Are you passionate about physical activity, ageing, health and sports? And would you like to know more about how exercise and nutrition influences health, performance and disease?

Then Human Movement Sciences could just be the programme for you.

It covers all aspects of the relationship between physical activity and health – from patients trying to get better, to individuals just trying to stay fit, to top athletes aiming for the pinnacle of their sport. The programme offers a great deal of variety, with courses covering themes as diverse as nutrition, muscle & brain function, energy production and metabolic profiling. Because of this variety of courses and an individual 4-5 month research-driven internship/placement, you can pursue your own interests within the programme. Upon graduation, you will be well-prepared to work as a researcher, product developer, exercise scientist or trainer at, for example, a rehabilitation institute or a major sporting club. 

Why this programme?

On the one hand, exercise and physical activity are means to get or stay healthy. How can we combat health problems using knowledge of the biological and biophysical mechanisms involved in physical activity? On the other hand, physical activity, mobility and performance can also be an aim in itself. How can we help older people to remain mobile and independent? And how can we train athletes to become Olympic champions? As a Human Movement Sciences student, you will learn to apply biological knowledge of cells, tissues, organs and entire organisms to address such questions.

Exercise and physical activity for health and performance:

Human beings were designed for daily physical activity. But in the modern world our sedentary lifestyle has led to chronic diseases like obesity, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Governments are increasingly recognising the importance of physical activity as a public health issue. Understanding the biological basis of health benefits will aid in tackling these problems. 

This programme covers all aspects of the relationship between physical activity, health and performance – from patients trying to get better, to individuals just trying to stay fit, to top athletes aiming for the pinnacle of their sport.

Tailor your degree to your ambitions:

The programme is versatile, providing a large offering of courses on themes as diverse as nutrition and exercise, muscle and brain function, motion analysis of movement disorders and metabolic profiling. Within the set courses, you will also have plenty of opportunity to concentrate on specific areas of interest.

So whether you would like to become a sports counsellor, work as an exercise scientist or even plan to start your own company in exercise promotions after you graduate, the programme ensures that you can obtain all the academic knowledge and skills you need to get your career off to a great start.

Key topics of the programme:

The key topics/themes of the programme are:

• healthy living
• biomechanics in health and disease
• exercise physiology in ageing and sports
• neuroscience methods in rehabilitation
• sports nutrition
• academic reading, writing and presenting
• designing and performing academic research

Master’s thesis:

The second part of the programme is devoted to your internship and master’s thesis. During this period, you'll get to do research yourself. In the past, students have written theses on topics as diverse as:

• Assessing aerobic capacity in children with asthma.
• Testing serious gaming applications for fall prevention.
• 3D motion analysis of athletic performance.
• Metabolic profiling in patients with obesity and diabetes.
• Testing efficacy of sports nutrition supplements for recovery and performance.
• Determining return to sports following rehabilitation after ACL rupture.