Tuesday 13 August 2013

Vacancy: sound processing for cochlear implants and hearing aids

Note: this vacancy has been filled. Please refer to the ICanHear website for another similar vacancy in our lab.

A 4 year PhD studentship  is available at ExpORL, Dept. Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Belgium on the topic of sound processing for cochlear implants and hearing aids. A cochlear implant can restore the hearing of the deaf by stimulating the auditory nerve directly with electrical pulses, using an array of electrodes inserted in the cochlea in a surgical procedure. In this project signal-processing models of loudness perception will be used to design sound processing for combined cochlear implant and hearing aid stimulation. This research should lead to an implementation of the algorithm in a commercial device, in close collaboration with the industry.
Candidates need a degree in electrical or biomedical engineering,  physics, or similar, with a good background in signal processing. Good English proficiency is required as well as a strong interest in auditory perception and willingness to work in an interdisciplinary team. Knowledge of human neurophysiology and psychology of hearing is a strong plus.

More information about the project and our lab can be found at  http://tinyurl.com/bimodal.
For more information, please contact Prof. Tom Francart (tom.francart@med.kuleuven.be, phone +32 379840). To apply, please
include your CV and motivation letter.