Human Movement Sciences and Healthy Ageing
Beyond the simple enjoyment of sport and leisure-time physical activity, sufficient physical activity, sport and exercise can also reduce the risks for cardiovascular disease, cancer, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, hypertension, musculoskeletal diseases, and psychological disorders. A sufficient amount of physical activity can counteract weight gain and obesity, a major challenge to successful ageing and public health. Regular physical activity can also improve school children’s academic performance and adults’ productivity at work. It can prevent secondary impairments in individuals with disability, and slow cognitive decline in old age. There is overwhelming evidence that daily physical activity, regular exercise, and taking part in sports play a preventive role in the evolution of chronic diseases. It is therefore highly relevant to better understand the physiological, neural, biomechanical, and cognitive mechanisms of how children, adults, and old individuals with and without disability acquire motor skills, control movement, improve daily function and adapt to increased or decreased levels of physical activity and exercise programs. Such an increased understanding of the relationship between human movement, functioning and health is highly relevant to healthy aging, as it is a prerequisite for effective interventions.

Based on the objectives above, and to maintain and strengthen our future position in terms of student numbers, successful (post) graduate student outflow, PhD employment, productive research, collaborative multidisciplinary networks, external funding and the societal as well as industrial valorisation of our work, we offer a position as full professor in Clinical Movement Sciences. This appointment will also further strengthen our internal theoretical cross-fertilisation and complement efforts in the UMCG that assign a key role to ‘movement’ in Rehabilitation and the prevention of chronic diseases and public health.

We strongly encourage women to apply for this position. In the case of equal suitability of candidates, preference will be given to a female candidate.

Research task
The chair Clinical Movement Sciences focuses on understanding the physiological, biomechanical and neuromuscular mechanisms and the development and evaluation of innovative treatment of patients with motor impairments. Understanding the mechanisms and evaluating the effectivity of treatment of patients with motor impairments requires a multidisciplinary approach with specific expertise in the concepts of load and recovery and motor control and learning.

This chair will intensively collaborate with the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Orthopaedics of the UMCG, amongst others. The technology-driven activities will be further developed in collaboration with technical universities and industry, as well as biomedical engineering. Based on the research of the last 10 years, the Department of Human Movement Sciences is in the heart of strong national and international networks in rehabilitation, such as SMALL and SPRINT. Research tasks will take up 40% of the available time.

Teaching task
The full professor Clinical Movement Sciences will actively contribute to the educational programs of the Department of Human Movement Sciences (50% of the appointment). Education shall address all levels of education in our Department: at BSc, MSc, and PhD levels.
Tasks will involve course development, teaching and student assessment as well as supervision and evaluation of bachelor and master graduation projects. The position includes a representative and coordinating role in the specialization Rehabilitation of the MSc program Human Movement Sciences.

Involvement in management and policy making is also expected and will take up 10% of the available time.

- A PhD-degree in human movement sciences with specific research expertise in one or more of the scientific domains of load and recovery, motor control and motor learning, preferably with a focus on the physiological and biomechanical aspects;
- An outstanding international reputation as evident from a range of high-ranked publications, (guest) editorships, conference activities, grants and prizes in the area of clinical movement sciences;
- Experience in the context of rehabilitation and knowledge about the application of assistive technology;
- Experience in creating and maintaining a network in clinical settings;
- An internationally acknowledged university teaching qualification (UTQ) and a broad experience in various educational roles that have been evaluated favourably;
- Educational experience on an organizational level, e.g. as member or chair of the board of examiners or the programme committee, or as a coordinator of specific tracks;
- An excellent leader and a team player with outstanding communicative skills;
- Fluency in English, both written and spoken;
- Being able to understand and speak Dutch within two years after appointment.

The UMCG has a preventive Hepatitis B policy. The UMCG can provide you with the vaccination, should it be required for your position.

In case of specific professions a ‘Certificate of Good Conduct’ is required.

Your salary will be a maximum of € 8.638 gross per month (HL2) depending on your qualifications and relevant experience, 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:
Prof dr. Koen A.P.M. Lemmink, Head of Department Human Movement Sciences
Telephone number: +31 (0)6 2564 6586
E-mail address: k.a.p.m.lemmink@umcg.nl (please do not use e-mail address for applications)

Application
Please use the the digital application form at the bottom of this page - only these will be processed. You can apply until 20 October 2019.
Within half an hour after sending the digital application form you will receive an email- confirmation with further information.

Please upload the following information:
- a letter of motivation
- a curriculum vitae, including a research and teaching track record
and in a single file (PDF):
- a research statement
- a teaching statement
- a list of three references

Department of Human Movement Sciences

Department of Human Movement Sciences
The Department of Human Movement Sciences is a Department within the UMCG and the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Groningen. The main goal of the Department is to develop knowledge about the mechanisms of human movement and human performance. This scientific knowledge is applied to optimize human movement and human performance in healthy and clinical populations through prevention and innovative treatment over the life span (healthy ageing).

The Department offers the Bachelor’s degree program Human Movement Sciences, two 2-year Master’s degree programs, one in Human Movement Sciences (HMS) and one in Sports Sciences (SS) and a Minor program in Sport Sciences and Public Health (More Healthy Years) at Bachelor level. Within the Master’s degree program in HMS, we offer two specializations: Rehabilitation and Healthy Ageing. Approximately 400 Bachelor’s, 150 Master’s and 50 Minor’s students, along with over 30 PhD students, form the heart of the ‘learning’ community in a stimulating academic, clinical and social environment.

Our programs are ranked among the best Dutch programs in their field over the past years and students are very satisfied with the learning facilities of our Department (National Student Survey 2019). The Department is 31st on the Shanghai ranking for ‘human movement and sport sciences’ among ~300 universities, offering similar programs.

The Department consists of a team of competent, dedicated and enthusiastic scientific (26) and educational support (7) staff. In addition, a highly trained ‘Technical Support’ team (4) maintains and supports the HMS lab facilities, consisting of equipment, software and laboratories. Currently, scientific staff consists of 4 full professors, 6 associate professors, and 16 assistant professors. All our scientific staff members are appointed as both lecturers and active researchers with a PhD degree.
All scientific staff members devote 50% of their appointment to teaching, 40% to research, and 10% to administrative obligations. Education and research are inseparable; it ensures that the most recent scientific findings and views are taught in up-to-date teaching, especially during the Master’s degree programmes. All scientific staff have a University Teaching Qualification, while two have also acquired a Senior Teaching Qualification aimed at educational leadership.

University Medical Center Groningen/University of Groningen
The educational programs are almost entirely taught and governed by the Department of Human Movement Sciences. The department’s vision on teaching and research follows the vision and ambitions of the UG and UMCG. As an academic community, we attempt to establish strong links between research and teaching and between staff and students. Our students are educated as ‘active learners’ to stimulate commitment and responsibility. Healthy ageing, a top priority of the UMCG/UG, is an intrinsic part of our curricula. Our department aims to contribute to innovative solutions to the societal challenges that have arisen due to an ageing population. Many academic assignments and graduation projects take place within the UMCG hospital environment and students are very much appreciated for their research skills. Within the UMCG GSMS PhD program, the department runs a competitive master-PhD track providing opportunities for talented master students to complete a PhD (currently 4 PhD places per year).

The research of the Department of HMS (SMART) is part of the Research Institute SHARE. Research output, in the form of Q1 publications, received grants, awards, PhD promotions, and societal impact of research like invited lectures, debates, media and newspaper attention, have all strongly increased over the last 10 years. The Department is linked to the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, a joint initiative of the UMCG, UG and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences ‘to actively convey knowledge and expertise through education, consultancy and integral collaborations’.