In July 2022, DTU Health Tech hosted the 14th Mechanics of Hearing Workshop (MOH) at Konventum in Helsingør.
“...you should know that I found this to be the most helpful conference of my entire academic career. Also, it was the most fun and had the best food :)”
Participant at the Mechanics of Hearing Workshop 2022
The main driving force behind the conference, Associate Professor Bastian Epp from the Hearing Systems Section (Auditory Physics Group), DTU Health Tech, collaborated with co-host Wei Dong, Associate Research Professor at Loma Linda University, California, USA, to organize the conference.
“It was a great honor to be given the chance to host this prestigious conference – and a great example of international collaboration to have it implemented. It was incredibly motivating to provide a frame for the most profiled researchers in this field to come to Denmark,” Associate Professor Bastian Epp says.
An interdisciplinary field
"...you should know that I found this to be the most helpful conference of my entire academic career. Also, it was the most fun and had the best food :)"
Participant at the Mechanics of Hearing Workshop 2022
The conference attracted more than 120 participants from all over the world. The common goal was to utilize new insights from mathematical modeling, imaging, physiology, and nonlinear dynamic systems to tackle the increasing global challenge of hearing impairment. During the five conference days, the participants discussed across borders of scientific disciplines to shed light onto the sense of hearing.
Besides basic questions emerging from physiology, the conference included contributions on recent translational and technological developments in the field, merging biology with machine learning and imaging applied towards novel health technology.
“The interdisciplinary spirit that emerged naturally from the discussions showed clearly that the future in (hearing-) healthcare lies beyond the borders of classically defined disciplines. The dialogue among fields and between basic science and clinical implementation is essential for making progress for the benefit of the hearing impaired,” Bastian Epp clarifies.
During the conference, the community awarded Prof. Anthony Gummer (University of Tübingen, Germany) for his lifetime achievements and contributions to the field.
Support for early stage researchers
A very important part of the MOH workshop was to provide an opportunity for early career stage researchers to get integrated in the community. The hope and expectation of the conference is that it will open-up for the important ideas that will enable the young researchers to make big impact in the years to come.
The generous support from our sponsors made it possible to support more than 30 international early career researchers: #NovoNordiskFonden, #WilliamDemantFonden, #GNStoreNordFonden, #Google, #Head-Genuit- Stiftung, #CarlsbergFonden, #NationalInstitueOfHealth, #METARealityLabsResearch, #THORLabs
Besides the scientific part, the conference was followed by the internationally acknowledged Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard. Jacob created, among others, a piece about sound emitted from the ear – a phenomenon in the focus of many ongoing research projects worldwide.
“Denmark has a strong history in both arts and science. Jacob approaches the mystery of hearing from an artistic point of view – but with the same goal – to understand the process of hearing. His contribution to the workshop opened a truly unique angle on the topic that the researchers dedicated their professional life to. His work added a unique layer to this workshop and nicely exemplifies the qualities of Denmark and the potential of collaboration and interdisciplinarity,” Bastian Epp says.
Hearing is complex
The focus of this years’ workshop was the role of nonlinearity in hearing. The presentation of Prof. Mogens Høgh Jensen (Niels Bohr Institute) showed how phenomena found in nonlinear dynamic systems are present in biological systems - and how big their potential is in future healthcare applications.
“Mogens’ presentation added yet another angle on how we can understand hearing. He encouraged me to continue and use recent findings in physics to explain the outstanding properties of the sense of hearing. We can continuously go beyond the current state-of-the-art – by being open minded and by learning from each other across fields. This is what the Mechanics of Hearing Workshop once more embodied,” Bastian Epp concludes.
“Thank you (and your team) once again for a great conference. I was really looking forward to it, and it exceeded my expectation in every respect. “
“it really was a magnificent workshop, a real credit to you. Thank you.”
“Thanks again for the amazing conference! It was incredibly helpful and fun.”
“Thank you again for the wonderful wonderful conference in Copenhagen. I am in love with the city and Denmark now. :) “
“I left Denmark wanting to live there. Impressive country. “