Research possibilities

We currently offer the following possibility for research in our labs for students:

1.MatLab experienced students: research on cortical oscillatory phenomena in hearing and deaf that investigate the ability to integrate sensory stimuli into ongoing cortical processing. We develop method to study functional coupling of neurons, focusing currently on functional connectivity measures. The goal is to understand the role of hearing in the development of the brain‘s function.
2.MatLab experienced students: Analysis of µCT images of the cochlea contributing to our cochlear models for cochlear implantation surgery. Given that human cochlea is highly variable and the present imaging techniques do not reveal all details of the individual cochlea, the role of the models in surgery is cardinal.
3.MatLab experienced students: Analysis of MRT images of the brain of hearing and deaf animals. The goal is to understand the role of hearing in the development of the brain‘s anatomy.
4.No MatLab experience required, but helpful: Human studies on EEG responses of cochlear-implanted children and adults. The goal is to develop methods to understand the contribution of the brain to the outcomes of cochlear implantation.
5.Medical students (ca. 1 year duration), students of biology, no MatLab experience required: Analysis of histological sections of cerebral cortex stained with different antibody staining in hearing and deaf animals. Sections already available. We currently focus in the role of hearing for morphology of non-auditory structures in the brain (yes, it plays a role e.g. for memory functions).
6.Medical students (ca. 1 year duration), no MatLab experience required: Analysis of ABR responses of experimental animals. One topic relates to single-sided animals where we already reported cortical changes and want here to establish the extend of reorganization in the brainstem. The goal is to understand the contribution of brainstem to the aural preference syndrome that we previously suggested.
7.In vivo experiments, no MatLab experience required: Research on development of central auditory prostheses. Inferior colliculus or auditory cortex recordings, depending on the existing experiments in the team.
8.In vivo experiments Research on electrical stimulation of the inner ear with our industry partners.
9.Interested students are also welcome to suggest their topic of interest that fits to our research topics.

Please send a CV and other relevant personal documents to Prof. A. Kral, together with the topics of interest.

Possibilities for Graduation
& PhD programs

We are an international team of many young scientists with profound experiences in electrophysiology in vivo research, EEG and signal processing, integrated into a cluster of excellence of the DFG Hearing4All. We are working on topics that are of high significance for both clinical and scientific community. Large research facilities of the Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology with more than 1800 m2 fully-equipped lab space including wet neurophysiology labs (recording systems from Neuralynx and Alpha-Omega, up to 256 recording channels), human electrophysiology (high-densitiy EEG, 128 channel, Brain Amps System), computational neuroscience, molecular biology, histology, material research on cochlear implants labs can be utilized for research. Keyence histology analysis system for flourescence imaging and a STED/confocal microscope are available for histological analysis. Among our team we have experts on in vivo neuroscience, signal processing, neurophysiological data analysis, computer modelling and MatLab programming in our team.

Teaching is concentrated on the auditory system (PhD programs), but possibility for involvement in teaching at the medical faculty are given if requested.

We are involved in the MD and Dr.rer.nat. program of Medical University Hannover, PhD programs „Auditory Sciences“ and „Systems Neurosciences“.