PhD position in hearing-related effort and fatigue research: individual differences and hearing aid

37 hours /wk

Eriksholm Research Center (Part of Oticon A/S) has a vacancy for a PhD position within the Horizon Europe Doctoral Network project “EASYLI” (Easy listening: optimizing the consequences of effortful listening in occupational settings - https://easyli.eu/)

EASYLI project

Noise, hearing loss and listening difficulties at the workplace can require high levels of (listening) effort in order to maintain performance. This can lead to increased levels of stress and fatigue, which can result in productivity loss and increased sick leave. However, applying effort to listening leads to positive consequences as well (good work performance, pleasure, safety, societal participation). We are looking for PhD students to conduct research that will provide a scientific basis for ways to optimize the ratio between the costs and benefits of effortful listening.

EASYLI will train 6 doctoral candidates to develop and apply a toolbox of ambulatory and laboratory measures to assess listening effort in occupational settings in normal-hearing people and people with hearing loss. They will apply real-time acoustic scene analysis, virtual acoustics, and physiological and subjective measures in laboratory and real-life conditions. The candidates will also evaluate individualized interventions (e.g. machine learning-based speech enhancement algorithms, hearing aids). EASYLI consists of 5 academic partners and 4 non-academic partners representing hearing-aid and communication systems industries, audiology, and occupational sectors with challenging acoustic environments.

Your role in the Project

This advertisement is for PhD student 4 within the EASYLI project. The research you will conduct will focus on (a) identifying individual differences that modify susceptibility to occupational listening-related fatigue (Phase 1) and then (b) applying the information learned to drive development and evaluation of personalized hearing interventions (Phase 2). The Phase 1 work will take place at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) near Copenhagen and at the University of Manchester in the UK. While at the University of Manchester) you will complete a systematic literature review and then you will conduct a mixed methods study in which your participants will complete questionnaires, do some hearing tests (quantitative research), and interviews regarding the difficulties they encounter hearing and listening at work. (qualitative research). Your participant group will be people who work in professions where their role requires sustained listening in noisy settings with poor acoustics - for example primary and secondary school teachers. In Phase 2 you will perform a study at Eriksholm Research Centre (Oticon A/S) in Denmark where the aim is to investigate whether personalized interventions using hearing devices can reduce listening-related fatigue. You will be employed at Eriksholm Research Center (Oticon A/S) in Denmark, and you will obtain your PhD from the Hearing Systems Section in the Department of Health Technology, at the Technical University of Denmark.

Where will you be working?

Eriksholm Research Centre

Eriksholm pursues audiological discoveries with the potential to significantly enhance end-user benefits in future hearing care. We work in close collaboration with academic research institutions, clinicians, and end-users, and being part of Oticon ensures that our scientific insights are applied in solutions that empower people with hearing loss.

We are a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary team of scientists that respect and care about each other and we work in a very informal environment. We are all dedicated to exploring the unknown and striving for excellence, and we have scientific integrity and room for taking chances. Eriksholm has research facilities that include EEG, Ear-EEG, motion capture, eye-tracking, fNIRS, speech testing, a large anechoic chamber with speaker array, and a fully supported clinic and audiological facility.

Technical University of Denmark

DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

DTU develops technology for people. With our international elite research and study programmes, we are helping to create a better world and to solve the global challenges formulated in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear vision to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society. That vision lives on today. DTU has 12,900 students and 6,000 employees. We work in an international atmosphere and have an inclusive, evolving, and informal working environment. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland, and we collaborate with the best universities around the world.

The University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is the largest single-site university in the UK with around 38,000 students and more than 11,000 staff. We are committed to delivering an outstanding teaching and learning experience; contributing to the social and economic success of local, national and international communities; producing the highest caliber graduates; and developing our staff to be amongst the very best of their peers.

During the secondment to The University of Manchester, you will be supervised by Prof. Gabrielle Saunders and Dr. Rebecca Millman, who are both members of the Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD). ManCAD is a world leader in research and teaching that underpins and delivers improved services in healthcare and education for adults and children with hearing loss or who are deaf. We have a strong network of both international and UK postgraduate research students with a wide range of experience and skills. This diverse group plays a key role in the cutting-edge research currently being undertaken within the group.

Required profile:

• Desire to learn how to conduct rigorous scientific hearing research about the positive and negative aspects of communication effort under the mentorship of your supervisors
• A background in hearing science, biological psychology, experimental psychology, biomedical sciences, health sciences, biomedical engineering, audiology, auditory or cognitive neuroscience or a similarly relevant discipline.
• Not hold a doctoral degree.
• Comply with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action mobility rule: not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Denmark for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the starting date
• A two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree.
• Be fluent in English, have good communication skills and be keen to collaborate with others.
• Have an interest in speech understanding testing, psychophysiological measures such as pupillometry.
• Be excited to collect real world data from people who encounter hearing difficulties in the workplace
• Be willing to learn or have experience with advanced statistics and programming in Matlab, R, Python or similar are considered an advantage.

NOTE: Enrollment in the PhD degree is subject to academic approval, and the candidate will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes at DTU. For information about our enrolment requirements and the general planning of the PhD study programme, please see DTU's rules for the PhD education (https://www.dtu.dk/english/Education/PhD/Rules).

What will we offer?

• A full-time, paid PhD position in a MSCA project for three years, in a European research project with high international visibility.
• A salary of a minimum of 35.000 and maximum of 39.000 kr. gross per month, for full-time employment.
• A family allowance for the relocation of family (terms and conditions apply).
• Access to state-of-the-art training within the EASYLI doctoral network in local as well as international courses, workshops and conferences.
• A thorough training in the context of an industrial doctorate training program, while spending at least 18-months at a non-academic partner.
• Opportunities to collaborate with discipline specific world-leading researchers.

Note: Applications will be evaluated on an on-going basis until close-of-business on March 27.

• The target starting date for the position is 1 August 2024.

Interested?

For more information about these vacancies, you can contact Hamish Innes-Brown ([email protected]), Dorothea Wendt ([email protected]) , Gabrielle Saunders ([email protected]) or Rebecca Millman ([email protected])

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark (https://www.dtu.dk/english/about/job-and-career/moving-to-denmark). Furthermore, you have the option of joining our monthly free seminar “PhD relocation to Denmark and startup “Zoom” seminar” (https://www.dtu.dk/english/about/job-and-career/moving-to-denmark/before-arrival/phd-relocation-to-denmark ) for all questions regarding the practical matters of moving to Denmark and working as a PhD at DTU.

#LI-NB1

#LI-HYBRID