Post-doc position Neural and biomechanical mechanisms underlying effects of treadmill training Parkinson’s disease

Do you have a PhD in human movement sciences or a related field, such as biomedical engineering, or neuroscience and experience with acquisition and analysis of EEG, EMG, and biomechanical data. You would like to conduct cutting-edge research in an international consortium? Please apply at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Location: AMSTERDAM
FTE: 1 

Parkinson’s disease affects over 10 million people worldwide and is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases. Despite good effects of medication, unstable gait and falls continue to affect many patients. Treadmill training has demonstrated substantial benefits in improving gait and reducing falls. The StepuP program aims to determine how these outcomes relate to biomechanical, physiological, and neural changes and how these effects transfer to daily life.

Your duties
* develop data acquisition and analysis procedures
* provide guidance to the four clinical centers in our consortium (Tel Aviv, Bologna, Kiel and Sydney)
* collect these data during treadmill walking before and after intervention
* collect data on healthy volunteers and compare these to patients with Parkinson’s disease

• A PhD in human movement sciences or a related field such as kinesiology, biomedical engineering, or neuroscience;
• First authored articles in peer-reviewed international journals;
• Willingness and competences to work in a team.
• Experience with respect to acquisition of EEG, EMG, and biomechanical data
• Experience with respect to analysis of EEG, EMG, and biomechanical data.

A challenging position in a socially involved organization. The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel and amounts to a minimum gross monthly salary of  €2,960 (scale 10) and a maximum of €5,439 (scale 11), based on a full-time employment. The job profile: is based on the university job ranking system and is vacant for at least 1 FTE. The appointment will initially be for 1 year, with the intention of extension for another two years.

Additionally, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers excellent fringe benefits and various schemes and regulations to promote a good work/life balance, such as:

• a maximum of 41 days of annual leave based on full-time employment
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• A comprehensive list of benefits and working conditions can be found at https://workingat.vu.nl/working-at-vu.

The ambition of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is clear: to contribute to a better world through outstanding education and ground-breaking research. We strive to be a university where personal development and commitment to society play a leading role. A university where people from different disciplines and backgrounds collaborate to achieve innovations and to generate new knowledge. Our teaching and research encompass the entire spectrum of academic endeavor – from the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences through to the life sciences and the medical sciences.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is home to more than 30,000 students. We employ over 5,500 individuals. The VU campus is easily accessible and located in the heart of Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, a truly inspiring environment for teaching and research.

Diversity
We are an inclusive university community. Diversity is one of our most important values. We believe that engaging in international activities and welcoming students and staff from a wide variety of backgrounds enhances the quality of our education and research. We are always looking for people who can enrich our world with their own unique perspectives and experiences.

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences
The Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences focuses on the broad domain of behaviour and health. Our teaching and research programmes are devoted to current developments in society, from healthy aging to e-health, from juvenile crime to dealing with depression, from training for top athletes to social media as a teaching tool. We are unique in that we combine three academic disciplines: psychology, movement sciences and education.

Working at Behavioural and Movement Sciences means working in an ambitious organization that is characterized by an informal atmosphere and short lines of communication. Our faculty offers tremendous scope for personal development. We employ more than 600 staff members, and we are home to around 3,400 students.

Department of Human Movement Sciences
The department of Human Movement Sciences performs research on the human musculoskeletal system, on the way people move, and on how human movement can be influenced in the context of sports, health, physical education and rehabilitation. Our research is multi-disciplinary: we combine anatomy, physiology, psychology and biomechanics to understand and improve human movement.
We provide educational programs at the BSc and MSc levels in the same domain, with a strong emphasis on scientific training. In addition, we have a research-based PhD program.
The department has a strong commitment to theory development, and innovative research, but we also prioritize the societal value of our research and devote ample time and attention to translation of our research findings to promote their application in practice.
The department provides a vibrant climate with high quality teaching and research staff and PhD-students who are supported by excellent facilities (e.g., multiple labs for experimental research, equipment for movement analysis and physiological measurements, as well as high-quality engineering support to develop custom-made equipment and set-ups). We have a world-class reputation for our research and teaching, as indicated by for example a 5th place in the Shanghai ranking for sports science, high quality publications, and frequent international collaboration and exchange.  Research and teaching have a strong interdisciplinary nature. The research program of the department is integrated in the research institutes Amsterdam Movement Sciences (https://www.amsterdamumc.org/en/research/institutes/amsterdam-movement-sciences.htm) and Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam (https://vu.nl/nl/over-de-vu/onderzoeksinstituten/institute-for-brain-and-behavior-amsterdam-ibba ).

APPLICATION

Are you interested in this position? Please apply via the application button and upload your curriculum vitae and motivation letter until

. The job interviews will take place at the end of March. 

Applications received by e-mail will not be processed.

Vacancy questions
If you have any questions regarding this vacancy, you may contact:

Name: Prof. dr. Jaap van Dieën
Position: professor of Biomechanics, department head
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 020-5988501

No agencies