PhD Scholarship - Movement Metrics for Physical Health
Job No.: 682825
Location: Clayton Campus
Employment Type: Full-time
Duration: 3.5-year fixed-term appointment
Remuneration: The successful applicant will receive a tax-free stipend, at the current value of $36,063 per annum 2025 full-time rate, as per the Monash Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend www.monash.edu/study/fees-scholarships/scholarships/find-a-scholarship/research-training-program-scholarship#scholarship-details
- Be inspired, every day
- Drive your own learning at one of the world’s top 80 universities
- Take your career in exciting, rewarding directions
About the project
Australia's population and its workforce are ageing. In physically demanding workplaces, this trend is particularly concerning, as older workers are more prone to injury. These injuries often stem from movement dysfunctions, such as compensating with the lower back due to poor hip mobility, which can arise from both physical factors (e.g. reduced fitness) and mental factors (e.g. sleep deprivation). Shift workers, including nurses, are especially vulnerable due to the demanding nature of their schedules and tasks.
In collaboration with CSIRO, Australia's national science agency and innovation catalyst, in this exciting project, you will develop novel algorithms to monitor and analyse workers' movements, detect harmful movement patterns, and implement simple intervention strategies to mitigate the risk of injury. You will also conduct user studies in the lab and in the wild to validate and verify the accuracy and performance of the proposed algorithms. Through this project, you will contribute to preventing both acute and chronic musculoskeletal issues, ultimately improving workers' physical and mental well-being.
About the ITTC Centre in Optimal Ageing
The successful candidate will be a member of the Industrial Transformation Training Centre (ITTC) for Optimal Ageing. The Centre is led by Monash University (Turner Institute, Monash Engineering, Monash Faculty of IT) and Federation University. The Centre seeks to inspire and train the next generation of leaders in the area of ageing, by providing direct experience with industry partners, as well as training and master classes in key areas of psychology and health sciences, engineering and information technology. The projects within the Centre are expected to accelerate research translation and industry engagement through the development and application of digital, robotics and sensor-based technology to address key challenges in ageing, which are to enhance cognition, promote independence and foster social connectedness. The expected outcome of this Centre is to equip the trainees with skills that expand Australia’s technical capability and will enable them to make key contributions to the sustainability and growth of the Medtech and Biotech sectors, and to provide significant capacity to address global challenges for 21st century innovation to optimise ageing.
Monash University is a member of Australia’s Group of Eight coalition, and is internationally recognized for excellence in research and teaching as one of the world's top 80 universities. Embedded in an ecosystem of health, academia and industry, it delivers the research outcomes, skilled workforce, technology and partnerships to improve human health locally and globally.
Supervisory team
You will be co-supervised by Dr Pamela Carreno-Medrano https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/pamela-carreno-medrano (primary supervisor);
Professor Dana Kulic https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/dana-kulic (secondary supervisor); and
Dr Simon Harrison https://people.csiro.au/H/S/Simon-Harrison (secondary supervisor).
Eligibility Requirements
Candidates will need to fulfil the Monash University minimum requirements for admission to a PhD detailed here: www.monash.edu/admissions/entry-requirements/minimum.
Candidate Requirements
- Undergraduate honours degree or Master's by research degree in a relevant discipline (Computer Science, Robotics, Engineering or others related to the PhD topic) with a minimum overall average grade of honours equivalent to the Second Class Honours Division A
- Excellent programming and/or robotics background, with a keen interest in human-robot interaction and human motion analysis
- Prior knowledge of machine learning/deep learning applied to motion analysis (e.g., relevant courses and research experience) would be an advantage
- IELTS score of 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in each component
How to apply
For general instructions on how to apply for roles at Monash, please refer to 'How to apply for Monash Jobs'.
To express your interest in this scholarship and PhD research opportunity, we request candidates provide:
- A cover letter describing your research interests and why you would like to undertake a PhD (maximum one page)
- A CV including qualifications, academic achievements, list of publications, work history and references
- A copy of your academic transcript(s)
Enquiries
Dr Karen Little, karen.little@monash.edu, Business Manager, ITTC for Optimal Ageing
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