With its support to scientific, medical and social research in the hearing field, Fondation Pour l’Audition aims to stimulate the development of new approaches, to promote multidisciplinary research and, more broadly, to implement innovations in the daily practice and improve hearing health in the short or medium term.
The call for FPA Hearing Innovation Chairs will enable the launch of innovative projects in the field of hearing. They will be awarded to new teams wishing to establish or individualize themselves within French laboratories or research centers in academic, clinical and public research institutions. Applications from researchers outside the hearing field are encouraged.
TOPICS
FPA wishes to support specific and important research topics underrepresented in France and only research projects with relevance to the list below will be considered for funding this year:
- Identification of biomarkers for hearing Loss
- Network medicine applied to hearing
- Communication / Acoustics (Neuro-ethological approaches, Non-conventional animal models, Artificial intelligence applied to inclusive communication technology, Virtual reality, Building acoustics)
- Deafness linked to occupational exposure other than noise
- New experimental models to facilitate research in hearing loss
- Biomimetics
- Innovative signal processing
- Human cochlear organoids as a model to understand hearing loss
- Hair cell regeneration
- Imaging (Improved inner ear, Auditory processing, Functional brain imaging)
- Inflammatory infectious, auto-immune diseases of the ear
- Middle-ear pathologies and/or malformations (Chronic ear diseases)
- Neural coding & processing / brain function (Development of auditory circuits, Impact of early vs. late hearing loss in brain function, Experience-dependent effects on auditory circuit maturation/function, Descending pathways and their effects on hearing sensitivity and perception, Development of normal auditory function/neurodevelopmental disorders)
- Social sciences and Epidemiology (Social and psychosocial impacts of hearing loss, Health behaviour change, Stigma and hearing loss, Impacts of hearing loss on others or in the work place, Expert patient, Epidemiology studies, Role of social environment)
- Inclusion (Pedagogical training; Game design; Therapeutic education in deafness)
- Surgical innovations (except robotic surgery and cochlear implantation)
Funding
The overall budget of the 2024 call for applications is set to 1 million Euros for 4 years for 2 chairs. Each project will be funded 125,000 Euros per year.
The progress to the projects will be evaluated by the FPA Scientific Committee, which decides on the continuation of support year after year.
Eligibility
The Chair grants are awarded to French public or nonprofit academic, clinical and public research institutions.
The chairholder candidate must hold or will seek a full-time faculty appointment (position equivalent to assistant professor or higher) at the host institution. The chairholder candidate is expected to be PhD, MD or MD/PhD + 3 years minimum.
Candidates are ineligible for funding if they hold an active FPA award at the launch of the call. Research teams from IHU reConnect/Institut de l'Audition and from the Centres de Recherche en Audiologie are ineligible for funding. Also, projects involving a member of the FPA Scientific Committee or Board of Directors and his/her laboratory are not eligible for an FPA research grant.
Selection process
The call for applications is organized in five stages:
- Submission of a letter of intent reviewed by the FPA Scientific Commitee.
- Submission of a full proposal if invited by the FPA Scientific Committee.
- Interview of the shortlisted candidates.
- Selection of full proposals by the FPA Scientific Committee
- Approval of the FPA Board of Directors.
Submit an application
To apply to the call for applications, download the relevant form below. No other form will be accepted. The policies and guidelines of the call for applications are available at the end of the document.
CONTACT
Tel : +33 1 55 78 20 10
