One or more PhD stipends in feedback-driven training for non-synergistic muscle activation patterns allowing robust prosthesis control (21-22087)

One or more PhD stipends in feedback-driven training for non-synergistic muscle activation patterns allowing robust prosthesis control (21-22087)

At the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Health Science and Technology one or more PhD stipends are available within the doctoral programme Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience. The stipends are open for appointment from 1 January 2023 or soon hereafter.

Job description

Department of Health Science and Technology carries out multidisciplinary research, teaching and dissemination within biomedical engineering, sports science and medicine. The department has more than 250 employees and is responsible for more than 1700 students. More than 100 PhD students are enrolled in the doctoral school affiliated to the department. The researchers are organized in a number of research groups and centres, and the department has at its disposal laboratory and clean room facilities for cell growth, molecular biology, brain analysis, 3D movement analysis, respiratory and circulatory examinations, sensory and motor functions analysis, etc. All study programs at Aalborg University involve problem-based learning, organized around cases and projects. For more, see: www.hst.aau.dk . 
As The Faculty of Medicine wishes PhD positions to enable careers both within and outside the university, the vacant positions are created in such a way that the competences achieved in the position will qualify for both a research career and a career in the commercial and/or public sector. At least a year before the position expires, you will be offered an interview to clarify your future career. 
Accurate, intuitive, and dexterous control of assistive devices such as upper-limb prostheses based on measurements of muscle activity remains a challenge. Most scientific studies addressing this problem focuses on the development of machine learning techniques to identify movement intention from electromyographic signals (EMG) while the prosthesis user imitates natural movements with the missing limb. This project hypothesizes that the natural strategies by which humans activate synergistic muscles to generate movement implies that the EMG signals recorded during imitated natural movements will always be highly variable and non-stationary, thereby imposing an upper-limit for the accuracy by which movement intention can be identified. Instead, this project aims to explore so-called abstract control, where prosthesis users will learn to generate new muscle activation patterns, that are not associated to meaningful movements, but enable consistent and robust EMG signals. This training will be driven by biofeedback giving the user an intuitive awareness of muscle activation levels. The project will explore and evaluate different feedback modalities, including visual, tactile, and auditory feedback to investigate the degree to which the human nervous system can learn new activation patterns, that enable robust and simultaneous control of prostheses in multiple degrees of freedom. 
Prospective applicants for this PhD proposal should have the following qualifications: 
• M.Sc. degree in biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or similar. 
• Experience in programming, at least in Matlab, while the knowledge of C++ and/or Python is an advantage
• The knowledge of neural control of movement, human-machine interfacing and the design of experiments is an advantage.
• A creative mindset and curiosity to research and develop new solutions in an international environment with highly skilled colleagues. 
• Good communication and organizational skills.
The application must at least contain the following documents in PDF format:
• Motivated application including the applicant’s personal reflections on the research field of prosthetic control and aim of the PhD project outlined above. 
• CV including education, work experience, language skills and additional scientific qualifications.
• Documentation for obtaining the Master’s degree or indicating when the Master’s degree will be obtained.
You may obtain further information from Associate Professor, Jakob Dideriksen, e-mail: jldi@hst.aau.dk concerning the scientific aspects of the stipend.

PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Master’s degree. PhD stipends are normally for a period of 3 years. It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Doctoral School in Medicine, Biomedical Science and Technology in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 1039 of August 27, 2013 on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Educational Institutions. According to the Ministerial Order, the progress of the PhD student shall be assessed at regular points in time.
Shortlisting will be applied. This means that subsequent to the deadline for applications the head of department supported by the chair of the assessment committee will select candidates for assessment. All applicants will be informed whether they will be assessed or not.

For further information about stipends and salary as well as practical issues concerning the application procedure contact Ms. Bettina Wedde, The Doctoral School at The Faculty of Medicine, email: bew@adm.aau.dk , phone: +45 9940 9909.
For more information of the The Doctoral School in Medicine, Biomedical Science and Technology: http://www.medicine.aau.dk/doctoral-school/

The application is only to be submitted online by using the “Apply online” button below.
AAU wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background or belief.

Agreement

Appointment and salary as a PhD fellow are according to the Ministry of Finance Circular of 28 June 2019 on the Collective Agreement for Academics in Denmark, Appendix 5, regarding PhD fellows, and with the current Circular of 11 December 2019 on the employment structure at Danish universities.

Vacancy number

21-22087

Deadline

01/11/2022

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Aalborg University uses an electronic recruitment system for receiving applications. Towards the bottom in the respective job advertisement you will find a link, which you need to use when applying for the position. Before uploading your application it is important that you have all relevant documentation ready in a Word or PDF format, as you need to upload all material at the same time. You cannot leave the application and return to it a couple of hours later without having to start over.

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