SFOA09082U Interdisciplinary Aspects of Healthy Aging
General introduction to the course
Recent years have seen increasing interest in understanding healthy aging, the ability of the individual to maintain sufficient physical, mental and social energy to live active and meaningful lives. The course, offered by the Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, on behalf of the IARU network, will focus on exploring the aging phenomena through an interdisciplinary lens with a special focus on the concept of energy, a key component of healthy aging. Energy relates to processes at the cellular as well as the individual level and has not only physical but also important psychological and social dimensions which affect every facet of life. The course will take a starting point in the newly published book, Growing Older Without Feeling Old: On Vitality and Ageing by Professor Rudi Westendorp.
Objectives & Course Format
The objective of this course is to gain interdisciplinary knowledge and research experience in the field of aging to better understand how people can live more energetic lives and enjoy a robust older age. The following sub objectives will be achieved over three weeks in July 2017.
Week one: The main objective in week one is to provide knowledge on the interdisciplinary nature of the aging phenotype and how to evaluate the strengths and limitations of such research. Each CEHA theme will be allotted three lecture hours. The first lecture should give a bird’s eye view of how aging and specifically the concept of energy are conceptualized and worked with in the theme. Two additional lecture hours should be used to delve deeper into disciplinary examples of research conducted in the specific theme, while keeping the interdisciplinary nature of aging research in mind. This could include for example, reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of research within an individual discipline and how said research could benefit from interdisciplinary endeavors. The remainder of week one will be used on student presentations on aging in their own discipline/country taking a starting point in the book Growing Older Without Feeling Old: On Vitality and Ageing.
Week two: The objectives of week two are to bring the students closer to the scientific research process and to give the students the opportunity to design an interdisciplinary research project. In the mornings, the students will carry out hands on research projects in small groups under the supervision of researchers representing CEHA’s three themes. These projects should span the disciplines that comprise CEHA, and thus represent different scientific methods from: laboratory work, to data analysis and qualitative research. All these projects should work with the concept of energy. During the afternoons the students will be grouped in interdisciplinary groups, supervised by top aging researchers, Rudi Westendorp, George Leeson (Oxford Institute of Population Ageing) and Thomas Kirkwood(Newcastle University), who will assist the students in designing an interdisciplinary research project, based on their disciplinary experiences in the hands on morning sessions, the lectures in the first week and the relevant literature.
Week three: The objective in week 3 is to assist the students in exploring how interdisciplinary research projects are defined and evaluated. Within the interdisciplinary student groups, students will write a grant proposal which will be presented and defended in a mock grant trial at the end of the third week. Individual written reports based on the grant proposals will be submitted for evaluation on a pass/fail basis at the end of the course.
After the course, the participants will gain:
Knowledge
- On aging as a complex phenotype that necessitates research integrating concepts from the humanities, social sciences, epidemiology, neurology, physiology and molecular biology.
- On defining the necessary methods that can be used to conduct aging research.
- On the principles for carrying out interdisciplinary aging research.
Skills
- To evaluate and discuss the essential concepts of aging from a interdisciplinary perspective.
- To critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of aging research presented in the course.
- To discuss and evaluate research methods presented.
- To conduct simple experiments, statistical analyses or qualitative analysis under supervision.
- To synthesize and present current knowledge and practical experiences into a research proposal
- To transform a research proposal into a grant application.
Competences
- To independently adapt to a new environment and take responsibility for profession development.
- To collaborate and effectively communicated with peers from different disciplines
- To critically evaluate and acquire new knowledge and to reflect on how this can be incorporated into other contexts.
- To evaluate presentations on research proposals of peers.
Westendorp, Rudi (2015): Growing Older Without Feeling Old: On Vitality and Ageing, Scribe Publications.
Additionally, a number of research articles which vary from year to year, depending on the researchers contributing to the lectures.
Bachelor students in their 3rd year are welcome to apply.
Bachelor students at their 3rd year are welcome to apply.
The course also includes two excursions and two dinners, as part of the social program.
- Category
- Hours
- Class Seminar
- 7
- Exam
- 29
- Lectures
- 20
- Preparation
- 32
- Project work
- 50
- Total
- 138
Please apply via the IARU web site:
http://www.iaruni.org/for-students/global-summer-program
Deadline for registration is established by IARU and Copenhagen Summer University.
- Credit
- 5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Course participationWritten examination- Active participation (80 % attendance) in the course incl. an oral group presentation (defense of the research proposal) and critical evaluation of presentations of peers.
- Written grant application, handed in individually.
Active participation in the research projects, the interdisciplinary work and the oral presentation is a prerequisite for writing the report. - Aid
- All aids allowed
- Marking scale
- passed/not passed
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
- Exam period
The written grant application must be submitted on the last day of the course.
- Re-exam
The students must hand in a written examination, which is a new version of the grant proposal.
Criteria for exam assesment
Knowledge:
- On aging as a complex phenotype that necessitates research integrating concepts from the humanities, social sciences, epidemiology, neurology, physiology and molecular biology.
- On defining the necessary methods that can be used to conduct aging research.
- On the principles for carrying out interdisciplinary aging research.
Skills:
- To evaluate and discuss the essential concepts of aging from an interdisciplinary perspective.
- To critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of aging research presented in the examination.
- To discuss and evaluate research methods presented.
- To synthesize and present current knowledge and practical experiences into a research proposal
- To transform a research proposal into a grant application.
Competences:
- To collaborate and effectively communicated with peers from different disciplines
- To critically evaluate and acquire new knowledge and to reflect on how this can be incorporated into other contexts.
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- SFOA09082U
- Credit
- 5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree MasterFull Degree Master choice
- Duration
- Placement
- Summer
- Schedule
- Full-time schedule
- Course capacity
- 24 participants
The course is offered as part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) Global Summer Program (GSP) http://www.iaruni.org/gsp Thus, priority will be given to IARU Students. - Price
Postgraduate students (MSc) enrolled at:
- UCPH: no tuition fee
- Universities in the EU/EAA: tuition fee of DKK 4,000
- The IARU universities with a GPS exchange agreement with UCPH (ANU, NUS, UTokyo): no tuition fee
- Other non-EU/EAA citizens: tuition fee of DKK 6,250
- Study board
- The Study Board for Public Health Science and Global Health
Contracting departments
- Department of Public Health
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Course responsibles
- Rudi GJ Westendorp
(10-7f6d7b7c6d766c777a78487b7d766c36737d366c73)
Professor of Old Age Medicine - Jolene Lee Masters Pedersen (4-6c7172674275777066306d7730666d)
Public Health
Lecturers
Professor Rudi Westendorp, UCPH
Post Doc Jolene Lee Masters Pedersen, UCPH
Professor Tom Kirkwood, UCPH and Associate Dean for Ageing at
Newcastle University
Professor George Leeson, Oxford University
Additionally, scientists from Center for Healthy Aging (CEHA) at
UCPH.