The die has been cast in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research's funding initiative "Innovative aids in rehabilitation and for the disabled": The funding application submitted by HörTech as consortium leader, "Model-based hearing systems: development and evaluation of innovative model-based techniques for technical hearing aids", is one of the few projects that have been offered the prospect of funding following a strict expert selection procedure. The consortium includes the Universities of Giessen, Cologne, Oldenburg and Hanover Medical School as well as Siemens Audiologische Technik, the Oldenburg/Ostfriesland/Wilhelmshaven University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the Oldenburg Hearing Centre.

The proposal aims to adapt and consistently implement models from basic research and various application domains into algorithms and fitting procedures for innovative technical hearing aids of the future. The intensive collaboration between model developers, algorithm developers and clinical application and development teams should lead to a substantial improvement in hearing aid system technology. "For us, the BMBF's funding intention is an important confirmation of HörTech's joint research expertise, which was first established in 2000 by winning the BMBF's "Competence Centres for Medical Technology" competition," explains Prof. Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier, spokesperson for the joint project. The research network can count on a total of eight scientist and three and a half technical staff positions for three years. "This should enable us to continue conducting applied hearing research at the forefront of the world," said Kollmeier.