• Two-year selective programme in English (120 ECTS) • Building bridges between fundamental lab research and applied societal practice • Room for personal tracks with academic assignments and hands-on experience to match your interests, under expert supervision • Collaborate with staff and (PhD) students on your own research project • Develop scientific and professional skills in an ambitious environment • Direct link to the clinical environment of the University Medical Center Groningen (

In the first year of this selective two-year programme, you will get a head start with our specialization courses, where you will meet our experts and scientists working in the field of Rehabilitation and Healthy Ageing. These courses will give you a broad understanding of current research topics.

In addition to the compulsory courses, you are free to choose your individual study programme (40 EC). For example, you may follow internal or external course units, or decide to carry out an academic assignment, which could involve gaining teaching or applied research experience, doing consultancy work, or writing a scientific article for publication. In the second year of the Master’s programme, you will spend most of your time on your graduation project, which should concern a relevant and current research topic. You will work together with a team of researchers, students, and PhD students, taking measurements and collecting data in one of our state-of-the-art research labs with outstanding facilities, or in a field setting at a Dutch or international research institution, a health institution, or other educational institution.

In a survey we held under graduates we see that 69% had applied for a job, and found one. 16% has chosen to do another master, 13% started with another programme and 3% made some other choise.

After graduation, you can continue your academic career in a PhD trajectory or perform research at health care research institutes. In addition, you can consult at rehabilitation centres, hospitals and specialized care facilities. It is also possible to evaluate and develop ergonomic or orthopaedic products or to develop health and welfare policies for government agencies. With a teacher's certificate you can work as a lecturer in education.

Education and research are intensely connected in the department of Human Movement Sciences. PhD's, master and bachelor students work together in an academic learning community and inspiring environment, playing a pivotal role in our research success.

What kind of research?

There are 2 research domains within the master Human Movement Sciences shown with some examples of research questions:

Healthy Ageing

• Falling in the elderly: predicting individual fall risks and developing preventive exercise programmes
• The relationship between movement and diseases such as dementia, stroke and Parkinson’s disease
• Effects of physical activity and inactivity on cognitive and mental processes (e.g. attention, memory)

Rehabilitation

• Recovery of normal skills levels after a stroke or paraplegia

• Sensorimotor adaptation processes during the rehabilitation of people with an artificial arm or leg or when learning to operate an arm-drive wheelchair

• Children with DCD (Developmental Coordination Disorder) and adults who need to relearn motor skills after a stroke or other impairment of the cognitive/sensorimotor system

• Physical fitness, physical activity, fatigue and health related quality of life after burn injury

Where?

Student research projects within this domain are usually conducted on-site in nursing homes and/or geriatric wards of hospitals, residential facilities for the elderly or individual homes. The department of Human Movement Sciences also has great lab facilities to conduct research. There is a large number of lab facilities consisting of laboratories, equipment and software. In 2020, the construction of a completely new Virtual Reality Lab has started. In the coming years, this will be further developed into three different Virtual Reality Laboratories, each with its own specific character.

More info

More information about our research can be found on the UMCG research website!