PhD opportunities

Optimising outcomes for children with unilateral hearing loss

A PhD studentship is available with the UCL Ear Institute and will develop an evidence-based hearing aid fitting, validation and evaluation protocol for children with UHL. This protocol will be developed in partnership with end-users to ensure it can be implemented within audiology departments both in the UK and internationally. Read more and apply here: Optimising outcomes for children with UHL PhD advert final

Characterising Autistic Auditory Processing

The concept of aural diversity (Drever, 2017) has recently emerged as a novel way of reconceptualising hearing differences. Aural diversity aims to accommodate the whole range of aural experience, including examples such as the musician with tinnitus, the lip-reading churchgoer and the autistic school student. Read more…  https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/characterising-autistic-auditory-processing/?p137945

Improving the lives of older adults with hearing loss: Developing a self-report measure of effortful listening to guide clinical practice

Hearing loss is the most prevalent sensory deficit. In the UK, more than 10 million adults have hearing loss. Because it is often associated with old age and the size of the older population is growing, it is predicted that there will be more than 14 million people with hearing loss by 2030. Read more… https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/improving-the-lives-of-older-adults-with-hearing-loss-developing-a-self-report-measure-of-effortful-listening-to-guide-clinical-practice/?p111314

Understanding how individual differences in hearing impairment and age impact on audio-visual speech perception

For the one in six people who struggle to hear and thus to communicate, being able to see a talker’s face provides additional information which boosts their ability to understand speech, particularly in noisy environments where hearing aids are often not of much help. Read more… https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/understanding-how-individual-differences-in-hearing-impairment-and-age-impact-on-audio-visual-speech-perception/?p137259

Investigating the positive and negative effects of noise exposure: increased toughening of the ears vs. increased risk of hearing damage

It is well-established that high levels of noise exposure can lead to hearing loss and tinnitus (i.e. a ringing or buzzing in the ears).  Read more… https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/investigating-the-positive-and-negative-effects-of-noise-exposure-increased-toughening-of-the-ears-vs-increased-risk-of-hearing-damage/?p123528

Perrault syndrome – a pleiotropic disorder of mitochondrial dysfunction

Perrault syndrome is a rare clinically and genetically heterogeneous autosomal recessive condition. Affected individuals have severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Read more… https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/perrault-syndrome-a-pleiotropic-disorder-of-mitochondrial-dysfunction/?p123529

How do deaf babies learn to communicate? A comparison of parent-infant interaction in Deaf and hearing families

Good early communication skills from an important foundation for children’s later education and social interactions. Infant deafness often creates significant barriers in learning these skills. Read more… https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/how-do-deaf-babies-learn-to-communicate-a-comparison-of-parent-infant-interaction-in-deaf-and-hearing-families/?p122837