Secondment #7: Julia
Our fellow Julia is telling us about her secondment at the Radboud University. Julia is doing her PhD project at the Aix-Marseille University, Institute of Movement Science.
"I recently completed a one-month secondment at Radboud University, where I was co-hosted by the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour (under the supervision of Richard van Wezel) and the Behavioural Science Institute (under the supervision of Fred Hasselman. Sharing my stay between these two institutes was very enriching and stimulating, and it definitely benefited my doctoral project.
At the Donders Institute, I had the opportunity to visit many laboratories and exchange ideas with specialists in motor control and other areas of neuroscience. These discussions provided valuable feedback on my work and my future experiments. I also visited several research and clinical facilities, including Sint Maartenskliniek (with Noel Keijsers), Radboud University Medical Centre (with Nienke Gerards), and the University of Twente. During these visits, I observed research involving clinical populations and cutting-edge technologies such as rehabilitation exoskeletons, sensory-feedback socks, and portable EEG systems. I even participated in several experiments, both as an observer and as a participant.
During my stay at the Behavioural Science Institute, I exchanged ideas with specialists working on the complexity approach and learnt about a wide range of applications of this framework beyond the domain of motor control. In addition, I attended a course on complexity measures in behavioural data, led by Fred Hasselman, which provided valuable theoretical and methodological insights that I can apply directly to my project.
My stay in Nijmegen was a very enriching experience, both professionally and personally, thanks to my supervisors and my two fellow TReND DCs, Ajša Džindo and Léa Obrecht. In my spare time, I explored different Dutch cities, visited Castle De Haar, experienced a carnival in Maastricht, and, of course, ate lots of cheese and Stroopwafels 😊. Returning to Marseille, I feel inspired and motivated to integrate the knowledge gained during this secondment into the next stages of my research."