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GRADUATE STUDENTS
Application deadlines: You are strongly encouraged to have all your application materials submitted by JANUARY 15 (See here). This is because the HK graduate faculty meet in late January to review all complete applications for the next fall semester. This is when the bulk of graduate admissions and funding decisions are made.
The Graduate School application deadline is usually in late April. The requirements for admission to the graduate program are available here.
We are always looking for motivated students to join our labs. Feel free to contact any of the faculty to discuss your research interests and graduate-research possibilities. Current specific graduate-student requirements are posted below.
CURRENT GRADUATE STUDENT POSITIONS
MS Position(s): Aging and the control of movement stability
Multiple MS positions are available in the Biomechanics lab at Purdue starting Fall 2019.
Students will work with participants across the lifespan to understand the effect of healthy aging on the control of movement stability. Students will have the opportunity use motion capture, force plates and force transducers to collect kinematic and kinetic data during manual force production, gait initiation, speech production tasks and during adaptive gait. Continuation to the PhD program is also possible.
The work culture in the motor-behavior group is highly interactive, and students have opportunities to contribute to various ongoing projects.
If interested, please email Dr. Ambike with (1) a letter of interest, (2) a detailed CV, (3) contact information of three references, and (4) GRE and TOEFL scores (if applicable).
Purdue University offers several funding mechanisms for deserving graduate students. Applicants are encouraged to get in touch early to receive full consideration for these opportunities.
Positions in Motor Development.
MS and PhD positions are available in the Motor Development Lab at Purdue starting Fall 2019. The research examines factors that impact postural control in infants and young children as well as examining links between cognitive and motor processes in development.
Our motor-behavior group is highly interactive and collaborative, giving students the opportunity to contribute to a wide variety of projects.
If interested, please email Dr. Claxton with (1) a statement of interest and (2) a detailed CV.
Purdue University offers several funding mechanisms for deserving graduate students. Applicants are encouraged to get in touch early to receive full consideration for these opportunities.
Control of Adaptive Locomotion and Fall Prevention.
MS and PhD positions are available in the Biomechanics Lab at Purdue. The research will examine the interaction of the neural and mechanical systems to develop safe, balanced and skillful movement. Candidates should have a strong first degree in kinesiology or equivalent with clear evidence of laboratory work. Candidates with good oral and written communication skills and strong computational skills (physics, Matlab or similar programming experience) are encouraged to apply.
The work culture in the motor-behavior group is highly interactive and collaborative, and students have opportunities to contribute to various ongoing projects.
If interested, please email Dr. Rietdyk with (1) a statement of interest, (2) a detailed CV, and (3) GRE and TOEFL scores (if applicable).
Purdue University offers several funding mechanisms for deserving graduate students. Applicants are encouraged to get in touch early to receive full consideration for these opportunities.
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
HK at Purdue offers great opportunities for undergraduates to get involved in research. Your path to gaining research experience usually looks as follows.
- First, you identify the faculty member(s) whose work you find exciting. To do this, you can research this website and read about current work happening in the department.
- Next, you contact the faculty persons you would like to work with, and schedule a meeting.
- The faculty person and you will then figure out the optimal way that you can participate in research activities. These interactions will be most fruitful if you approach the faculty with some knowledge of their current research.
- Explore some of the roles you can assume in a research lab. Note that you can work with the faculty on research and obtain credit.
HK444 Motor Function in Older Adults: An Intergenerational Service Learning Course
The goal of this course is to understand age-related changes in motor function and the consequence to balance and mobility. The success of interventions designed to improve motor function will be examined. This course provides hands-on experience in balance training with older adults; the labs are a series of real-life case studies that are planned, conducted, and assessed by the students.
HK444 - student comment
"I just finished my first week of PT school! One of my first classes here we spent two hours talking about evaluating cases. Our case was about an older adult with balance issues. It was super easy to evaluate it and come up with hypotheses and interventions. Everything we talked about we already went over in HK 444. I'm sure this will help out with other cases other than older adult population as well. It has helped my confidence in grad school, which is already stressful enough.”
HK496: Independent Inquiry in Movement and Sport Science
This course is designed to provide an experiential learning activity for undergraduate students majoring in Movement and Sport Science. Students will gain hands-on research and presentation experience under the guidance of a supervising faculty member in 
one of the movement and sport science sub-disciplines including biomechanics, exercise physiology, exercise and sport psychology, motor control, motor development, sport history, sport philosophy, and sport administration. Due to the hands-on nature of this course, only a few students work with each instructor, so you should start thinking about this course as a sophomore or junior. Examine the research of each faculty to determine who you are interested in working with. Each faculty member will have their own system for application in order to work with them in this course, please contact them individually. You may view a sample syllabus for this course here. Students who have previously volunteered in research may be more successful in securing a position in HK496.
HK496 - student comment
"Deciding to take HK496 was one of the best decisions I’ve made course wise at Purdue. While initially I didn’t want to take the course specifically because of the presentations at the end of the semester, I am extremely glad I decided to take it. Participating in undergraduate research has allowed me to apply what I’ve learned in class to a real world setting as well as
learn more about the research process as a whole. After helping out in Dr. Roseguini’s lab this year, I’m excited to stay involved with research and plan to do so in the future. As I plan on becoming a physical therapist, this hands on experience was very valuable to me.
I enjoyed getting to see the other students’ presentations because everyone had entirely different research projects they were working on. It was interesting to see how much variety there is in research at Purdue, even in just one specific department.
Having this experience has been beneficial not only to my own learning, but in the process of applying to graduate schools as well. It is a very unique experience on my application that really helps me to stand out and gives me something to discuss in interviews. I think other undergraduate students should be highly encouraged to take HK496, especially if they want to go on to graduate school or get involved with research in the future.”
VOLUNTEERING IN RESEARCH LABS
Students have the opportunity to volunteer in various labs. You are required to dedicate a minimum of three hours a week to the lab of your choice. Research in research lab requires attention to detail, accuracy, reliability and punctuality. Volunteering responsibilities include literature surveys, data collection and data analysis. The type of activity varies. Benefits of volunteering are (a) the experience is likely to strengthen your applications for graduate school and/or jobs, (b) faculty members may be able to provide better reference letters for you, and (c) if you are have demonstrated competency, reliability, and punctuality as a volunteer, you are likely to get a place in future research courses (HK 490; HK 496).
If you are thinking of volunteering, you are encouraged to acquaint yourself with the research described on this website and contact the faculty member of your interest directly.
RESEARCH STUDY PARTICIPANTS
Usually, several studies are being conducted by faculty that require the participation of human subjects. If you are interested in obtaining experience in being a subject in a motor-behavior experiment, please contact the faculty to obtain current information about ongoing studies.
