Here are the 19 Phd Proyects
Nineteen Doctoral Candidates form the heart of VoCS. Each is embedded in a host institution with a supervisory team and planned secondments across the network.
DC1 · Dorottya Szilvia Rácz
University of Oslo
Dorottya Szilvia Rácz graduated from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary with a Master’s in Biology, specialising in Neuroscience. She has been working in the field of comparative neuroimaging since her undergraduate studies and has gained experience conducting fMRI and EEG experiments with dogs, humans and wild boars.
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Project title: Neural processing of affective voice signals in mammals.
Project description:
Using a comparative approach, her PhD project investigates the neural processing of different emotional states across species and examines how this processing is shaped by genetic relatedness, experience with a species’ vocalisations, or by sensory prosthetics.
Supervisors:
Sascha Frühholz
Email: sascha.fruhholz@psykologi.uio.no
Address: Forskningsveien 3A, Harald Schjelderups hus, 0373 Oslo.
Planned secondments:
- Dr. Attila Andics, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary — September 2025 to May 2026.
- Dr. Dorothea Wendt, Eriksholm Research Center, Denmark — Spring 2027, 2 months.
- Dr. Kasia Pisanski, Jean Monnet University, France — Autumn 2027, 1 month.
DC2 · Gard Beinnes
Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Marseille, France.
Gard Beinnes comes from Norway, where he studied psychology and cognitive neuroscience. During his Master’s at the University of Oslo, he investigated the neural decoding of alarm and avoidance information in affective human screams using functional MRI.
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Supervisors:
Dr. Thierry Chaminade
Aix-Marseille Université / Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, CNRS & AMU
Email: thierry.chaminade@univ-amu.fr
Address: Faculté de Médecine de la Timone – Bâtiment Neurosciences, 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 05, France.
Planned secondments:
- ODIA, Toulouse — likely in 2026.
- FSU Jena — likely in 2026.
DC3 · Rong Li
University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands.
Rong Li obtained her Master’s degree in Computational Linguistics with a minor in Neuroinformatics from the University of Zurich. Her research spans speech rhythm analysis, sign language synthesis, and multimodal bias detection using neural and language models. She is broadly interested in how affect and social meaning are encoded and perceived across spoken and visual modalities of communication.
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Supervisors:
Prof. Dr. Dirk Heylen
Professor, Human Media Interaction Group, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands.
Email: d.k.j.heylen@utwente.nl
Dr. Khiet Truong
Associate Professor, Centre for Language Studies / Centre for Language and Speech Technology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands, and Human Media Interaction Group, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands.
Email: k.p.truong@utwente.nl
Planned secondments:
- AudEERING GmbH, Germany — October 2026 to March 2027, to be confirmed.
- Maastricht University, Netherlands — September 2027 to January 2028, to be confirmed.
DC4 · Cornelia Veronika Pachner
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Cornelia Veronika Pachner holds a Master of Science in Psychology from the University of Graz. Her thesis focused on Interbrain Synchrony in Real and Virtual Environments. She was formerly part of the “Bilmath” — Bilingual Mathematic Learning — project for 2.5 years.
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Supervisors:
Dr. Attila Andics
Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Email: attila.andics@ttk.elte.hu
Planned secondments:
- Queen Mary University of London — months 17 to 20, hosted by Dr. Nadine Lavan.
- Cochlear France S.A.S., Toulouse — months 21 to 24, hosted by Dr. Chris James.
DC5 · Sophie Möller
Institute of Phonetics, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague.
Sophie Möller holds a BA in Language and Communication and an MA in Speech Science and Phonetics from the University of Marburg. During her studies, she focused on forensic phonetics and dialect variation, gaining experience in experimental voice research and casework-related analysis.
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Project title: Role of language familiarity in perceptual voice recognition.
Project description:
DC5 examines whether the Language Familiarity Effect — better voice recognition in known languages — changes for dialects. Perceptual and ASR analyses are used to study how experience shapes voice perception.
Supervisors:
Prof. Radek Skarnitzl
Charles University, Institute of Phonetics, Faculty of Arts.
Address: nám. Jana Palacha 2, 116 38 Praha 1, Czech Republic.
Email: Radek.Skarnitzl@ff.cuni.cz
Prof. Volker Dellwo
University of Zurich, Phonetics & Speech Sciences, Department of Computational Linguistics.
Address: Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
Email: volker.dellwo@uzh.ch
PD Dr. Elisa Pellegrino
University of Zurich, Phonetics & Speech Sciences, Department of Computational Linguistics.
Address: Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
Email: elisa.pellegrino@uzh.ch
Dr. Finnian Kelly
Oxford Wave Research Ltd.
Address: Bagley Croft, Hinksey Hill, Oxford OX1 5BS, United Kingdom.
Email: finnian@oxfordwaveresearch.com
Planned secondments:
- University of Zurich, Switzerland — Spring 2026, to be confirmed.
- Oxford Wave Research, United Kingdom — date to be coordinated with OWR.
DC6 · Sojeong Kwon
Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Marseille.
Sojeong Kwon studied Cognitive & Neuroscience and Korean Language for her Bachelor’s in Korea, then moved to Germany for her Master’s in Neuroscience. Her Master’s thesis focused on speech prosody, especially how temporal patterns in language influence comprehension. She is now based in France for her PhD in Neuroscience, focusing especially on personality traits in the voice.
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Project title: Giving Personality to AI Voices.
Project description:
This PhD project combines brain research and AI to understand how people perceive personality in voices. The goal is to use this knowledge to create synthetic voices that can express adjustable, realistic personality traits.
Supervisors:
Dr. Pascal Belin
Email: pascal.belin@univ-amu.fr
Dr. Junichi Yamagishi
Email: jyamagis@nii.ac.jp
Dr. Anil Alexander
Email: anil@oxfordwaveresearch.com
Planned secondments:
- National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, Japan — date undefined.
- Oxford Wave Research, Oxford, United Kingdom — date undefined.
DC7 · Ibrahim Vefa Arslan
Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany.
Ibrahim Vefa Arslan completed his Bachelor’s degree in Poland at SWPS University and his Master’s degree in Belgium at KU Leuven. He has worked with EEG/ERP, behavioral measures and computer mouse tracking methodology.
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Supervisors:
Prof. Stefan Schweinberger
Email: stefan.schweinberger@uni-jena.de
Dr. Christine Nussbaum
Email: christine.nussbaum@uni-jena.de
Institution: FSU Jena, Germany.
Planned secondments:
- University of Oslo, Oslo — Sascha Frühholz.
- Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona — Emma Rodero.
- Cochlear Ltd.
DC8 · Diego Belfiore
Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.
Diego Belfiore is 26 years old and from Rome, Italy. His academic journey started with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Psychology. During his Master’s, he studied Cognitive Science, specifically focusing on Cognitive Psychology and Machine Learning. He also worked on an Italian national radio station for more than seven years, hosting a show on contemporary music.
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Supervisors:
Emma Rodero
Email: emma.rodero@upf.edu
Planned secondments:
- ODIA, Toulouse, France — March to May 2026.
- Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France — April to June 2027.
DC9 · Lelia Erscoi
Computational Speech Group, School of Computing, University of Eastern Finland, UEF.
Lelia Erscoi is a researcher at the crossroads of artificial intelligence, human perception and ethics. She has a BSc in Artificial Intelligence from Radboud University and an MSc in Digital Sciences from Université Paris Cité. Her current work focuses on researching human interactions and evaluations of AI-generated content, such as synthetic speech, with the aim of using this insight to develop improved detection systems. Her expertise encompasses AI development, auditory neuroscience and immersive technologies, including the development of experimental and VR platforms for multimodal and clinical research. She aims to understand the societal contexts and impacts of new technologies to help create beneficial and inclusive AI systems.
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Project title: Human-in-the-loop Detection of Audio Deepfakes.
Supervisors:
Prof. Tomi Kinnunen
Computational Speech Group, School of Computing, University of Eastern Finland.
Address: Joensuu Tiedepuisto B335.
Email: tomi.kinnunen@uef.fi
Planned secondments:
- Year 1: Dr. Lauri Tavi, National Bureau of Investigation, Finland.
- Year 2: Prof. Junichi Yamagishi and Dr. Xin Wang, National Institute of Informatics, Japan.
- Year 3: Prof. Sascha Frühholz, University of Oslo.
DC10 · Grace Carrier
Eriksholm Research Centre, Copenhagen.
Grace Carrier has an academic background in psycholinguistics. After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Manchester, she studied an MPhil in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, where she researched the effect of noise on predictive language processing.
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Project title: Vocal cues predicting turn taking in interactive conversation.
Project description:
Her project aims to understand why individuals with hearing impairment struggle in conversation, focusing on turn-taking behaviour as a marker of communicative success.
Supervisors:
Niels Henrik Pontoppidan
Email: npon@eriksholm.com
Address: Rørtangvej 20, 3070 Snekkersten, Denmark.
Josefine Munch Sørensen
Email: jsnn@eriksholm.com
Address: Rørtangvej 20, 3070 Snekkersten, Denmark.
Khiet Truong
Email: k.p.truong@utwente.nl
University of Twente, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty Office.
Address: P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede.
Dirk Heylen
Email: d.k.j.heylen@utwente.nl
University of Twente, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty Office.
Address: P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede.
Planned secondments:
- University of Twente — Winter 2026.
- Pompeu Fabra University — Spring 2028.
DC11 · Xuehua Fu
Université de Lyon / Saint-Etienne.
Xuehua Fu holds an MSc in Computer Science from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, with a focus on designing interactive systems centered on sensory experiences. She has research experience in music technology, sound studies and human–computer interaction. Her work aims to bridge computing, cognitive science and design to explore how technology can support human well-being.
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Supervisors:
Dr. Katarzyna Pisanski
Email: kasiapisanski@gmail.com
Prof. David Reby
Email: david.reby@gmail.com
Address for both:
Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM UMR_S 1028, Université de Lyon / Saint-Etienne, Campus Métare, Bâtiment K, 21 rue du Dr. Paul Michelon, 42100 Saint-Etienne, France.
Planned secondments:
- University College London, Vocal Communication Laboratory, VocoLab — Prof. Carolyn McGettigan, London, United Kingdom, dates to be confirmed.
- Cochlear Inc. — Vallauris, France, dates to be confirmed.
DC12 · Mujtaba Hussain Razvi Syed
audEERING GmbH, Munich, Germany.
Mujtaba Hussain Razvi Syed is a researcher with a background in speech technology and machine learning, now focusing on vocal biomarkers for respiratory health. His previous work in ASR, speech signal processing and low-resource speech modeling has equipped him to explore how speech, cough and breathing sounds encode clinically relevant patterns. Through this project, he aims to develop robust, reliable, scalable and non-invasive methods for detecting and classifying respiratory diseases using everyday voice signals.
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Project title: Respiratory Diseases: Detection and Classification of Multiple Classes based on Vocal Cues.
Project description:
His project focuses on analysing speech, cough and breathing sounds to uncover subtle vocal biomarkers linked to respiratory function. By leveraging advanced machine learning and signal-processing techniques, he aims to develop scalable, robust, early and non-invasive methods for detecting a range of respiratory diseases.
Supervisors:
Uwe Reichel
audEERING GmbH.
Email: ureichel@audeering.com
Address: Friedrichshafener Str. 1, 82205 Gilching, Germany.
Prof. Dr. Björn Schuller
Chair of Health Informatics, Technical University of Munich.
Email: schuller@tum.de
Address: Neherstraße 1, 81675 München, Germany.
Prof. Sonja Kotz
Maastricht University.
Email: sonja.kotz@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Address: Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Planned secondments:
- Maastricht University, under the supervision of Prof. Sonja Kotz — 3 months.
- Technical University of Munich, under the supervision of Prof. Björn Schuller — 9 months.
DC13 · Xiaowen Luo
University of Maastricht, Maastricht.
Xiaowen Luo has an Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Clinical Linguistics and combines expertise in neuroscience and language disorders. Her experience includes both research and clinical engagement with patients. She previously worked on projects involving schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases.
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Project title: Perception and production of distorted voice and speech in Parkinson’s disease.
Project description:
The project focuses on developing speech-based digital biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease. It seeks to model speech alterations to monitor disease progression, assess treatment response and improve cross-disease differentiation.
Supervisors:
Sonja Kotz
Email: sonja.kotz@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Address: Universiteitssingel 40, 6229 ER Maastricht, Netherlands.
Planned secondments:
- University of Twente — 4 months.
- Eriksholm Research Center — 3 months.
- University of Jena — 3 months.
DC14 · Beatrice Fumagalli
Cochlear Vallauris.
Beatrice Fumagalli has an academic background in Speech and Language Therapy and Clinical Linguistics, as well as experience in neuroimaging, neuromodulation and biosignal processing. Her hands-on work spans fMRI, tDCS and sEMG-based speech research. She combines strong clinical insight with a translational research focus for the development of next-generation technologies for communication disorders.
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Project title: Vocal Sound Enhancement for CI Users.
Project description:
The project focuses on improving how cochlear implant users perceive non-linguistic vocal sounds, such as cries or screams, by developing enhanced signal-processing methods.
Supervisors:
Adrien Daniel
Email: addaniel@cochlear.com
Yue Zhang
Email: yuezhang@cochlear.com
Deniz Başkent
Email: d.baskent@rug.nl
Gloria Araiza Illan
Email: g.a.araiza.illan@rug.nl
Planned secondments:
- St Etienne — likely March 2025.
- UMCG — likely September to December 2026.
DC15 · Kateryna Skupovska
University of Groningen / UMCG.
Kateryna Skupovska’s background lies at the intersection of theoretical and clinical linguistics. She holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Linguistics, EMCL++, and completed an internship at the Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language, BCBL. Her Master’s project investigated the simultaneous perception of spoken and signed languages in bimodal bilinguals.
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Supervisors:
Prof. dr. ir. Deniz Başkent
Email: d.baskent@rug.nl
Address: Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB Groningen, Netherlands; Zusterflat Entrance 28, Room 8.16.
Dr. Laura Rachman
Email: l.rachman@rug.nl
Address: Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB Groningen, Netherlands; Zusterflat Entrance 28, Room 8.05.
Planned secondments:
- University of Jena.
- Eriksholm Research Centre.
DC16 · Tianze Xu
University of Zurich.
Timothy Tianze Xu holds an MPhil in Linguistics from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Language Science from Shanghai International Studies University. His research explores how voice perception can be understood through psychological, neuroscientific and computational perspectives.
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Supervisors:
Prof. Dr. Volker Dellwo
Department of Computational Linguistics, University of Zurich.
Email: volker.dellwo@uzh.ch
PD Dr. Elisa Pellegrino
Department of Computational Linguistics, University of Zurich.
Email: elisa.pellegrino@uzh.ch
Prof. Pascal Belin
Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Aix-Marseille Université.
Email: pascal.belin@univ-amu.fr
Dr. Yue Zhang
Cochlear.
Email: yuezhang@cochlear.com
Planned secondments:
- Aix-Marseille Université, with Pascal Belin — second year, neuroimaging experiments.
- Cochlear, with Yue Zhang — third year, perceptual experiments with cochlear implant users.
DC17 · Marin Schröer
University College London.
Marin Schröer studied Linguistics at the University of Bielefeld for both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, focusing primarily on phonetics. He was also part of the phonetics work group led by Prof. Dr. Petra Wagner, both as a teaching assistant and as a student research assistant.
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Supervisors:
Prof. Carolyn McGettigan
Email: c.mcgettigan@ucl.ac.uk
Planned secondments:
- audEERING GmbH, Gilching, Germany.
- Technische Universität München, Germany.
DC18 · Zhuoqing Li
Queen Mary University of London.
Zhuoqing Li completed an MSc in Language Sciences at University College London, where she examined voice-identity processing across different language familiarities. She later worked at the Brain and Mind Institute, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and at the VoicES Lab, University of Lisbon.
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Supervisors:
Dr. Nadine Lavan
Queen Mary University of London.
Email: n.lavan@qmul.ac.uk
Address: Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom.
Dr. Anil Alexander
Oxford Wave Research Ltd.
Email: anil@oxfordwaveresearch.com
Address: Bagley Croft, Hinksey Hill, Oxford OX1 5BS, United Kingdom.
Dr. Radek Skarnitzl
Charles University.
Email: radek.skarnitzl@ff.cuni.cz
Address: Ovocný trh 560/5, 116 36 Praha 1, Czech Republic.
Planned secondments:
- Oxford Wave Research Ltd, Oxford, United Kingdom — March to July 2027.
- Charles University Prague, Prague, Czech Republic — January to May 2028.
DC19 · Erdem Baha Topbas
Universität Zürich.
Erdem Baha Topbas double majored in Mathematics and Physics at Columbia University and completed Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge. He worked as a research assistant at the Cambridge Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit’s Deep Hearing Lab, working on cochlear implants and hearing assessment tools.
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Supervisors:
Volker Dellwo
Universität Zürich.
Email: volker.dellwo@uzh.ch
Elisa Pellegrino
Universität Zürich.
Email: elisa.pellegrino@uzh.ch
Srikanth Madikeri
Universität Zürich.
Email: srikanth.madikeriraghunathan@uzh.ch
Planned secondments:
- Kuopio, Finland — Prof. Tomi Kinnunen, 2027 Q1/Q2.
- Tokyo, Japan — Junichi Yamagishi, 2028 Q1/Q2.
About VOCS ©2024 The project has been funded by the European Union under GA 101168998. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only do not necessariyl reflect those of the European Union nor the European Reserch Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be hed responsible for them.