PhD Biomedical/Human Movement Sciences

Job description

The project aims to develop and test a VR environment to learn upper limb prosthesis users to control their prosthetic device. The experiments will be performed with able-bodied participants and novice/experienced users of multi-grip prosthetic hands. To set up the experiments and interpret the results, knowledge in the domains of motor learning, perception-action, rehabilitation medicine and serious game development will be integrated. The selected applicant will plan, organize, and execute the experiments, analyze data, and publish papers culminating in a PhD thesis, and give presentations at (inter)national scientific conferences and at patient meetings. The selected applicant will be expected to supervise Bachelor and Master students performing parts of the experiments.

Working environment

The Department of Human Movement Sciences, within the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), University of Groningen, seeks a highly qualified, motivated, and enthusiastic individual to conduct research as a doctoral student. The individual selected for the position will work within GRiP (Groningen Research in Prosthetics), which is a research collaboration between the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and the Department of Human Movement Sciences of the UMCG.

What are we looking for

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field (e.g. human movement science, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, game design, rehabilitation medicine).
• A strong interest in human movement sciences, application of VR, upper limb prosthetic use, and rehabilitation medicine.
• Affinity with myoelectric control, ideally from having worked with prosthesis users.
• Experience with programming VR environments or otherwise extensive programming skills related to human-computer interaction is strongly recommended.
• Experience with opto-electronic measurement systems and knowledge of MATLAB in particular with regard to signal analysis is strongly recommended.
• Understanding of basic concepts of motor learning and perception-action.
• Virtual environment experience, ideally by developing gaming applications.
• Demonstrable biomedical signal analysis skills.
• Experience in, and/or affinity with experimental research with able-bodied participants and patients.
• Ability to recruit, communicate with and motivate Dutch speaking participants.
• Well developed social skills and team spirit, strong communication skills.
• Experience with organizing projects in which different partners are involved (desirable).
• High level of writing and speaking proficiency in English.

What do we offer

As a PhD candidate, the selected individual will be appointed for a period of 4 years (32,4 hours a week), start at October 1st, 2022. An initial performance evaluation occurs after 1 year. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 3 years.

Your salary will be a minimum of € 2.631,- gross per month in the first year and a maximum of € 3.336,- gross per month (scale PhD) in the final (4th) year, based on a full-time appointment. In addition, the UMCG will offer you 8% holiday pay, and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for Medical Centres (CAO-UMC).

Additional information
Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from:

• Dr. Raoul Bongers, project leader and promotor, e-mail address: r.m.bongers@umcg.nl
• Dr. Alessio Murgia, project leader and co-promotor, e-mail address: a.murgia@umcg.nl
• Prof. Dr. Corry van der Sluis, project leader and promotor, e-mail address: c.k.van.der.sluis@umcg.nl

For questions about the position

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