Auditory seminars


You are invited to the auditory seminars at the Otorhinolaryngology Department of University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen. Please see the schedule below. The talks are in English and take place at the University Medical Center Groningen, and online participation is possible.  BCN and BME master students receive course credit (EC), and Dutch audiologists continuing education credit for participation.

If you would like to sign up for the e-mail list and be updated on the upcoming talks, please send an e-mail to drs Kateryna Skupovska: k.skupovska@rug.nl

We gratefully acknowledge contributions from:
BCN – Research School of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences
Cochlear – Cochlear implants
Advanced Bionics – Cochlear implants
MED-EL – Cochlear implants
Oticon – Hearing aids

Program 2025 – 2026

Program 2024

20 November 2024, 13:30
An auditory seminar on robots and audiology

  • Dr. Fokie Cnossen
    Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
    “Human-centred robotics”
  • Prof. Deborah Vickers
    Cambridge University
    “Spatial hearing training using virtual reality games for young bilateral cochlear implant users: The BEARS approach”
  • Prof. Praminda Caleb-Solley
    University of Nottingham
    “Sensing for change: The opportunities and challenges for embodied AI to realise safe and adaptive assistive robots”
  • Dr. ir. Luke Meyer
    Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen
    “Investigating the feasibility of a NAO robot in audiology”

11 July 2024, 09:00
Dr. Sanne Moorman
Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences
Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen
“A birdsong perspective on neural and behavioral mechanisms for auditory-vocal processing”

18 June 2024, 14:00
Dr. Francesco Ganis
Aalborg University
“Enhancing Musical Experiences for Children with Diverse Hearing Abilities Using Vibrotactile Feedback and Interactive Training Tools “

18 April 2024, 11:00
Dr. Martijn Agterberg
Radboud University Medical Center
“Binaural Hearing”

11 April 2024, 09:00
Prof. Laurel Carney
Marylou Ingram Professor in Biomedical Engineering
Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, USA
“From the Ear to the Brain and Back: Rethinking the Neural Code for Sound”

14 March 2024, 09:00
Prof. Arnaud Norena
Aix Marseille Université
“Sensory illusions in the auditory system: putative mechanisms”

18 January 2024, 10:00
Prof. Evelien Dirks
NSDSK, and Tillburg University
“Early development and intervention in children with hearing loss”

Program 2023

16 November 2023, 09:00
Dr. Alina Schulte
Eriksholm Research Center, Denmark and Hannover Medical School, Germany
“How vibrotactile speech input can enhance speech intelligibility and the exploration of its neural  correlates”

7 November 2023, 10:00
Prof. Jeffrey R. Holt
Professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Professor of Neurology,
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
“Function, dysfunction and restoration of mechanotransduction channels in auditory hair cells”

5 October 2023, 14:00
Prof. Aaron Wong
Department of Neuroscience Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
“Hearing more than sound: Understanding multisensory integration in the inferior colliculus”

1 September 2023, 13:00

  • Dr. Maartje Hendrikse
    Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, The Netherlands
    “Development of virtual reality scenes for clinical use with hearing device fine- tuning”
  • Dr. ir. Gertjan Dingemanse
    Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Erasmus MC, The Netherlands
    “Evaluation of a new VR-based hearing device fine-tuning procedure”

30 May 2023, 14:00

  • Prof. Monita Chatterjee
    Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, United States
    “Perceiving & producing lexical tones/emotional prosody with cochlear implants: Emerging ideas and unproven hypotheses”
  • Prof. Karen Gordon
    The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
    “Unilateral deprivation in children is not a “minimal” hearing loss: Evidence from measures of brain plasticity”

Program 2022

29 November 2022, 15:00
Dr. Inge Stegeman and Dr. Diane Smit
University Medical Center Utrecht, Dept. of Otorhinolaryngology
“Facts and figures in tinnitus research: results from epidemiological studies”

17 November 2022, 09:00
Prof. Sonja A. Kotz
Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University
“Heard but not present: Pathophysiology of prediction and adaptation”

16 June 2022, 15:30
Dr. Marcel van der Heijden
Erasmus MC, Rotterdam
“Cochlear mechanics: new techniques, new questions”

Program 2021

11 November 2021, 09:00
Prof. Bernhard Laback
Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), Vienna, Austria
“Binaural Hearing with Cochlear Implants”

4 March 2021, 15:00
Prof. Amanda M. Lauer
Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
“Activity-dependent changes in auditory afferent and efferent brainstem pathways”

Program 2020

5 November 2020, 15:00
Prof. Raymond van der Berg
KNO Arts / Maastricht UMC
“Restoring vestibular function using a vestibular implant”

Program 2019

20 September 2019, 14:00
Dr. Laura Rachman
UMCG, Afdeling KNO
“The influence of speaker identity and language familiarity on emotional speech processing”

20 June 2019, 12:30

  • Prof. Dave Moore
    Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, University of Cincinnati, USA
    “Benefits of Extended High Frequency Hearing (EHF)”
  • Prof. Lisa Hunter
    Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, University of Cincinnati, USA
    “Effects of Ototoxicity and Otitis Media on EHF Hearing”

12 April 2019, 14:00
Dr. Gerard Encina-Llamas
Hearing Systems group, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
“Investigating cochlear synaptopathy with envelope following responses“

29 March 2019
Dr. Thomas Koelewijn
UMCG, KNO
“The effect of attention and reward on the pupil dilation response during speech processing in noise”

Program 2018

09 November 2018, 13:30
Prof. Rebecca Schaefer
Leiden University
“Musical rhythm perception and movement: Neural, cognitive and kinematic findings”

22 June 2018, 10:00
Dr. John Galvin
House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA
“The degree and time course of benefit for cochlear implantation for patients with single-sided deafness depends on the point of reference”

25 May 2018, 10:00
Prof. Ed Lalor
Lalor Lab for Computational Cognitive Neurophysiology, University of Rochester Medical Centre, NY, US
School of Engineering, Trinity Centre for Bioengineering and
Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Dublin, IE
“The effects of attention and visual input on noninvasive electrophysiological indices of natural speech processing at different hierarchical levels”

05 April 2018, 13:00
The Auditory/Epigenetics Seminar
Prof. Marianne Rots
Professor of Molecular Epigenetics, UMCG
“Cellular Reprogramming by Epigenetic Engineering”

06 February 2018, 14:00
Dr. Jane Opie
Sr. Research Audiologist, MED-EL
“Age-Related Hearing Loss and Cochlear Implants: Trends, Benefits and Challenges”

26 January 2018, 14:00
Dr. Patrick Boyle
Senior Director, Global Research, Advanced Bionics
“Advanced Bionics: From front to back”

19 January 2018, 14:00
Dr. Carlos Trenado
Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, University Hospital Düsseldorf & Dept. of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Technical University Dortmund, Germany
“Corticothalamic feedback dynamics for attention and habituation and its application in tinnitus decompensation”

Program 2016

16 November 2016, 16:00 
Prof. Jordi Llorens
Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona
“Role of hair cell loss and synaptic uncoupling in vestibular dysfunction after ototoxic exposure” 

25 October 2016
SYMPOSIUM: The future of cochlear implantation: engaging top-down and bottom-up brain mechanisms. The symposium is organized to celebrate the three PhD defenses by Galvin, Fuller, and Pals, to be held on 24 and 26 October. 

  • prof. Astrid van Wieringen (KU Leuven, Belgium)
    “Cochlear implants in children with single sided deafness”
  • prof. Mary Rudner (Linköping Univ, Sweden)
    “Auditory semantic illusions and their relation to cognition”
  • prof. Monita Chatterjee (BTNRH, Omaha, USA)
    “Voice emotion communication by children with cochlear implants” 
  • dr. Carina Pals (UMCG, Netherlands)
    “Listening effort: what speech perception tests do not reveal” 
  • prof. Christian Lorenzi (ENS, France)
    “Assessment of processing efficiency for elderly normal-  hearing and hearing-impaired listeners via measures of temporal integration of AM cues”
  • prof. Johan Frijns (Leiden UMC, Netherlands)
    “Improving cochlear implant performance: What can we learn from modelling the periphery?”
  • Dr. John Galvin (UMCG, Netherlands)
    “Multi-channel psychophysics”
  • prof. Andy Faulkner (UCL, UK)
    “Pitch perception, production and links to language development in primary school  children with cochlear implants”
  • prof. Qian-Jie Fu (UCLA, CA, USA)
    “Tone perception in cochlear implant users” 
  • prof. Bob Shannon (USC, CA, USA)
    “The role of ear and brain in hearing: Insights from auditory implants” 
  • drs. Christina Fuller (UMCG, Netherlands)
    “The effect of music on auditory perception in normal-hearing listeners and cochlear-implant users”

09 September 2016, 14:00
Prof. Jannis Hildebrandt
Dept. Neuroscience, University of Oldenburg, Multimodal Language and Cognition Group (Radboud), and Psycholinguistics (MPI)
“Functional consequences of age-related changes to inhibition in auditory cortex:  electrophysiological, behavioural and histological evidence” 

24 June 2016, 14:00
Prof. Hannie Kremer
Radboud UMC Nijmegen
“The auditory system, a fine-tuned sensory system molecularly unraveled through deafness” 

8 April 2016, 10:00 
Prof. Deborah Vickers
UCL Ear Institute, UK
“Singing training to nurture development of pitch perception and production in hearing-impaired children”

29 January 2016, 14:00
Prof. Aslı Özyürek
Multimodal Language and Cognition Group (Radboud), and Psycholinguistics (MPI)
“Giving speech a hand:  A multimodal view on language processing”

Program 2015

29 May 2015, 13:30
Dr. Bob Carlyon
MRC Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK
“Biological Bases of Pitch Perception by Cochlear Implant Users” 

22 May 2015, 14:30
Prof. Kevin Munro
School of Psychological Sciences
University of Manchester, UK
“Experience-related changes in the adult human auditory system”

17 April 2015, 14:00
Prof. Dr. Tobias Moser
Inner Ear Lab, Department of Otolaryngology
University Medical Center, Göttingen, Germany
“Sound Encoding: From Molecular Physiology to Optogenetic Prosthetics” 

23 January 2015, 14:00
Prof. Astrid van Wieringen
K.U. Leuven, Belgium
“What can we expect of normally-developing children implanted at a young age with respect to their auditory, linguistic and cognitive skills?”

Program 2014

27 November 2014, 14:00
Prof. Sven van Neste
University of Texas, Dallas, USA
“Robbed of silence by tinnitus: How the brain as network is involved in tinnitus?” 

12 September 2014, 14:00
Dr. Alexis Hervais-Adelman
Functional Brain Mapping Lab, University of Geneva, Switzerland
“fMRI of simultaneous interpretation reveals the brain networks of extreme language control” 

2 September 2014, 13:30
Prof. Karen Steel, Recipient of the 2014 Guyot Prize
King’s College London, UK
“Clues to the causes of deafness from mouse mutants” 

30 June 2014, 14:00
Prof. Tim Jürgens
Oldenburg
“A model of speech intelligibility in cochlear implant users” 

23 June 2014, 14:00
Prof. Andrew  Oxenham
University of Minnesota, USA
“The role of temporal envelope and fine structure in speech perception via acoustic and electric hearing” 

13 June 2014, 14:00
Prof. Antje Heinrich
MRC Institute of Hearing Research, Nottingham, UK
“The complex relationship between signal, environment and listener: What r-resonances can tell us about the listening strategies of young and old, native and non-native listeners for speech in noise” 

09 May 2014, 14:00
Prof. Anne Cutler
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen
The MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney
“Vocabulary statistics influence how listeners listen” 

07 March 2014, 14:00
Prof. John Nerbonne
reporting on joint work with Dr. Martijn Wieling and Dr. Eliza Margaretha
CLCG, Groningen & FRIAS, Freiburg
“A Structuralist Contribution to Phonetic Quality” 

17 January 2014, 14:00
Prof. David Baguley
University of Cambridge, UK
“Current Perspectives on Hyperacusis”

10 January 2014, 14:00
Prof. Geoffrey A. Manley
Carl von Ossietzky – University Oldenburg
“Where our ears came from: Evolutionary paths to mammalian cochleae”

Program 2013

12 December 2013, 10:30
Prof. Tim Griffiths
University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
“Disorders of Auditory Cognition” 

04 October 2013, 14:00
Prof. Chris Plack
The University of Manchester, UK
“Hidden Hearing Loss: A Major Public Health Issue?” 

19 April 2013, 14:00
Dr. Ali Nachman
Children’s Hospital & Research Center, Oakland, USA
“Retrocochlear hearing loss in infants:  A Case Study of Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma” 

15 March 2013, 14:00
Prof. med. Berthold Langguth
Tinnituszentrums Universität Regensburg, Germany
“Neuroplastic changes in tinnitus: findings from neuroimaging and brain stimulation” 

26 February 2013, 14:00
Dr. Christian Füllgrabe
MRC Institute of Hearing Research, Nottingham, UK
“Speech perception across the adult lifespan with clinically normal hearing” 

01 February 2013, 14:00
Prof. David Moore
Institute in Hearing Research, Nottingham
“Auditory processing and auditory attention: a rational to the diagnosis and management of auditory processing disorders” 

11 January 2013, 14:00
prof. Dicky Gilbers
Linguistics, RUG
“Structural similarities in language and music” 

08 January 2013, 15:00
Prof. Jan Wouters
Experimental Otorhinolaryngology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
“Enhanced temporal coding in auditory prostheses can lead to improved speech perception”

Program 2012

14 December 2012, 14:00
Prof. Anthony T. Cacace
Wayne State University, USA
“Expanding the biological basis of tinnitus: A personal perspective on imaging tinnitus-related phenomena and treatments” 

23 November 2012, 14:00
Prof. Emmanuel Mylanus
UMC St. Radboud, Nijmegen
“Does a second cochlear implant provide added value?” 

19 October 2012, 9:30-16:00
Perceptual Cognitive Neurosciences (BCN-PCN) announces: Groningen – Oldenburg Research Seminar 

Speakers: 

  • Prof. Steven van de Par, Oldenburg 
  • Drs. Dirkjan Krijnders, INCAS3, Assen 
  • Prof. Bernhard Laback, Vienna 
  • Prof. Nomdo Jansonius, UMCG 
  • Dr. Tjeerd Andringa, RUG 
  • Prof. Christiane Thiel, Oldenburg 
  • Prof. Hans-Gerd Nothwang, Oldenburg 
  • Prof. Pim van Dijk, UMCG 

25 September 2012, 13:00 

  • Prof. Bob Shannon
    House Research Institute, USA
    “New developments in Auditory Brainstem Implants” 
  • Dr. Lendra Friesen
    University of Toronto, Canada
    “CAEPs and cochlear implants” 

18 September 2012, 14:30
Dr. Diane Lazard
Ecole Normale Supérieure, France
“Prediction of cochlear implant outcome in post-lingual deaf adults: From clinical factors to cerebral reorganization” 

11 June 2012, 10:00
Dr. Bill Woods
Starkey Hearing Research Center
“Assessing auditive and cognitive influences on speech reception in a complex scenario” 

08 June 2012, 14:00    
Prof. Fatima Hussain
Univ. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“BCN MASTER CLASS: Imaging noise: Research at the intersection of hearing, aging, and disorder” 

15 May 2012, 9:30
Dr. Etienne Gaudrain
MRC, Cambridge, UK
“Temporal coherence in concurrent speech perception”

20 April 2012, 14:00     
Prof. Kate Gfeller
University of Iowa
“Cochlear implants and relations between music and speech recognition” 

09 March 2012, 14:00
Prof. Marlies Knipper
University of Tübingen
“BCN MASTER CLASS: Molecular aspects of tinnitus” 

13 January 2012, 14:00
Prof. Birger Kollmeier
Carl von Ossietzky – Univ. Oldenburg
“Processing limits in cocktail parties: Modeling sensory and cognitive aspects of speech intelligibility in complex listening environments for normal and hearing-impaired listeners”

Program 2011

16 December 2011, 14:00   
Dr. Deborah Hall
University Nottingham
“Maximising patient benefit from tinnitus research” 

11 November 2011, 14:00         
Prof. Julie Arenberg
University of Washington
“Implications of cochlear implant electrode – neuron interfaces” 

10 November 2011, 14:00     
Dr. Steve Bierer
University of Washington
“Finding a balance: Design and testing of a vestibular prosthesis based on cochlear implant technology” 

24 October 2011, 14:00
Prof. John Middlebrooks
University of California, Irvine
“Spatial hearing for complex auditory scenes” 

07 October 2011, 14:00
Prof. Laurel Carney
University of Rochester
“Behavioral and physiological studies of amplitude-modulation detection” 

19 September 2011, 13:00
Prof. Corne Kros
University of Sussex 

“Aminoglycoside antibiotics and the hair cell mechanotransducer channel: opportunities for otoprotection” 

10 June 2011, 14:00    
Prof. Lars Riecke
University of Maastricht
“Neural correlates of auditory continuity” 

13 May 2011, 14:00     
Prof. Chris Plack
The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
“Human pitch perception: New insights from psychophysics and neuroimaging” 

06 May 2011, 14:00     
Prof. Russ Snyder
Univ. California, San Francisco, USA
“Intraneural auditory prostheses: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” 

2 May 2011, 16:00     
Prof. Monita Chatterjee
University of Maryland, USA
“Voice pitch processing with cochlear implants: Prosody and more” 

01 April 2011, 14:00     
Prof. Richard Salvi
University of Buffalo, USA
“Phantom sound of tinnitus, hippocampal stem cells, memory & therapy” 

11 March 2011, 14:00    
Prof. Josef P. Rauschecker
Georgetown University Washington DC, USA
“Tutorial workshop: Limbic-auditory interactions in tinnitus” 

14 January 2011, 14:30        
Prof. Wouter Dreschler
Amsterdam Medical Center
“Prevention of noise-induced hearing loss”

Program 2010

19 November 2010, 14:00
Prof. Christine Köppl
Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
“Evolution of the auditory efferent system in vertebrates” 

05 November 2010, 14:00
Dr. Folkert Seeba
Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
“Perceptual restoration in birds and frogs” 

22 October 2010, 14:00         
Prof. Ben Maassen
University of Groningen
“Auditory event-related potentials (AERPs): Studies in children at risk of dyslexia and speech disorders” 

7 September 2010, 14:00         
Prof. Jim Hudspeth
Rockefeller University, New York
“Tutorial workshop: Making an effort to listen” 

24 June 2010
Prof. Bob Shannon
House Ear Institute, USA
“Electric stimulation of the human cochlea, brainstem, and midbrain: Insights into ear-brain interactions” 

25 May 2010, 15:00
Prof. Kathy Pichora-Fuller
University of Toronto, Canada
“Auditory aging and speech processing: Differentiating sub-types of presbycusis” 

30 March 2010, 15:00
Prof. Jos Eggermont
University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
“Neural correlates of hyperacusis” 

1 March 2010, 14:00         
Prof. Sophia Kramer
VU University Medical Center Amsterdam
“Psychological, social and cognitive correlates of hearing impairment”

Program 2009

17 November 2009, 15:00
Dr. Tibor Zelles
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest
“Investigating cochlear function in vitro”