Oldenburg. Opening up better educational and career opportunities for people with hearing impairments and ensuring their participation in society: This is the aim of the new "Innovation Network for Integrated, Binaural Hearing System Technology" (VIBHear), which is coordinated by the University of Oldenburg and has now been officially launched. The three-year joint project, which is funded by the state from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), also involves the HörTech Center of Competence, the Hörzentrum Oldenburg, Hannover Medical School and Jade University. Together, the researchers want to translate their new findings into technological solutions as quickly as possible. The funding amounts to 1.2 million euros.

The joint project consists of five sub-projects, each led by a joint partner. One of the aims is to create the technological prerequisites for bringing together the previously separate technologies of hearing aids and cochlear implants, regardless of the manufacturer. The researchers are also aiming for objective standards that doctors can use to decide which hearing system technology to prescribe to a patient.

"In the long term, we want to take a leading international position for manufacturer-independent system solutions - be it for conventional or implantable hearing systems," says Prof Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier, spokesperson for the Hearing4all cluster of excellence, with which the VIBHear partners have already joined forces in "Auditory Valley". "Lower Saxony is once again proving its competitiveness as a centre of research and development in the field of hearing research," continued Kollmeier.