Oldenburg. From 6 to 7 November, the Hearing4all cluster of excellence will be presenting hearing research impulses at the highest international level. The scientists from the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Hannover Medical School and Leibniz Universität Hannover are organising the 3rd international symposium "The Future of Hearing" at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. Renowned speakers from the USA, Australia and Belgium will discuss current developments and challenges in the research fields of hearing diagnostics, hearing aids and cochlear implants as well as assistive technologies with hearing experts from northern Germany.

In Germany alone, around 15 million people suffer from hearing disorders ranging from mild impairment to complete deafness. Despite the high level of hearing system provision already achieved, there is still a lot of research work to be done to ensure that those affected can be helped individually: The Cluster of Excellence has therefore set itself the goal of making diagnostics more precise in order to match hearing system care even more closely to the respective causes of the hearing impairment present. Furthermore, the aim is to improve the quality of hearing systems so that the auditory impression corresponds more and more closely to the natural sound model. Last but not least, this research can also be used to optimise communication and entertainment electronics for the respective hearing systems, the variety of hearing situations and the preferences of the (normal or hard of hearing) user.

"The participation of international luminaries in hearing research - such as Blake Wilson from Duke University, Harvey Dillon from the National Acoustics Laboratories in Sydney and Hynek Hermanski from Johns Hopkins University - illustrates the importance of the research results from Hearing4all to date in the global discourse," say Prof Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier, physicist and physician at the University of Oldenburg, and spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence, and Prof Dr Thomas Lenarz, deputy spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence.

In short presentations and poster sessions, the scientists from Oldenburg and Hanover will present highlights from the various research fields of the Cluster of Excellence, not only its expertise but also its breadth and application orientation. In addition to topics such as the development of innovative cochlear implants, the biochemical analysis of human perilymph and the development of a joint hardware and software platform for hearing aids, the agenda also includes the presentation of a market-ready screening station for the diagnosis of hearing disorders.

The two-day symposium begins on Thursday, 6 November at 10 a.m. at the University of Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg and ends on Friday, 7 November at around 3 p.m.

University press release from 03.11.2014