Development of the Oldenburg Branch Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA

Together with the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK), the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has developed an expansion plan for the Oldenburg Branch Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA in order to transfer the working group into an independent Fraunhofer Institute for Hearing, Speech and Neurotechnology HSN. To this end, Prof. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, and Björn Thümler, former Minister for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Hannover Messe on 2 April 2019.

In September 2022, the Oldenburg Branch HSA will receive a comprehensive financial package thanks to a strategic agreement for the expansion of Fraunhofer locations in Lower Saxony. This ensures a long-term perspective for the expansion of the location.

The further development of the Oldenburg Branch was funded from November 01 2019 until October 31 2025 by the Ministry of Science and Culture of the German State of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation within the »Vorab« program.

Building on the existing work, the Oldenburg Branch for Hearing, Speech and Audio Technology HSA will be further developed. In particular, the areas of Connected Health, Neurotechnology, The Hearing Car, HSN4Production, Voice Enabled Devices and Personalized Hearing Systems will be expanded and developed into a portfolio with unique selling points.