Job Information
- Organisation/Company
- Swansea University
- Department
- Central
- Research Field
- OtherMedical sciences
- Researcher Profile
- First Stage Researcher (R1)
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Application Deadline
- Type of Contract
- Other
- Job Status
- Full-time
- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
- Not funded by an EU programme
- Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
- No
Offer Description
Funding providers: Swansea University's Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science
Subject areas: Audiology, Psychoacoustics, Signal Processing, Psychology, Engineering, Computer Science
Project start date:
- 1 April 2024 (Enrolment open from mid–March)
Project supervisors:
- Dr Barry Bardsley (B.Bardsley@swansea.ac.uk)
- Professor Andrea Tales
- Professor Stephen Johnson
Aligned programme of study: PhD in Health Science
Mode of study: Full-time
Project description:
The Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science is pleased to offer a fully-funded scholarship for a full-time doctoral student.
The scholarship includes tuition fees and a stipend – reviewed annually at the UKRI standard rate – and a £1,000 annual training allowance to support immersive training experiences, conference attendance, engagement with industry and international collaborative opportunities.
The scholarship is offered for a maximum period of three years; students are expected to submit their theses within this timescale.
Hearing loss is common in the UK, with one in five of the population living with some form of hearing impairment. Hearing aids (HAs) provide a partial solution to the problem, but the performance of the HA when the wearer is in a noisy environment is often lower than expected, because of a poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
One of the best strategies used for improving the SNR is a directional microphone (DM), which provides reduced sensitivity for sounds from behind and to the side of the listener. Modern developments have resulted in two HAs being able to communicate with each other and improve this directional sensitivity (referred to as binaural beamforming, BB). In laboratory settings BB reveals significant benefit in speech intelligibility in noise, but this is not reflected in the patient reported outcomes. Why is there a discrepancy between these two measures on BB performance and how may this inform device/software design? Through simulation (headphones) and more realistic means (loudspeakers), measures of spatial hearing performance of HA users, using different DM settings, will be investigated. This gives Improved intelligence on barriers to BB benefits and target improved performance of HAs users in complex listening environments.
Informal scholarship enquiries from applicants to prospective supervisors – prior to the application deadline – are warmly encouraged; please direct these to the relevant member/s of faculty staff.
Requirements
- Research Field
- Other
- Education Level
- Bachelor Degree or equivalent
- Research Field
- Medical sciences
- Education Level
- Bachelor Degree or equivalent
Candidates must hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level and a master’s degree. Alternatively, applicants with a UK first class honours degree (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University) not holding a master’s degree, will be considered on an individual basis. Please note that you may need to provide evidence of your English Language proficiency.
Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK rate only, as defined by UKCISA regulations.
Additional Information
This scholarship covers the full cost of UK tuition fees and an annual stipend of £18,622.
Additional research expenses will also be available.
Candidates must hold an Upper Second Class (2.1) honours degree. If you are eligible to apply for the scholarship (i.e. a student who is eligible to pay the UK rate of tuition fees) but do not hold a UK degree, you can check our comparison entry requirements. Please note that you may need to provide evidence of your English Language proficiency.
Alternatively, applicants with a UK first class honours degree (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University) not holding a master’s degree, will be considered on an individual basis.
Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK rate only, as defined by UKCISA regulations.
Please visit our website for more information.
- Website for additional job details
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available
- 1
- Company/Institute
- Swansea University
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Geofield
Where to apply
- Website
Contact
- State/Province
- Swansea
- City
- Swansea
- Website
- Street
- Singleton Park
- Postal Code
- SA2 8PP