual acoustics, real-time signal processing, audio for virtual and augmented reality, networked performance, and accessible audio technologies for people with disabilities. His team advances creative AI in acoustics, personalised head-related transfer functions, and room acoustic simulation. He has published over 140 articles, conference papers, patents, and datasets, with key publications such as “A Perceptual Evaluation of Individual and Non-Individual HRTFs: a case study of the SADIE II database” (Applied Sciences, 2018, with Armstrong and Murphy), “Diffuse-Field Equalisation of Binaural Ambisonic Rendering” (Applied Sciences, 2018, with McKenzie and Murphy), and “Innovative Computer Technology in music based interventions for individuals with autism – Moving beyond traditional interactive music therapy techniques” (Cogent Education, 2018, with Johnston and Egermann). Kearney has secured funding from UKRI, NIHR, and partners including BBC, Google, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Huawei, and L-Acoustics. He serves as vice-chair of the Audio Engineering Society Audio for Games Technical Committee and has delivered invited talks on immersive audio research.