THP320 Practical training in research and development projects (Spring 2025)

Introduction

This is a course that can be completed by 3rd year bachelor students and master students.

The course can be completed at any time by agreement with the supervisor.

The student will be connected to an ongoing research project at the institute, where one follows and participates in the practical implementation of the project's experimental part. The leader of the project acts as a supervisor, often in collaboration with the students involved, PhD students and engineers.

Through the course, the student will get a practical introduction to processes related to the completion of a scientific study. It includes the use of quantitative methods within research traditions in the natural sciences, and medicine/health sciences. Emphasis will be placed on the practical basis for methods and practical approaches within sports physiology and biomechanics, sports technology and sports medicine. The students will develop knowledge of how to work with scientific studies in practice. The course qualifies for supervised research work on sports-related issues, and gives students the tools to evaluate and apply different methods in a purely practical way.

Learning outcomes

After completing this course, the student should be able to

• demonstrate practical skills linked to a scientific experiment.

• handle the informed consent, as well as provide written and oral information to the subjects involved.

• inform about inclusion and exclusion criteria for potential participants in a scientific experiment, including health screening of test subjects.

• have an understanding of how to ensure the quality of selected scientific methods in practice.

• carry out experiments in accordance with the research protocol, including handling deviations.

• account for data collection, data storage, data handling and GPDR, as well as give feedback to subjects about their own results and the project's results.

• apply practical experience with research work in teams that include all involved, internal as well as any external actors.

Learning methods and activities

The forms of work will be group work in the research team and practical work with the organization of subjects and carrying out experiments in the laboratories.

Work requirements

Overall, the scope of work amounts to 120 and 150 working hours, primarily with practical experimental work in the laboratories.

Final report in which the applied research design is explained with a detailed method description including ethical aspects, inclusion and exclusion criteria, subjects' characteristics, conducted experiments and any intervention, inclusion and exclusion of data, data quality and data storage.

Assessment/exam

• Completed practical work passed/ not passed

• Report assesed passed/ not passed.