Workshop 2027

The 6th workshop on

Cognitive neuroscience of auditory and cross-modal perception

19 – 21 April 2027, Košice (pronounced KOH-shih-tse), Slovakia
https://pcl.upjs.sk/workshop-2027

News and updates

Objectives:

The workshop centers on how people perceive, attend to, and understand sounds—especially speech—in complex spatial, noisy, multimodal, and technologically mediated environments.
It aims to connect basic auditory mechanisms with real-world listening applications, using innovative tools such as games, mobile measures, neuroimaging, modeling, virtual environments, and hearing technologies.
It will include advanced research talks (and introductory lectures) on a range of topics related to the neural processes of auditory, visual and cross-modal perception.
The workshop is aimed at early-stage and advanced students and young researchers, and it will provide ample opportunities for direct interactions between the lecturers and the attendees.

The workshop will follow up on our previous workshops. (An electronic version of the proceedings with lectures and assignments from the previous two workshops is available here.)

Guest speakers and SAV consortium speakers (tentative)

Inyong Choi, University of Iowa, United States
Norbert Vanek, University of Auckland, New Zealand
G. Christopher Stecker, Boys Town National Research Hospital, United States
Eleni Vlahou, University of Thessaly, Greece
Mathieu Lavandier, ENTPE – University of Lyon France
Robert Baumgartner, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
Piotr Majdak, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
Anja Pahor, Univerza v Mariboru, Slovenia
Jyrki Ahveninen, Mass General Research Institute / Harvard Medical School, United States
Virginia Best; Boston University, United States
Aaron Seitz, Northeastern University, United States
Norbert Kopco, P. J. Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia

Format:

1/2-day sessions, including invited talks, contributed talks, and posters focusing on the topics of Spatial Audio Virtualization and Gamification for Hearing Assessment and Enhancement (general), as well as other topics in computational and cognitive neuroscience. (Also, non-scientific program – outings to tourist destinations near Kosice – will be organized on the days before and/or day after the workshop.)

Instructions for the presenters:

Invited talks Each talk has 35 mins assigned to it (30 mins talk; 5 mins discussion), followed by a 5 min break. There will be a PC with audio capabilities and PowerPoint on it. Bringing your talk on USB is the preferred option. But we’ll also have a VGA/HDMI/USB-C option for connecting your laptop. Please find your chair person and try to upload your presentations to the presentation computer before your session so that we can go smoothly.
Contributed talks Each presentation is scheduled for 15 minutes (13 mins talk; 2 mins discussion). Equipment: see above.
Posters Posters will be up during a dedicated poster session. Poster boards of 118cm (h) x 70 (w) with pins will be provided.
Demos of different training/evaluation apps/games will be shown during the poster & demos session. They will be introduced during the regular talk session. Please let us know if you’re planning to bring any hands-on demo and/or need to borrow any specific equipment (PC, headphones).

Registration:

The workshop is open to all interested students/scientists. Registration is free but required. To register and to submit an abstract (optional), please fill out this form. All accepted abstracts will be published on the workshop website and in the abstract book. No proceedings will be published. In case you would like to have a presentation please send us an abstract (up to 200 words; also indicate whether you prefer poster or oral presentation) no later than February 1, 2027. Also, see travel grant info below.

Student travel grants:

Thanks to co-sponsorship from the European Acoustics Association (and, pending approval, also Acoustical Society of America) we can offer a limited number of travel awards of 250 EUR to offset the cost of attending for students and young researcher. To apply for a travel award, you need to be a presenting author. Please also introduce yourself and describe your motivation / reasons you need the travel grant.

Guest speakers and SAV consortium speakers: TBA

Abstracts of talks and posters; TBA

Program: TBA

Social events & outings, lunch, refreshments:

Lunch:

Refreshments:

Practical info:

WIFI Internet: Eduroam and/or WiFi: Password:

Travel, accommodation, visitor information:

Getting around: You can easily walk almost everywhere within Kosice old town. The workshop venue is a 1/2-hr walk from the railway & bus stations.
Kosice has a reliable public transportation system. You can find a route planner. To get to the workshop from the train/bus stations, you can take the #17 bus or #2 tram to Radnica Stareho Mesta station.The easiest way of getting around is by a cab or an Uber-like peer-to-peer ride-sharing service BOLT . HOPIN is a taxi hailing app, similar to Uber, but using regular cabs. You can use it to request a cab from any place to any place in Košice, you see the cost prior to ordering, and you can even request a cab driver that speaks English. You can also hail regular cabs on the street, the cost within city should never be more than 5 EUR. Or you can call the cab companies. Easy Taxi has a fixed rate of 3EUR anywhere within Košice. American Taxi offers fixed rate of 12 EUR to/from the airport.
Another option is a shared bike (see here).

Travel: The Kosice Airport is served by Austrian Airlines, Swiss Air and LOT Polish Airlines (via Vienna, Zurich, Warsaw), and by low-cost airlines Wizzair (London Luton) and Ryanair (London Stansted, Prague, Dublin, Liverpool). Alternatively you can fly to Budapest Airport and take a 3-hr shuttle bus to Kosice (for example, using Flixbus, cassoviaexpres or Airtrans.sk). FlixBus offers bus connections from Poland (from Krakow or Krakow airport), taking 4 to 5 hrs. Also FlixBus serves many cities directly or with connection from Kosice. More information about how to get to Kosice (also by train or bus) can be found here .

Accommodation: There are several hotels close to the workshop venue, for example Hotel Maraton, Crystal, Rokoko, Ambassador, Yasmin, or Slavia (for more hotel options please see http://www.booking.com, http://www.hotels.com, for hostels see: http://www.hostels.com, http://www.hostelworld.com).

Recommended restaurants: Nearby: Sport, Mango, Maraton, Pizzeria ClaSa, Santa Lucia, Tip Top, Krcma Letna, Tabacka, Dobre Bistro, Mala Praha, Nico, Gesto. Slovak and international cuisine: Villa Regia, Uhorský dvor (also Hungarian), Jaskyňa (also Middle-Eastern/falafel), Iris (in Zlaty Dukat hotel), Republika východu (The East-Slovak Republic, modern with a traditional twist), Le Colonial, Olive Tree (in Hilton hotel), fast-food and regular restaurants in Aupark shopping center, 12 apoštolov, Camelot, Med Malina, Golden Royal, Atrium (in Teledom hotel), Czech: Budejovická hospoda, Česká hospoda, Polish: Karczma mlyn (Italian): Mediterran, La Ventana, Napoli, Piano, Jazz Garden, Zlatý zvon, Retro Cult Club, French: A la maison, Middle-Eastern: Kleopatra-Agadir, Burekas, Vegetarian/vegan: Halmi (gluten-free vegan), Ajvega, Madrid (has vegan options, limited menu, dinner only), Indian: Góvinda, Little India, Taj Mahal, Steak house: Rosto, Ukrainian: Barvinok, Sushi/Thai/Asian: Bamboo, Maiko sushi, Greek: Korfu, Vietnamese: Asia fast food, Turkish: Osman city (fast food), Breakfast: Rozpravka. Beer: Golem micro brewery, Hostinec, Luxor, Dobre casy, Red Nose, Madrid. Wine: Dva a dve, Villa Cassa, Vinoteka Loefler, Barrique – Pivotéka & Vinotéka.

Visitor Information, Current Events and Activities:

Košice was the European Capital of Culture in 2013 (thanks to which a lot of new cultural venues were built, including a the kulturpark, the kunsthalle, and a science park called Steelpark). A well-updated web page with events and trip ideas (as well as accommodation and other tourist info) is http://www.visitkosice.org/en .

Here is a list of tips for optional activities and “English-friendly” cultural events in Kosice during the workshop:

You can visit Tourist Info Centers
Theater and philharmonic orchestra.
Walks and small trips: Botanical Garden, Zoo, Kosice Castle and Watchtower (info in Slovak).
Exhibits and other events (daily)
Live music: Tabacka
Movies (most international movies have original sound track and Slovak subtitles): Daily schedule of movie theaters with English movie titles (go to section Film; look for movies with “titulky”), Usmev cinema

Acknowledgement:

The project has received funding from the HORIZON-MSCA-2022-SE-01 call (MSCA Staff Exchanges) of the research and innovation programme of Horizon Europe under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions grant agreement N° 101129903.

Sponsorship:

Travel grants have been supported by the European Acoustics Association.

Perception and Cognition Laboratory