Happy about the success (from left): Prof. Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier (Spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence), Prof. Dr Georg Klump (Division for the Promotion of Young Researchers in the Cluster of Excellence), Prof. Dr Simon Doclo (Division for Assistive Systems in the Cluster of Excellence), Dr Werner Brinker (Chairman of the University Council of the University of Oldenburg), Prof. Dr Martin Holthaus (Dean of Faculty V), Prof. Dr Katharina Al-Shamery (Vice President for Research), Prof. Dr Babette (Dean of Faculty V), Prof. Dr Katharina Al-Shamery (Vice President for Research). Werner Brinker (Chair of the University Council of the University of Oldenburg), Prof. Dr Martin Holthaus (Dean of School V), Prof. Dr Katharina Al-Shamery (Vice President for Research), Prof. Dr Babette Simon (University President).

Oldenburg. The University of Oldenburg is one of the winners of the Excellence Initiative of the federal and state governments: the "Hearing4all" Cluster of Excellence application will be funded for five years. Funding totalling 34 million euros was applied for. The University of Oldenburg, which submitted the successful proposal together with Hannover Medical School and Leibniz Universität Hannover, is leading the consortium on the topic of hearing. The HörTech Center of Competence, the Jade University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Hanover and Oldenburg Hearing Centres, the Fraunhofer Project Group for Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. and the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Delmenhorst are also involved.

"This success is first and foremost the result of outstanding scientific work at our universities. I would like to express my respect and recognition for this and thank everyone involved," said Lower Saxony's Science Minister Prof Dr Johanna Wanka on the occasion of the decision. She emphasised that the money raised will benefit Lower Saxony as a research and university location as a whole. "With sums of this magnitude, research results can be achieved that would otherwise be virtually unattainable. We have been given the opportunity to significantly increase our competitiveness in the coming years."

University President Prof Dr Babette Simon described today's decision as a "tremendous success for the University of Oldenburg and its excellent hearing research". "This success radiates to the entire university and contributes significantly to the further strengthening of the university, but also of the north-west science region. I would like to thank all those who have contributed to this result with their hard work and dedication," said Simon.

The spokesperson for the cluster of excellence, Oldenburg physicist and physician Prof. Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier, emphasised: "This is a great day for hearing research in Lower Saxony. We are delighted that our joint work to date has been recognised and we will now continue this work under new conditions for the benefit of the hearing impaired."

The goal of the interdisciplinary, five-year joint project is hearing for all. 18 per cent of the German population - including more than 50 per cent of people over the age of 65 - have a hearing loss that requires treatment. By improving individualised hearing diagnostics and the provision of personal hearing aids adapted to this, the scientists want to significantly improve the communication situation of those affected - whether at work, in traffic or at home. To this end, innovative processing concepts for hearing aids and hearing implants are being further developed, as is assistive technology for everyone - i.e. the hearing aid in every smartphone, television or car radio.

The research work is focussed on improving speech comprehension in noise. This is because a major problem for hearing-impaired people is impaired selectivity when listening. In contrast, people with normal hearing are only able to hear the words of one speaker at a cocktail party, for example, and suppress those of others ("cocktail party effect"). "But we also want to make decisive advances in diagnostics and treatment options in clinical audiology. Here we are focusing on new physiological diagnostic instruments and hearing implants at various stations in the inner ear and along the auditory pathway," explained Prof Dr Thomas Lenarz, Deputy Cluster of Excellence Spokesperson and Director of the ENT Clinic at Hannover Medical School.

25 renowned scientists from the fields of physics, medicine, psychology, biology, engineering and linguistics are responsible for the content-related work. They form core teams, which in turn work on current research questions in interdisciplinary task groups and also form the thematic framework for young scientists. "In addition, we are creating a Joint Research Academy for the targeted career development of young scientists - from doctoral theses to their own scientific group leadership or professorship," emphasised Oldenburg biologist Professorship Georg Klump, who is responsible for this area.

There are also plans for even closer co-operation with all of the world's leading hearing aid and hearing implant manufacturers. "Over 80 per cent of all hearing aids and cochlear implants already contain technology from Oldenburg or Hanover," says Kollmeier. "In the Cluster of Excellence, we want to further expand our development lead - through the successful interaction of basic research, clinical research and applied research."

[15.06.2012]