Fully- Funded PhD: Understanding movement goal priorities in adaptive gait: A pathway to integrated falls prevention strategies

We are constantly balancing different movement goals as we walk through the world – maintaining stability, moving efficiently, and perhaps hurrying to catch a bus! Suboptimal control of gait can lead to a trip or fall - a major cause of injury, loss of independence and mortality, particularly in older adults. This PhD studentship offers an exciting opportunity to explore how people trade off different movement goals during locomotion in complex environments across the lifespan, and how these choices may influence falls risk in older adults.

The successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary supervisory team passionate about using science to improve people’s lives. They will gain hands-on experience working with adult participants across a wide age range and develop expertise in advanced biomechanical data collection and analysis techniques (e.g. optical motion capture, inertial measurement, electromyography) in the state-of-the-art Institute of Sport laboratories at Manchester Metropolitan University. The project will also provide opportunities to design and deliver innovative movement-based interventions.

The student will be encouraged and supported to present their work at national and international conferences, publish in leading scientific journals, and take advantage of a wide range of training and development opportunities within an inclusive, friendly and dynamic doctoral community.

Project aims and objectives

The aim of this PhD project is to understand how people balance different movement goals such as stability, energy economy and speed when walking in challenging situations - and to explore whether this balance differs in people with a history of falls. The objectives are to determine the biomechanical, psychological and environmental factors that influence movement goal priorities, identify which adaptive walking tasks best reveal them, and test whether training or other interventions can shift how people prioritise different movement goals. The findings will support new approaches to improving balance and preventing falls.