Odette Scharenborg

Timeline

1. 1998–2005

   A PhD on human speech processing

   She earns a BA in language and speech technology at Radboud University Nijmegen in 1998 and an MA in automatic speech recognition there in 2000. Her PhD project (2001–2005) combines theories of human speech processing from psycholinguistics with tools from automatic speech recognition, and she receives the degree in 2005.

2. 2005–2010

   Sheffield and a Veni fellowship

   In 2005, she goes to the Speech and Hearing group in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield as a visiting post-doc, funded by an NWO Talent scholarship. From 2006, an NWO Veni fellowship funds her post-doc at Radboud University. Her 2007 review 'Reaching over the gap' in Speech Communication surveys efforts to link human and automatic speech recognition research, and it is shortlisted for a best paper award in 2010.

3. 2010–2018

   Max Planck and a Vidi project

   In 2010, she becomes a postdoctoral fellow in the Adaptive Listening Group at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, where she trains as a psycholinguist. From 2012, she is an associate professor at the Centre for Language Studies at Radboud University on an NWO Vidi project. In 2017, she co-leads a six-week Frederick Jelinek Memorial Summer Workshop (JSALT 2017) at Carnegie Mellon University.

4. June 2018

   A Delft Technology Fellowship

   In June 2018, she joins the Multimedia Computing Group at Delft University of Technology as an associate professor of speech technology, after TU Delft offers her a Delft Technology Fellowship. Her research aims at speech technology that works for everyone irrespective of how they speak or what language they speak, including the elderly and people with speech impediments, to whom current speech recognition has little to offer.

5. 2019–2021

   Diversity work at ISCA and IEEE

   In 2019, as an ISCA board member since 2017, she is asked to form a new ISCA committee for gender equality, which soon widens to other types of diversity. In 2020, she proposes a mentoring programme within the IEEE Signal Processing Society for students from minority groups, funded with $50K annually. ISCA elects her Vice-President in 2021.

6. 2023–2025

   Leading ISCA and Interspeech

   In September 2023, she is appointed chair of the International Speech Communication Association for a two-year term, with professionalizing the organization and building community around diversity and inclusion as her priorities. She is General Chair of Interspeech 2025, held in Rotterdam in August 2025 under the theme 'Fair and Inclusive Speech Science and Technology'.

7. 2026

   Named an ISCA Fellow

   ISCA names her one of its 2026 Fellows, citing sustained contributions to inclusive speech technology and lasting impact on diversity in speech communication and technology.

8. As of October 2026

   Full professor in Delft

   In 2025, she is appointed Full Professor of Inclusive Speech Communication at TU Delft, where she heads the Delft Inclusive Speech Communication (DISC) lab in the Multimedia Computing Group. In 2026, she joins the Scientific Advisory Board of the Hearing4all Cluster of Excellence in Germany.