Postdoc in Listening-related Fatigue in Hearing-Aid Users – DTU Health Tech

If you are establishing your career as scientist and you are looking to make a difference in the field of auditory research, this postdoc position at Hearing Systems might be for you.The Hearing Systems Section at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) seeks a qualified candidate for a 2.5-year postdoc position. Hearing Systems is part of the department of Health Technology. Our research is concerned with auditory signal processing and perception, speech communication, audiology, behavioural and objective measures of auditory function, computational auditory neuroscience, environmental acoustics, and hearing-instrument signal processing. The goal of this research is to understand the functioning of the human auditory system and to provide insights that are useful for technical applications, such as speech recognition systems, hearing aids, cochlear implants, and hearing diagnostics. The project will be carried out in collaboration with Eriksholm Research Centre (part of Oticon) and is supported by the William Demant Foundation. 

About the position
We are seeking a candidate to join the project ‘ALFi: Assessment of listening fatigue in daily life’, which aims to develop methods to assess and predict the additional cognitive effort that hearing-aid users typically need to exert, compared to normal-hearing peers, when listening in noisy environments in everyday life. This project will employ a hybrid experimental approach combining laboratory tests with longitudinal field trials spanning several weeks. The candidate’s main working places will be at DTU Hearing Systems (Lyngby, Denmark) and Oticon Eriksholm Research Centre (Snekkersten, Denmark). 

Responsibilities 
Your overall focus will be to strengthen the department’s competences within auditory research with the aim of assessing the impact of hearing loss on listening effort and fatigue in hearing-aid users. 

Your primary task will be: 

• to design and carry out laboratory experiments to assess fatigue in hearing-aid users, applying methods such as pupillometry and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).
• analyse, explore, and interpret data from both laboratory experiments as well as fields trials.
• work closely together with researchers, audiologists, and technical experts from Eriksholm Research Centre and Oticon, but also alongside all project partners in academia. 
• publish findings in leading scientific and clinical journals and to engage with the research community at conferences and workshops.

Qualifications

• A PhD degree in hearing science, auditory neuroscience, experimental psychology, audiology, cognitive science, physics, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, or a similarly relevant discipline within the past 5 years.
• Previous experience with pupillometry and/or fNIRS, and you preferably have a track record of peer-reviewed publications using these methods.
• Strong interest in interdisciplinary and application-oriented work, supported by successful collaboration with researchers, technical and clinical staff outside of your main discipline.
• Experience in presenting your work at high quality international institutions and conferences and high proficiency in written and spoken English. 
• Proficiency in the Danish language is not essential, but a willingness to learn could be useful in the longer-term.

We offer
DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility. 

About Eriksholm Research Centre
Eriksholm pursues audiological discoveries with the potential to significantly enhance end-user benefits in future hearing care. We work in close collaboration with academic research institutions, clinicians, and end-users, and being part of Oticon ensures that our scientific insights are applied in solutions that empower people with hearing loss. 

We are a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary team of scientists that respect and care about each other and we work in a very informal environment. We are all dedicated to exploring the unknown and striving for excellence, and we have scientific integrity and room for taking chances. 

Eriksholm has research facilities that include EEG, Ear-EEG, motion capture, eye-tracking, fNIRS, speech testing, a large anechoic chamber with speaker array, and a fully supported clinic and audiological facility. 

Salary and terms of employment 
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union. The period of employment is 2.5 years. Starting date is 1 August 2023 (or according to mutual agreement).

You can read more about career paths at DTU here .  

Further information 
Further information may be obtained from Dorothea Wendt, [email protected]  and Torsten Dau, [email protected] . 

You can read more about DTU Health Technology at www.healthtech.dtu.dk/english .

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark .

Application procedure 
Your complete online application must be submitted no later than 1 June 2023 (Danish time). Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply online", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include: 

• Application (cover letter)
• CV
• Academic Diplomas (MSc/PhD)
• List of publications 

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

DTU Health Tech engages in research, education, and innovation base on technical and natural science for the healthcare sector. The Healthcare sector is a globally expanding market with demands for the most advanced technological solutions. DTU Health Tech creates the foundation for companies to develop new and innovative services and products which benefit people and create value for society. DTU Health Tech’s expertise spans from imaging and biosensor techniques, across digital health and biological modelling, to biopharma technologies. The department has a scientific staff of about 210 persons, 140 PhD students and a technical/administrative support staff of about 160 persons, of which a large majority contributes to our research infrastructure and related commercial activities.

Technology for people
DTU develops technology for people. With our international elite research and study programmes, we are helping to create a better world and to solve the global challenges formulated in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear mission to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society. That mission lives on today. DTU has 13,500 students and 6,000 employees. We work in an international atmosphere and have an inclusive, evolving, and informal working environment. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland, and we collaborate with the best universities around the world.