Hearing research in Oldenburg and its various institutions are receiving a further boost. Lower Saxony's Science Minister, Lutz Stratmann, announced at the opening of the Centre for Hearing Research that the Fraunhofer Society will be involved in hearing research in Oldenburg from the summer. The state is funding the establishment of the Fraunhofer project group with 3.3 million euros.

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the largest German organisation in the field of applied research, intends to set up a project group for hearing, speech and audio technology in Oldenburg. This commitment by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a leader in the field of mp3 audio systems in particular, will help to further consolidate the now internationally recognised position of Oldenburg's hearing researchers and expand it in the direction of audio systems.

The project group will be linked to the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology in Ilmenau and will work closely with the Oldenburg hearing researchers, who will also gain access to the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's research infrastructure.
"With its research profile, the University of Oldenburg is an excellent addition to our expertise in audio systematics and acoustics," emphasised Dr Thomas Sporer, deputy director of the institute. Professor Birger Kollmeier, founder of hearing research in Oldenburg, sees the prospect of having Fraunhofer in Oldenburg as further confirmation of the research work carried out to date.