Declaration of interest - PhD project in the field of Audiology, Department of Clinical Research

The Department of Clinical Research at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) is looking for applicants for a PhD position in the field of audiology. The position is available for three years from November 1st 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Research environment
The PhD student will be affiliated with the Research Unit of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology at SDU, which is divided into three sections: Surgically-related ENT, Medical Audiology, and Technical Audiology. The advertised position is available in the Technical Audiology section.

Project description
In audiological practice, diagnostic testing is primarily carried out at low to moderate presentation levels, even though higher-level sounds are common in many everyday listening situations. Research has shown that hearing-impaired listeners can respond very differently to such sounds, but these differences are rarely mapped out. Consequently, standard hearing aid solutions are routinely chosen, leading to suboptimal aided outcome for many users.

This PhD project will address that shortcoming by investigating methods for effective hearing diagnostics and hearing aid fitting, and thus for improving aided benefit. More specifically, it will comprise research into new hearing-diagnostic tests and gain prescription for high-level sounds, which will be compared to state-of-the-art solutions.

The project is funded by the William Demant Foundation and involves a collaboration between SDU (Profs. Tobias Neher & Michal Fereczkowski), the German Institute of Hearing Aids (Dr. Hendrik Husstedt), Oticon A/S (Dr. Sébastien Santurette), the Interacoustics Research Unit (Dr. Søren Laugesen), and Eriksholm Research Centre (Dr. Lars Bramsløw).

Qualifications
The position is suited for a person with a clear interest in both technical and clinical audiological work. Ideally, applicants for the position should possess the following qualifications:

• Master degree in audiology, speech & hearing sciences, acoustics, or a related field
• Very good command of audiological test methods
• Very good command of hearing aid fitting and technology
• Very good command of the English language in spoken and written form
• Some research experience (e.g., from a conference contribution or a research assistant position)
• Knowledge of Matlab, Python, or a similar programming language is a plus
• Knowledge of statistics is a plus
• Knowledge of the Danish language is a plus

Candidates who are about to obtain these qualifications are also encouraged to apply.

For further information about the position, please contact:
Tobias Neher, PhD

Professor in Audiology

University of Southern Denmark

Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark

Phone: +45 6550 7659

E-mail: [email protected]

Applications must include:

• A cover letter outlining the candidate’s motivation and qualifications for the position (1-2 pages)
• A detailed CV
• Copies of university certificates
• Contact details of two university supervisors or employers who can provide references
• Any available scientific output (e.g., a conference poster or paper)

Applications must be written in English and be submitted electronically using the “Apply online” link. Attached files must be in Adobe PDF or Word format. Each box can only contain a single file of max. 10 MB.

Documents should not contain a CPR number (civil registration number) – in this case, the CPR number must be crossed out.

The closing date for applications is May 20th 2024. Applications that are incomplete or received after the deadline will be neither considered nor evaluated.

The successful candidate will be asked to apply to the PhD school, Faculty of Health Sciences, SDU for enrolment as PhD student.

The PhD programme will be carried out in accordance with faculty regulations and the Danish Ministerial Order on the PhD programme at the Universities (PhD order).

The terms of employment as a salaried PhD Research Fellow are stated in the Agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC).

The University of Southern Denmark wishes its staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Placering: Odense, Denmark