In 2022, for the first time, the Open Access price will go to a group of students and their bachelor's thesis. "Noise from outdoor padel courts - A comparison between padel and tennis" is the most downloaded essay of the year!
Congratulations to Emilia Nobelius, Oscar Björneklett, Christopher Herrey, Marius Hildén, Filip Wadman and Victoria Ahlgren.
- Thanks! We didn't even know there was a price like this, let alone that we were going to get it! But it's great fun!
They are rewarded since the essay was the most downloaded - 248 unique downloads - during the period 1 October 2021- 30 September 2022.
Catharina Hiort, head of the division of information resources and scientific publishing at Chalmers library, presented the award:
- Making research results available without charging is an important part of achieving democracy and equality for all. Not least so that future generations can base their development on all the knowledge that already exists. I feel very proud, honored and a little touched to present this award.
Topical subject
The number of padel courts has completely exploded in Sweden. In 2013 there were seven courses. In 2020, they were 503! And with this, more and more complaints came into the local authorities from those who lived near the outdoor padel courts. The aim of their work was to investigate what differentiates padel noise from outdoor tennis noise, and why padel has generated more complaints.
The main conclusions:
- There is an actual sound difference between padel and tennis. Above all, it is the padel cage itself that gives rise to the highest noise levels, when the ball hits the plexiglass. In tennis there is only one sound source, ball against racket.
- Another problem is that the soundscape from padel is more random than in tennis and lasts for most of the day. Not being able to predict sounds is experienced as very disturbing.
In addition to the comparison, they also investigated how noise from padel courts and other sports venues should be assessed from a noise perspective. Just before they started their work, new guidelines for noise from sports fields came from both the Naturvårdsverket and Boverket.
The guidelines for sports venues do not give concrete guidelines for which sound levels are okay or not. The reason is that guideline values can be used incorrectly in, for example, playgrounds or schools, as an argument that "it sounds too much".
However, their results show that there may be benefits to having these guidlines for certain types of sounds from sports venues - ones that don't come from people. It would have made it possible for sounds from people to continue to be assessed based on other factors, thus reducing the risk of the guidance being used incorrectly.
Examiner Patrik Höstmad and Johanna Carpelan, from the company Brekke & Strand Akustik who proposed the original idea, have high praise for the students.
- They have constantly surprised us with how much they managed to do, and what drive they have had, says Patrik Höstmad.
- Fantastic, and I´m especially impressed with their clear conclusions that can be used in real life. Already during the work, we have received questions from both consultants within the industry and lawyers, says Johanna Carpelan.
About Open access award
The award has been given out since 2015 and is a way for Chalmers' library to draw attention to the global event Open access-week, which lasts one week in October. This year the theme is "Open for Climate Justice" and aims to encourage connection and cooperation between the climate movement and the international open community. Sharing knowledge is a human right and tackling the climate crisis requires a rapid exchange of knowledge across geographical, economic and disciplinary boundaries.
For more information
- Librarian, Information Resources and Scientific Publishing, Communication and Learning in Science