Hearing IRC News

  • Request for Proposals (RFP) 2024: Successful Communication: novel, real-life relevant outcome measures of HA benefit

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) announces its 2024 request for Proposals (RfP) for research documenting successful communication and the real-life outcome measures that affect hearing aid benefit.

    The funding pool for this RFP is 300,000 US Dollars, and the time period for execution of projects under this RFP is 2–3 years from 1st of January 2025. Proposals for projects of two years duration are preferred. It is expected that one or two project proposals will be funded.

    Detailed descriptions of the application procedure, the guidelines for research under this scheme, and the proposed research area can be downloaded and also found on the IRC website. The deadline for submission is August 1, 2024.

    Questions can be sent to any of the IRC members listed on the website or using the Contact Form on the website.

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) is made up of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufacturers in the world, which include GN Hearing, Oticon, Sonova, WS Audiology and Starkey Hearing Technologies. The IRC was created to have a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefiting the hearing aid industry, its customers and end users. For more information about the Hearing Industry Research Consortium, visit http://hearingirc.com.

    Niels H. Pontoppidan, 2023–2024 Chair of the IRC


  • Announcing the 2023 RFP: "Indirect benefits of hearing-aids: psychosocial, functional or physical improvements"

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) announces its 2023 request for proposals(RfP) for research documenting and measuring indirect benefits of well-fitted hearing-aids, and fostering a better understanding of the factors that mediate these benefits.

    The funding pool for this RFP is 300,000 US Dollars, and the time period for execution of projects under this RFP is 2-3 years from 1st January 2024. Proposals for projects of two years duration are preferred. It is envisaged that one or two project proposals will be funded.

    Detailed descriptions of the application procedure, the guidelines for research under this scheme, and the proposed research area can be downloaded and also found on the IRC website. The deadline for submission is August 1, 2023.

    Questions can be sent to any of the IRC members listed on the website or using the Contact Form on the website.

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) is made up of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufacturers in the world, which include GN Hearing, Oticon, Sonova, WS Audiology and Starkey Hearing Technologies. The IRC was created to have a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefiting the hearing aid industry, its customers and end users. For more information about the Hearing Industry Research Consortium, visit http://hearingirc.com.

    Niels H. Pontoppidan, 2023-2024 Chair of the IRC


  • Announcing the 2021 Grant Recipients

    In response to the RFP 2021 on “Confirming The Hearing Care Practitioner (HCP) Role with Respect to Expanded Hearing-Aid-User Needs, Health & Well-Being“ the IRC received 4 great project proposals. This is comparable to previous calls on topics that has not received much attention in the research community. It is one of the goals of IRC to identify these under-studied domains in the field of Audiology, this year focusing on the broader dimensions of hearing rehabilitation that hearing care professionals face in daily practice.

    The IRC is now pleased to announce the decision to fund:

    • “Impact of listening effort on hearing aid adoption and performance in adults” submitted by Prof. Erin Schafer and her team at University of North Texas.

    The project just started, and we look forward to seeing the results and contributions from the project in the coming two years.

    The IRC is once again very pleased to have received excellent proposals from globally leading researchers We sincerely appreciate the effort put into these proposals. We are pleased to stimulate the relevant research fields, both with potential funding, but also in providing topics of interest to the hearing industry and hearing research community, that consequently will lead to greater impact of the conducted research.


  • Announcing the 2022 RFP: "When hearing loss is not due to presbycusis: similarities and differences to the age-related hearing loss"

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) announces its 2022 Request for Proposals (RFP) for research on models other than age that may or may not contribute to age-like hearing loss. Such models might include ototoxicity, environmental noise and genetic factors that might show similarities but also differences to the progression of age-related hearing loss.

    The funding pool for this RFP is 300,000 US Dollars, and the time period for execution of projects under this RFP is 2-3 years from 1st January 2023. Proposals for projects of two years duration are preferred. It is envisaged that one or two project proposals will be funded.

    Detailed descriptions of the application procedure, the guidelines for research under this scheme, and the proposed research area can be downloaded and also found on the IRC website. The deadline for submission is August 31, 2022.

    Questions can be sent to any of the IRC members listed on the website or using the Contact Form on the website.

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) is made up of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufacturers in the world, which include GN Hearing, Oticon, Sonova, WS Audiology and Starkey Hearing Technologies. The IRC was created to have a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefiting the hearing aid industry, its customers and end users. For more information about the Hearing Industry Research Consortium, visit http://hearingirc.com.

    Andrew Dittberner, 2021-2022 Chair of the IRC


  • Announcing the 2021 RFP: "Confirming The Hearing Care Practitioner (HCP) Role with Respect to Expanded Hearing-Aid-User Needs, Health & Well-Being"

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) announces its 2021 Request for Proposals (RFP) for research on "Confirming The Hearing Care Practitioner (HCP) Role with Respect to Expanded Hearing-Aid-User Needs, Health & Well-Being".

    The purpose of this RFP is to stimulate research into the expanding role of the HCP given rapidly changing technologies. Today, the HCP needs to understand social and psychological factors, vestibular anatomy and physiology, cognitive screening tools, and biometric functions, topics that have not been part of the traditional scope of practice, and this RFP is designed to confirm and refine the important role of the HCP.

    The funding pool for this RFP is 300,000 US Dollars, and the time period for execution of projects under this RFP is 2-3 years from 1st January 2022. Proposals for projects of two years duration are preferred. It is envisaged that one or two project proposals will be funded.

    Detailed descriptions of the application procedure, the guidelines for research under this scheme, and the proposed research area can be [downloaded][rf] and also found on the IRC website. The deadline for submission is September 3, 2021.

    Questions can be sent to any of the IRC members listed on the website or using the Contact Form on the website.

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) is made up of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufacturers in the world, which include GN Hearing, Oticon, Sonova, WS Audiology and Starkey Hearing Technologies. The IRC was created to have a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefiting the hearing aid industry, its customers and end users. For more information about the Hearing Industry Research Consortium, visit https://hearingirc.com.

    Andrew Dittberner, 2020-2022 Chair of the IRC


  • No IRC Request for Proposal in 2020

    Dear all,

    On behalf of the Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC), I would like to let you know, that we will not post a Request for Proposals in 2020. We a sorry about this, but reason is that the current conditions, due to the global COVID-19 situation, has created sub-optimal work conditions for researchers to generate the proposals. Another reason is that we, as an industry are in a situation with careful awareness to expenses. I hope that there is an understanding of this decision. We will return with a new a great topic for you to consider. So, stay tuned for news in April/May 2021.

    Thank you

    The Hearing Industry Consortium (IRC)


  • Announcing the 2019 Grant Recipients

    In response to the RFP 2019, “The joy of hearing: the impact of hearing loss and hearing aids on the affective state of the listener “, the IRC received eight great project proposal. This is comparable to previous calls on topics that has not received much attention in the research community. It is one of the goals of IRC to identify these under-studied domains in the field of Audiology, and like the 2018 RFP, the 2019 is one of these and focuses more on the psychological aspects of Audiology.

    The IRC is now pleased to announce that for the 2019 call, we have two grant winners. They are:

    • University of Nottingham, Graham Naylor and his team of the proposal: “Emotional responses in daily-life listening situations for people with a hearing loss, and emotional adaptation after a first hearing-aid fitting”
    • University of Memphis, Jani Johnson and her team on the proposal “Does wearing hearing aids impact the affective state of older adults with hearing loss in daily listening”

    The projects both started early 2020. We look forward to seeing the results and contributions from these projects.

    The IRC is once again very pleased to have received excellent proposals from globally leading researchers We sincerely appreciate the effort put into these proposals. We are pleased to stimulate the relevant research fields, both with potential funding, but also in providing topics of interest to the Industry, that consequently will lead to greater impact of the conducted research


  • Announcing the 2019 RFP: "The joy of hearing: the impact of hearing loss and hearing aids on the affective state of the listener"

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) announces its 2019 Request for Proposals (RFP) for research on "The joy of hearing: the impact of hearing loss and hearing aids on the affective state of the listener".

    The purpose of this RFP is to stimulate research into the positive affective responses to sound stimuli in hearing-impaired individuals. The goal is to deepen the understanding of the impact of hearing impairment and hearing-loss compensation on the affective state of the listener. In particular, we are interested in the involvement of the two reward systems mentioned above in hearing-impaired individuals, namely, the pleasure of hearing and the motivational aspects of hearing, and their impact on the quality of life of hearing-aid users.

    The funding pool for this RFP is 300,000 US Dollars, and the time period for execution of projects under this RFP is 2-3 years from 1st January 2020. Proposals for projects of two years duration are preferred. It is envisaged that one or two project proposals will be funded.

    Detailed descriptions of the application procedure, the guidelines for research under this scheme, and the proposed research area can be downloaded and also found on the IRC website. The deadline for submission is August 26, 2019.

    Questions can be sent to any of the IRC members listed on the website or using the Contact Form on the website.

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) is made up of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufacturers in the world, which include GN Hearing, Oticon, Sonova, WS Audiology and Starkey Hearing Technologies. The IRC was created to have a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefiting the hearing aid industry, its customers and end users. For more information about the Hearing Industry Research Consortium, visit https://hearingirc.com.

    Morten Løve Jepsen, 2019-2020 Chair of the IRC


  • Announcing the 2018 Grant Recipients

    In response to the RFP 2018, Stigma-related factors influencing the uptake of hearing aids, the IRC received eight great project proposal. This is a relatively small number compared to previous calls, but this may simply reflect that the topic has had too little attention previously. It is one of the goals of IRC to identify these under-studied domains in the field of Audiology, and this seems to be one of them.

    We, the IRC, are pleased to announce that the grant winner of the 2018 call is Professor Louise Hickson and her team at the University of Queensland, Australia. They excellently presented to proposal, entitled: ”To tell or not to tell? The stigma experiences of adults with hearing impairment and their families”.

    The project started on March 1st, 2019. In her words, this research project will provide a first-of-its-kind understanding of stigma in hearing impairment. This understanding has the potential to inform adults with hearing impairment, family members, hearing care professionals, referring practitioners (e.g., GPs, ENTs, Geriatricians), and hearing device manufacturers about how to counsel adults with hearing difficulties and their families about the pros and cons of acknowledging hearing loss in everyday life.

    The team is thrilled to have this opportunity to undertake this research project. We believe it will make a valuable contribution to the field and are excited to get started with this research in 2019!

    A key focus of our team’s research program involves exploring the impact of hearing loss in adults on their quality of life and how and why they take steps to get help for their hearing difficulties. We had recently been noticing that stigma related to hearing loss and hearing aids kept appearing in our data as a possible barrier to help-seeking (both within interviews with people with hearing impairment and their families, and within our video-recorded audiology appointment interactions). These observations highlighted to us the significance of stigma in the everyday lives of adults with hearing impairment and their families. We were, therefore, keen to explore the notion of stigma further in our future research.

    A key focus of our team’s research program involves exploring the impact of hearing loss in adults on their quality of life and how and why they take steps to get help for their hearing difficulties. We had recently been noticing that stigma related to hearing loss and hearing aids kept appearing in our data as a possible barrier to help-seeking (both within interviews with people with hearing impairment and their families, and within our video-recorded audiology appointment interactions). These observations highlighted to us the significance of stigma in the everyday lives of adults with hearing impairment and their families. We were, therefore, keen to explore the notion of stigma further in our future research.

    The IRC is once again very pleased to have received excellent proposals from globally leading researchers We sincerely appreciate the effort put into these proposals. We are pleased to stimulate the relevant research fields, both with potential funding, but also in providing topics of interest to the Industry, that consequently will lead to greater impact of the conducted research


  • Announcing the 2018 RFP: "Stigma-related factors influencing the uptake of hearing aids"

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) announces its 2018 Request for Proposals (RFP) for research on stigma-related factors influencing the uptake of hearing aids.

    While many people would benefit from hearing instruments, uptake is still low, especially among those with milder forms of audiometric hearing loss. Among the factors that hinder uptake of hearing aids, the stigma associated with hearing aids is an important one. The purpose of this RFP is to stimulate research on the stigma related to hearing loss and hearing instruments. This research should deepen understanding of the psychological factors hindering people with hearing impairment to seek help and especially to develop approaches to help overcome this hurdle.

    The funding pool for this RFP is 300,000 US Dollars, and the time period for execution of projects under this RFP is 2-3 years from 1st January 2019. Proposals for projects of two years duration are preferred. It is envisaged that one or two project proposals will be funded.

    Detailed descriptions of the application procedure, the guidelines for research under this scheme, and the proposed research area can be downloaded and also found on the Hearing IRC website. The deadline for submission is August 18, 2018.

    Questions can be sent to any of the IRC members listed on the website or using the Contact Form on the website.

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) is made up of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufacturers in the world, which include GN, Oticon, Phonak, Sivantos, Starkey Hearing Technologies and Widex. The IRC was created to have a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefiting the hearing aid industry, its customers and end users. For more information about the Hearing Industry Research Consortium, visit https://www.hearingirc.com.

    Sridhar Kalluri, 2017-2018 Chair of the IRC


  • Announcing the 2017 Grant Recipients

    The IRC received seventeen outstanding proposals from leading universities and research institutions around the world in response to its 2017 request for proposals on the impact of audiovisual integration on acoustic communication in hearing impaired adults. This topic area recognizes the importance of considering that real-life communication does not occur solely in the auditory domain, but instead triggers simultaneous activation of different modalities, requiring cross-modal integration. The IRC is pleased to announce that the grant recipients are a team lead by Principal Investigator Prof. Hans Colonius, Carl von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg, Germany and another team lead by Prof. Anu Sharma, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

    Hans Colonius is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Cluster of Excellence “Hearing4all”, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg. He and his co-workers, Professor Christiane Thiel, Anja Gieseler, Maike Tahden, and Dr. Stephanie Rosemann will focus on how hearing aid usage in mild-to-moderately hearing-impaired elderly affects audiovisual integration, speech perception, cognitive performance and neural connectivity using both psychophysical methods and fMRI.

    "We are very excited about being able to follow up on our previous work and to finally realize the project that we have been thinking about for the last years”, said Prof. Colonius, “by investigating the causal relations between audiovisual integration, hearing aid use and speech performance in a longitudinal study!”

    Anu Sharma is a Professor in the Department of Speech Language Hearing Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Science, and Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her work will focus on examining changes in cross-modal neuroplasticity and auditory visual processing in age-related hearing loss and whether intervention with amplification restores auditory visual integration and underlying cortical networks to a normal state.

    Prof. Sharma said: “This is a timely and much-needed topic that was requested by the IRC. We are excited about being able to conduct the study which will allow us to better understand the neuroplastic changes underlying auditory visual integration in hearing loss and how they are impacted by amplification”.

    The IRC is once again very pleased to have received so many excellent proposals from leading researchers all around the world. “We know it takes a big effort to prepare such applications, and we want to express our sincere appreciation to all applicants for their contribution,” said Sridhar Kalluri, 2017-2018 Chair of the IRC.


  • Announcing the 2017 RFP: "The impact of audiovisual integration on acoustic communication in hearing impaired adults"

    Since 2010 the hearing industry’s largest manufacturers have collaborated to sponsor a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefiting the hearing aid industry, its customers, and end users. The framework for this collaboration is the Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC).

    This year's Request for Proposal (RfP) is entitled "The impact of audiovisual integration on acoustic communication in hearing impaired adults". Hearing IRC wishes to support pre-competitive research that advances understanding of the effects of both hearing aid processing and individual audiovisual integration abilities on hearing aid benefit in real-life speech communication. For many years, research on the effects of hearing-aid use has mainly considered factors related to auditory perception. Real-life communication, however, does not occur solely in the auditory domain, but instead triggers simultaneous activation of different modalities, requiring cross-modal integration.

    Applications are available on the IRC web site. The deadline for proposals is August 18th, 2017, and decisions will be announced by December 31, 2017.


  • Announcing the 2016 Grant Recipients

    By the deadline of August 2016 IRC had received a large number of outstanding grant proposals from leading universities around the world in response to this year’s request for proposals on auditory ecology and its contribution to quality of life, with emphasis on the individual.

    IRC is very pleased to announce that the 2016 grant recipient is the team lead by Principal Investigator Dr Inga Holube, Institute of Hearing Technology and Audiology, Jade University of Applied Sciences in Oldenburg in cooperation with Dr. Markus Meis from Hörzentrum Oldenburg, Germany.

    The project explores the individual hearing aid benefit in real life by developing tools that momentarily assess the health-related quality of life in individual every-day listening situations. The concept uniquely combines the analysis of the acoustical conditions, self-assessments and external observations that allow characterizing psychologically and sociologically the behavior of hearing-impaired persons in self-selected environments.

    “Once again we are very pleased to have received so many excellent proposals from universities all around the world. We know it takes a big effort to prepare such applications, and we want to express our sincere appreciation s to all applicants for their contribution,” said Stefan Launer, 2016-2017 Chair of the IRC.


  • Announcing the 2016 RFP: Auditory Ecology and its contribution to Quality of Life, with Emphasis on the Individual

    Since 2010 the hearing industry’s largest manufacturers have collaborated to sponsor a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefitting the hearing aid industry, its customers, and end users. The framework for this collaboration is the Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC).

    The focus of this RFP is Auditory Ecology, a concept introduced by Gatehouse (1999) to describe the relationship between the acoustic environments experienced in everyday life and the perceptual demands of different individuals in these environments. Gatehouse found that individuals with more diverse auditory lifestyles had a stronger preference for more sophisticated signal processing strategies. Research that seeks to develop tools for characterizing auditory lifestyles and relates these to the effects of signal processing would be of benefit to the hearing-aid industry.

    Applications are available on the Hearing IRC web site. The deadline for proposals is August 21, 2016, and decisions will be announced by December 31, 2016.


  • Announcing the 2015 Grant Recipients

    By the deadline of August 2015 IRC had received 6 outstanding grant proposals from leading universities around the world in response to the most recent RFP, which focuses on Big Data Outcome Measurement and Treatment.

    IRC is very pleased to announce that the 2015 Grant recipients are the teams lead by Principal Investigators Dr Peter Nordquist, Research Institute Hörselbron, KTH Stockholm, Sweden as well as the team lead by Dr Harvey Dillon, National Acoustic Laboratories, Sydney, Australia. Each team received an award of 150’000 USD to pursue their research.

    Both projects look at how coordinated data collection in audiological service delivery systems can be exploited to examine relations between patient characteristics, treatment outcomes, and process variables. This may provide new evidence for the development of improved treatment. Meanwhile, the diversity of real-life clinical practice may cause any data to be very ‘noisy’, potentially invalidating conclusions regarding cause and effect.

    “Once again we are very pleased to have received so many excellent proposals from universities all around the world. We know it takes a big effort to prepare such applications, and we want to express our thankfulness to all applicants for their contribution,” said Stefan Launer, 2016-2017 Chair of the IRC.


  • Announcing the 2015 RFP: Outcome Measurement and Treatment Prescription

    Since 2010 the hearing industry’s largest manufacturers have collaborated to sponsor a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefitting the hearing aid industry, its customers, and end users. The framework for this collaboration is the Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC).

    Coordinated data collection in audiological service delivery systems can be exploited to examine relations between patient characteristics, treatment outcomes, and process variables. This may provide new evidence for the development of improved treatment. Meanwhile, the diversity of real-life clinical practice may cause any data to be very ‘noisy’, potentially invalidating conclusions regarding cause and effect. IRC wishes to promote serious research in this area, and therefore this year the IRC is requesting proposals within the topic of ‘Large-scale approaches to outcome measurement and treatment prescription’. The $300,000 funding pool is open to research labs around the world.

    Applications are available on the Hearing IRC web site. The deadline for proposals is August 16, 2015, and decisions will be announced by December 31, 2015.


  • Announcing the 2014 Grant Recipients

    By the deadline in August 2014 IRC had received 21 outstanding grant proposals from leading universities around the world in response to the most recent RFP. While last year’s grant recipients, Steven Colburn (Boston University, USA) & Theo Goverts (VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam) and Gitte Keidser & Virginia Best (National Acoustic Laboratories, Australia) were focussing on research in the field of Perception of dynamic spatial listening scenarios, the 2014 RFP focuses on Neurodegeneration: Perceptual Consequences and Quantification in Human Subjects.

    IRC is very pleased to announce that the 2014 Grant recipients are Prof. John Grose, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Dr. Elizabeth Beach, PhD, National Acoustic Laboratories, Australia.

    John Grose is Professor at the department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, and his work will focus on characterizing auditory neurodegeneration in humans, combining basic psychoacoustic measurements with electrophysiological measurements.

    “There is increasing evidence that noise exposure can result in permanent hearing changes even if the ability to detect quiet sounds remains intact”, Dr John Grose says - “This project looks specifically at whether regular attendance at loud music venues is associated with a compromised ability to discern audible sounds over the long term. I am very enthusiastic be working with the IRC on this project, as we consider this study an important next step in our understanding of the perceptual consequences of hearing loss and aging”.

    The project will be undertaken in the Hearing Research Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which has a distinguished history of studying human auditory function using both behavioral and electrophysiological tests.

    Elizabeth Beach is a Research Psychologist at NAL, and her work will focus at addressing outcomes of a potential target group of noise exposed workers, in combination with basic auditory assessments. Elizabeth says: “It was such a great topic for the IRC to initiate a request on, and it was a topic that we had already been thinking about a lot. We're very much looking forward to the study and reaching a better understanding of the nature of hidden hearing loss."

    Both projects look at the so-called ‘hidden hearing loss’ being an implication of degeneration of neurons in the auditory fibers, due to noise exposure. The term ‘hidden hearing loss’ refers to the fact that it is not obvious from an audiogram, that hearing has deteriorated (significantly), but speech understanding in noise is severely reduced.

    “Once again we are very pleased to have received so many excellent proposals from universities all around the world. We know it takes a big effort to prepare such applications, and we want to express our thankfulness to all applicant for their contribution,” said Joel Beilin, 2014-2015 Chair of the IRC.


  • Announcing the 2014 RFP: Neurodegeneration

    During the last five years, our understanding of the pathophysiology of hearing loss has been substantially enhanced, and challenged, by the discovery of auditory neuronal damage, which does not always manifest in the audiogram. This is a very interesting new area of research, and this year the IRC is requesting proposals within the topic of Neurodegeneration: Perceptual Consequences and Quantification in Human Subjects. The $300,000 grant is open to research labs around the world.

    Applications are available on the IRC website. The deadline for proposals is August 15, 2014, and decisions will be announced by December 31, 2014.


  • Announcing the 2013 Grant Recipients

    The IRC received 24 outstanding grant proposals from around the world for this most recent RFP. Last May, Piers Dawes, Ph.D., and Andrea Pittman, Ph.D., were awarded the first IRC grants for research aimed to advance the understanding of the interaction between cognition and hearing aids.

    Goverts is head of the Audiological Center and a medical physicist audiologist at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, and Colburn is the director of the Hearing Research Center and professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University. Their research will take a detailed look at speech recognition in realistic dynamic listening scenarios.

    "We are very excited by the opportunities provided by this grant to address questions related to spatial hearing in complicated listening situations,” said Goverts. “We hope that our work will help audiologists to better treat people with hearing problems."

    Best currently works as a research scientist with the National Acoustic Laboratories in Sydney, Australia, and as a research assistant professor at Hearing Research Center, Boston University. Her research will examine a dynamic speech comprehension task for assessing real-world listening ability and hearing aid benefit.

    “We are delighted that the IRC has decided to support this work. The grant will enable us to develop a new test that measures how well people can follow dynamic conversations in noisy places,” said Best. “Using this test we will also gather new knowledge about how hearing loss and hearing aids affect this critical part of everyday communication."

    "We are very pleased to have received quite a large number of excellent proposals from renowned universities all around the world, and we want to thank every applicant for his or her contribution,” said Stefan Launer, 2013 Chair of the IRC. “It shows us that we have selected a topic of great interest and potential for the research community and thus our entire industry. We have selected proposals that present a mixture between innovative approaches to basic science and direct clinical applicability. We wish the two selected research teams great success with their projects, and we very much look forward to seeing the results being openly and publicly presented and discussed. Hopefully this initiative will stimulate further research in this exciting field."


  • RFP 2013 Perception of dynamic spatial listening scenarios

    Dear colleagues,

    The hearing aid industry’s largest manufacturers have collaborated to create the Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) to develop and direct a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefitting the hearing aid industry, its customers, and end users.

    The IRC is requesting proposals for a research project on “Perception of dynamic spatial listening scenarios”. The $300,000 grant pool is open to research labs around the world. Further details are available on the IRC web site at www.hearingirc.com and in attached document.

    The IRC board is comprised of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufacturers in the world including GN’s Andrew Dittberner; Oticon’s Graham Naylor; Phonak’s Stefan Launer; Siemens’ Joel Beilin; Starkey Hearing Technologies’ Brent Edwards; and Widex’ Lars Sunesen.

    The deadline for proposals is September 1, 2013, and decisions will be announced by December 31, 2013.

    I am chairman of IRC for 2013, and enquiries may be directed to me or any of the others named above.

    Please feel free to further distribute this email to researcher you think might are interested in this field.

    Best regards
    Stefan Launer

    VP Science and Technology
    Phonak AG


  • Announcing the First IRC Grant Recipients

    The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) is excited to announce the results of its first public Request For grant Proposals (RFP). Piers Dawes, Ph.D, Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, and Andrea Pittman, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Arizona State University, were selected to each receive $150,000 for their research proposals that are aimed to advance the understanding of the interaction between cognition and hearing aids.

    The IRC received more than fifteen outstanding grant proposals after announcing the grant and formation of the consortium last August at the International Hearing Aid Research Conference in Lake Tahoe, California.

    Dawes’ research will focus on “Tuning of auditory attention: the importance for hearing aid acclimatization and benefit.” “Hearing loss is very common and leads to difficulties with communication, social isolation, depression, poor general health and possibly cognitive decline,” said Dawes. “One reason for the low use of hearing aids is problems adjusting to listening with hearing aids. We are very excited by our new IRC-funded research because we think this research will address a key reason why some people struggle to adjust to hearing aids. The research could have a big impact in improving adjustment to hearing aids, increasing benefit and improving quality of life.”

    Pittman’s research will examine “Assessing advanced hearing aid features using behavioral tasks that vary in cognitive demand.” “We believe that the formation of an Industry Research Consortium is a bold and innovative move by the major hearing aid manufacturers to advance the science and outcomes of hearing technology,” said Pittman. “We look forward to collaborating with these companies as we examine the benefits of advanced hearing aid features to the cognitive demands of children and adults with hearing loss.”

    “Our field is just beginning to understand how hearing aids can positively affect cognition and how cognitive ability affects hearing aid benefit,” said Stefan Launer, the 2013 chair of the IRC. “We are excited to be able to advance this important research area through the funding of projects by these two outstanding researchers at world-class universities.”

    The IRC will repeat the funding of new research projects every year, with different research goals for each RFP. A new RFP for 2013 will be released this coming summer.


  • Worldwide Hearing Industry Research Consortium Announced

    $300,000 Grant to be Awarded to Winning Proposal on Interaction of Cognition and Hearing Aids

    The hearing industry’s largest manufacturers have collaborated to create the Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) to develop and direct a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefitting the hearing aid industry, its customers and end users.

    As its first act, the IRC is requesting proposals for a research project on the interaction of cognition and hearing aids. The $300,000 grant was announced at the International Hearing Aid Research Conference in Lake Tahoe, Calif., and is open to research labs around the world.

    The IRC board is comprised of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufacturers in the world including GN’s Andrew Dittberner; Oticon’s Graham Naylor; Phonak’s Stefan Launer; Siemens’ Joel Beilin; Starkey Hearing Technologies’ Brent Edwards; and Widex’ Lars Sunesen.

    Applications are available on the IRC web site at www.hearingirc.com . The deadline for proposals is November 1, 2012, and decisions will be announced by December 31, 2012.

    About the Hearing Industry Research Consortium The Hearing Industry Research Consortium (IRC) is made up of the heads of research from the top hearing aid manufactures in the world, which include GN, Oticon, Phonak, Siemens, Starkey Hearing Technologies and Widex. The IRC was created to have a non-competitive, mutually agreed upon research agenda benefitting the hearing aid industry, its customers and end users. For more information about the Hearing Industry Research Consortium, visit www.hearingirc.com.


  • Industry Research Consortium has a new website

    The hearing industry research consortium has a new website to support industry-wide research initiatives.


Published on: 02/26/2024