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Dear List, please find
below details of a PhD studentship funded by Cochlear Europe to start in 2009.
Please forward to any students who may be interested. Colette Objective fitting of cochlear implants Professor Colette McKay The Audiology and Deafness Research Group invites
applications for a distinguished 3-year PhD studentship commencing in April
2009. The studentship is open to UK/EU nationals only due to the nature of the
funding and will provide full support for the UK/EU tuition fee and a tax-free
annual stipend of £12, 940. A cochlear implant is a device that restores hearing to
severely or profoundly deaf people by electrically stimulating surviving
hearing nerves in the cochlea. In order to fit a cochlear implant the range of
currents used in up to 22 electrode positions must be established (eliciting
hearing sensations from threshold of hearing to uncomfortably loud). This is a
long and tedious process for patients and is additionally not possible with
infants, who are now routinely implanted at less than 12 months of age. This
PhD project has the aim of developing objective measures (using auditory evoked
potentials) that are both reliable and clinically efficient for fitting of
cochlear implants without the need for behavioural measurements. Currently it is possible to measure the response of the
peripheral auditory nerve to individual current pulses (using electrodes in the
cochlea). However, these responses are not sufficiently correlated with
behavioural hearing levels to be clinically useful on their own. At issue is
the way that the central auditory system codes loudness and the individual
differences in the function of the surviving auditory nerves. Thus the project
will focus on understanding the way that individual differences in neural
function affect loudness (and on developing an objective measure related to the
individual differences). It will also compare the effectiveness of evoked
potentials measured at different points in the auditory system (peripheral
versus cortical). The outcome will be an improved way of objectively fitting a
cochlear implant that can be implemented and used in audiology clinics. The
project will also significantly contribute to knowledge about how the auditory
system encodes loudness, and thus will be relevant to future developments in
signal processing for cochlear implants. Applicants should hold (or be expected to obtain) an
undergraduate degree at minimum upper second class or equivalent level in an
associated subject. It would be advantageous for candidates to have further
postgraduate experience in the form of a Masters in Research or Masters in
Audiology degree. The project would be suitable for a person with background or
experience in audiology, psychology, electrophysiology or a related discipline.
It may also be of interest to an applicant with an electrical engineering or
signal processing background wishing to develop a multidisciplinary career
profile. Applications should consist of the following:
Applications should be sent to Professor Colette McKay via
email or post: Professor Colette McKay School of Psychological Sciences Human Communication and Deafness Division colette.mckay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Applications will be welcomed up to and including Friday 23 January 2009. Whilst the PhD is
scheduled to commence in April 2009 this is negotiable. http://www.psych-sci.manchester.ac.uk/research/groups/audiologyanddeafness/ |