The research project, approved for funding by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (State Research Agency), will study auditory distraction.

The project will be led by Fabrice Parmentier with the participation and support of a number of distinguished collaborators: János Horváth (Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary), Martin Vasilev and Julie Kirkby (Bournemouth University, UK), and Alicia Leiva (University of the Balearic Islands).

The project, entitled “Extending our knowledge of distraction by unexpected sounds” will officially start in September 2021 and run for 4 years. The original work plan includes 22 empirical experiments that will investigate several aspects of auditory distraction, ranging from fundamental cognitive mechanisms to contextual variables and motoric aspects.

The project was highly rated by 4 expert reviewers and received average scores of 93.64% for quality and feasibility, 92.5% for the project leader ‘s and collaborators’ track record, and 91.97% for expected impact. The overall project score is 93/100.

The project is to be funded to the tune of 145,200 Euros and will include, in addition, one PhD studentship (estimated value of about 91,000).