PHD STUDENT POSITION (F/M/X)

Job ID: ISF163DOC223
The Acoustics Research Institute (ARI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Austria’s leading nonuniversity
research facility, undertakes top-level research in auditory cognitive neuroscience, psychoacoustics and
experimental audiology, phonetics, bioacoustics, physical and computational acoustics, mathematics and signal
processing as well as machine learning in acoustics. The institute is offering a

PHD STUDENT POSITION (F/M/X)
(full time, 40h per week)

within the framework H2020 / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network "CherISH: Cochlear Implants and
Spatial Hearing" (Grant Agreement 101120054).
You can find a more detailed project description here: https://cherish.jhdm.de/project-2/
The OeAW leads the project Nr.6: Neural basis and learning transferabilities of spatial hearing abilities. This PhD
project investigates the neural plasticity through sound localization training and its transferability to important
real-life situations such as to detect danger signals like looming objects and to selectively attend to spatially
separated sources in multi-speaker environments. Comparisons will be made between normal-hearing and
bilateral CI listeners.
The PhD student will be supervised by Dr. Robert Baumgartner at the OeAW. Prof. Ulrich Ansorge will act as PhD
advisor at the University of Vienna.

Requirements:
We welcome applications from Doctoral Researcher candidates fulfilling the following criteria:
• Not having already received a PhD or equivalent degree by any institution;
• Must hold a 2nd Level Master Degree in life sciences (neuroscience, neuropsychology, neurobiology),
psychology or cognitive science, engineering (biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, audio
engineering) or closely related fields;
• Can be of any nationality but must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in
Austria for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date;
• Must also be eligible to work in Austria according to regulations (e.g. visa requirements), and also to
travel/work in other European countries for collaborations/secondments and trainings;
• Must be available to enroll full-time in the PhD program at the University of Vienna early Sept 2024;
• Being proficient in English and German (a minimum of B2 level or equivalent is desirable) and agreeing to use
the English language both for work and for any other official matter, including the selection process;
• Agreeing to undertake the PhD training program associated to this position, in case they are selected;
• Agreeing to move to Vienna for the entire duration of the contract, in case they are selected;
• Agreeing to travel for the 2 secondments (6 weeks each) planned at project partners (other countries);

A solid scientific background will be required, if possible, closely related to the neurophysiology and psychology
of hearing. Adequate competences are required in neurophysiological/psychological experimenting,
programming, signal processing, and statistical data analysis. Previous experience with EEG and eyetracking is
beneficial.

The PhD candidate will work with patients with hearing impairments. It is important to be sensitive to their
limitations and needs and to develop empathy towards them. To communicate with the patients well,
sufficient German language skills are needed. Additional Hungarian language skills are a plus as they would
enable the candidate to also run experiments during a 6-week secondment to Budapest.

The idea of the training network is to advance one's own project in cooperation with other scientists. It is therefore
crucial that the PhD candidate can work efficiently both independently and in a team.

The position is a 3-year full-time employment contract, enrolled in a PhD program. The annual gross salary is €
46.142,46 in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement of the OeAW. As per MSCA regulations for
Doctoral Researchers, the salary additionally includes a mobility, and family allowance (if applicable).

Application Process
Candidates should send a CV (including publications if any); 1-page motivation letter, and 2 or 3 recommendation
letters, all compiled as a single PDF attachment by e-mail to Robert Baumgartner
(robert.baumgartner@oeaw.ac.at) no later than 30th April 2024 – 17:00 (CET).
As subject of the email, please write “CherISH- PhD candidate application – Project DC6”. He can also be
contacted for informal inquiries and questions. Applications must be in English. Each applicant can apply to a
maximum of three individual research projects within the Doctoral network CherISH.
Further information about the application process can also be found here:
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/159007

The Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) pursues a non-discriminatory employment policy and values equal opportunities,
as well as diversity. Individuals from underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to apply.