The department of Human Movement Sciences (HMS) is a department within the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). The main goals of the Department are: 1) to develop knowledge about the mechanisms of human movement and human performance, 2) to provide high-level education to bachelors, masters and PhD-students and 3) to contribute with our knowledge and education to solving current societal challenges. Our scientific knowledge is applied in order to optimize human movement and human performance in healthy and clinical populations through innovative prevention, cure and care over the life span (healthy ageing). The research program of the department of HMS is embedded in the research institute SHARE.

As of 1st September 2021 the REPAIRS network will employ 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) for high quality PhD training. These PhDs will be employed in a network covering a broad range of disciplines, ranging from human movement science, rehabilitation, bio-medical engineering, neural (mathematical) modelling to philosophy. This network provides innovative training-through-research preparing the PhD students to become the next generation of creative, innovative and leading academic and entrepreneurial researchers. Two of these 15 ESR positions are the PhD positions advertised here.

Description of PhD projects

PhD position 1: REPAIRS ESR project 3: Stimulating the search of new coordination patterns in arm joints to improve arm function after stroke
This PhD project studies motor learning by focusing on the changes in coordination patterns in the joint angles of the upper limbs during learning new manual reaching movements. The innovation of the project lies in the study of the evolution of the structure of variability in joint angle coordination over learning while in different conditions the allowed variability in the joint angles will be manipulated. This project will take the search for new coordinative solutions in joint space as a starting point and aims to reveal conditions that stimulate the exploratory process to find new joint angle synergies. These conditions will firstly be revealed in people without movement disorders, after which they will be translated to conditions that can be performed by people who have suffered from a stroke. In the second part of the project we will examine whether these conditions are effective in stimulating the learning of new synergies in people suffering from a stroke.

This project examines motor learning from a combined perspective of Ecological Psychology on action-perception and Dynamic Systems Theory to motor coordination. Therefore, it will examine how the search for new synergies takes place in interaction with perceptual learning.

For more information about this project follow the link above. Contact: Dr. Bongers (r.m.bongers@umcg.nl)

PhD position 2: REPAIRS ESR project 10: Reaching decisions: integration of action selection and action performance in learning tool use during middle childhood
This PhD project takes an action-perception perspective on the development of decision-making and the underlying processes of perceptual-motor exploration. Decision-making is often approached as a discrete event, preceding the action about which the decision is made. However, an action unfolds in time implying that also decisions about the action are made during the unfolding of the action. Think for instance about the continuous pre-shaping of the hand when picking up an object. Therefore, the current project will examine the interaction between decisions made at the start of an action (e.g., which tool is selected to pick up an object) and characteristics of the kinematics of the grasping action (e.g., pre-shaping of aperture of the tool to grasp an object) in the unfolding of the action. We will study how this interaction changes over development in middle childhood. Experiments will be performed with children without movement disorders and children with Developmental Coordination Disorder. It will be examined whether decisions made early in the action affect the variability observed in the unfolding of the act in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.

This project approaches the development of decision-making as the development of the perception of affordances, inspired from Ecological Psychology.

For more information about this project follow the link above. Contact: Dr. Smith (j.smith@umcg.nl)

- Applicants should be highly motivated, creative and enthusiastic researchers with a Master’s degree or equivalent in human movement science, kinesiology, sport & exercise science, experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, rehabilitation science, biomedical engineering, neuroscience, robotics, or a related field, successfully completed before September 1st 2021.
- We are looking for researchers with an analytical way of thinking who have an interest in exploiting novel data analysis techniques, develop theoretical concepts to capture action-perception learning and development and enjoy presenting their work in oral and written form.
- Applicants should be enthusiastic about developing fundamental knowledge on action-perception learning and development and about applying this knowledge in a clinical population.
- Evidence of good communication and teamworking skills, soft skills and awareness of the impact of science are a prerequisite.
- Candidates currently enrolled in a Masters degree and due to complete before September 1st 2021 should check the Recruitment information (here) for additional information to be provided as evidence of Masters level academic thinking and working level.
- Applicant is an Early Stage Researcher, meaning that at the time of recruitment by the host organization, the applicant shall be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of the research career and have not been awarded a doctoral degree.
- Applicants must fulfill the mobility criteria defined by the European Commission: at the time of recruitment by the host organization, the applicant must not have resided or carried out the main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the host organization for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the start date of the project (expected September 1st, 2021). Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.
- Applicants must submit evidence of English proficiency from a standardized international test. Language proficiency certificates older than two years are not accepted. Moreover, individual PhD projects might have additional language skills requirements, check the descriptions on the website. TOEFL: Applicants taking the internet-based TOEFL are required to have a minimum total score of 100. IELTS: Applicants taking the IELTS test (academic version) your overall band score must be at least 7.0. Cambridge: Cambridge Proficiency or Cambridge Advanced (only Grades A or B).

The PhD student will be appointed based on a fully funded 3-year full-time position. Note that PhD students must work full-time and exclusively for the project (in exceptional cases a part-time employment for personal or family reasons can be granted by the EU-Research Executive Agency).

We offer:
- A stimulating and creative learning environment in an interdisciplinary, intersectorial and international research training programme.
- Supervision and mentoring from experts in their field with an academic, industry and clinical background.
- Opportunity to advance research skills in the conceptual framework of the Systems perspective and innovative applications of this perspective in rehabilitation.
- Each PhD student works closely together with a PhD student in another institute, approaching the same problem from another level of study.
- Experience in intersectorial settings with targeted secondments across Europe.
- An outstanding opportunity to acquire complementary training in transferable skills (e.g. project planning, presentation techniques, communication and dissemination techniques, Open Science practices, good science practice) as well as leadership, innovation and entrepreneurial skills.

Additional information
- Check the REPAIRS website first because it provides additional information. For more information about a specific position, please e-mail the contact person listed for that position.
- For general questions, contact us at repairs@umcg.nl

Applications
Please visit www.repairs-etn.eu and carefully read Recruitment information (here) for all specific information on the application and selection procedure.

Applicants have to submit three files:
File 1 containing (use page breaks between items):
- Motivation letter (max 1 page, Font: Times New Roman, 12; line spacing: 1.15)
- CV
File 2 containing (use page breaks between items):
- Two standardized reference letters
File 3 containing (use page breaks between items):
- A degree equivalent to a European Master degree according to the European Qualifications Framework (here)
- Diplomas and certificates (Official English translation and formal grade transcript)
- Certificate English language test (written and spoken) for those who did/are enrolled in a Master that is NOT in English. TOEFL: Applicants taking the internet-based TOEFL are required to have a minimum total score of 100. IELTS: Applicants taking the IELTS test (academic version) your overall band score must be at least 7.0. Cambridge: Cambridge Proficiency or Cambridge Advanced (only Grades A or B).
- Applicants who have not yet obtained their Master degree have to also submit the Bachelor diploma and grade list, a list of obtained grades and course units to be completed in the Masters and a reference explaining the current status of the applicant (see Recruitment information here)

How to apply
Use the link below to apply for either of these positions. Note that the applications for both positions need to be done through this link. Clearly indicate for which position you apply. Only the applications submitted through this link will be taken into consideration, any application submitted through email will not be accepted. The deadline for applications is Wednesday June 9, 2021. The first interviews will be held on 16, 17, and 18 June.

Bewegingswetenschappen

REPAIRS aims to improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation that is concerned with the restoration and enhancement of functional ability and quality of life of people with a disorder. The objective of REPAIRS is to improve rehabilitation training by combining insights from fundamental research on how individuals re-learn perception and action with cutting-edge rehabilitation practice. To this end, REPAIRS first reveals novel insight on re-learning perception and action (in people without a disorder). Next, this knowledge is translated into novel clinical practices that will be tested in people with different disorders. This is also the structure of the two PhD positions currently advertised. Within the training network, technology, conceptual analyses, data analyses using cutting-edge techniques, and philosophical analyses will be exploited in novel ways to tackle these two steps.

REPAIRS takes a systems perspective on rehabilitation, from which perception and action in everyday behavior is considered to emerge from mutual, nonlinear interactions among components. The PhD projects exploit knowledge from Dynamic Systems Theory and Ecological Psychology to understand the interactions and relations among components that make up the perception-action cycle. Insights from these approaches are used to innovate rehabilitation science. To fully exploit this systems approach, REPAIRS studies interaction between four levels of the perception-action cycle: neural mechanisms, muscles & joints, agent-environment and social. This knowledge is integrated with requirements on translation from clinical, technology and philosophical domains, to meet the objectives of REPAIRS. The currently advertised positions study the interaction between the levels muscles & joints and agent-environment (PhD position 1) and between the levels agent-environment and neural mechanisms (PhD position 2). Both PhD projects advertised here use behavioral experiments applying technological innovations and using novel data analysis techniques.

The training of the ESRs within the consortium takes place through supervision of experts in the field, close interactions with other PhD students in the project, collaborative training projects, local and network wide journal clubs, network wide training events and secondments in academic, clinical and industry settings. The training focuses on research and academic skills but also on transferrable skills, teamwork skills, leadership and entrepreneurial skills (see below for more details). The goal of the training is to provide PhDs with the skills that enable them to push the field of re-learning perception and action and the field of rehabilitation to the next level.

More detailed information about the network, the training and the research of the current two available positions and the other research projects can be found on: www.repairs-etn.eu