Group Project Title: Improving Outcomes for Children with Cerebral Palsy Project - Funded Interdisciplinary PhD Positions
15th December 2023
This is an interdisciplinary project with four funded PhD positions available. The purpose is to work across disciplines to improve outcomes for children with cerebral palsy (CP). This is a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration. Students will connect across Schools and Faculties in Trinity College Dublin and with external collaborators. The PhD student and supervisory teams will work together in an interdisciplinary manner throughout the project.
PhD1 will have primary supervision in the TCD School of Engineering (Prof Ciaran Simms) and will involve the development of motion analysis methods for examining walking patterns and upper limb movements in children with CP. Specifically, the project will test the use of single camera view marker-less pose estimation with suitable training data to reconstruct walking patterns and upper limb movement in children with cerebral palsy with sufficient accuracy to aid in clinical decision-making. This will run in collaboration with Prof Michelle Spirtos from TCD Discipline of Occupational Therapy, Prof Richard Reilly TCD Engineering and School of Medicine and Dr Damien Kiernan at the Central Remedial Clinic in Dublin. Suitable candidates will have a biomedical engineering or related background with a strong interest in biomechanics, human pose and computer coding (Matlab/python). Interested candidates for PhD1 should please send a CV and cover letter to Prof Ciaran Simms (csimms@tcd.ie).
PhD2 will have primary supervision in Paediatrics in the School of Medicine (Prof Eleanor Molloy and Prof Denise McDonald) and will examine multiorgan function and inflammatory patterns and their relationship with function and quality of life in children with CP. The project will have collaborators across TCD Disciplines including Prof Michelle Spirtos from TCD Discipline of Occupational Therapy. This is a clinical PhD and a medical degree is required. Interested candidates for PhD2 should please send a CV and cover letter to Prof Eleanor Molloy (eleanor.molloy@tcd.ie).
PhD3 will have primary supervision in the Discipline of Occupational Therapy (Prof Michelle Spirtos), School of Medicine and will involve an examination of sleep and children with CP. The PhD study will include a national, whole population sleep survey and a multi-level, in-depth exploration of sleep in a population of children with CP. The project will run in collaboration with Prof Olive Healy TCD School of Psychology and Dr Rory O’Sullivan at the Central Remedial Clinic in Dublin. Suitable candidates will have a strong undergraduate or Masters degree in a related field. Interested candidates for PhD3 should please send a CV and cover letter to Prof Michelle Spirtos (spirtosa@tcd.ie).
PhD4 will have primary supervision in Statistics (Prof Arthur White), in the School of Computer Science and Statistics (SCSS) and will involve creating a latent variable statistical model for health and wellbeing indicators in children with CP. The project will run in collaboration with Prof Jason Wyse, SCSS, Prof Eleanor Molloy and Prof Ciaran Simms. Suitable candidates will have a strong undergraduate (2.1 or above) or Masters degree in mathematics, statistics, or a related field. Experience with R, Python or similar will also be beneficial. Interested candidates for PhD4 should please send a CV and cover letter to Prof Arthur White (arwhite@tcd.ie).
Funding for each PhD is available to cover PhD stipend (€25,000 yearly for four years) and student fees from March 2024 (a September start date may be possible). If you have general queries regarding the project, please email Prof Michelle Spirtos (spirtosa@tcd.ie). Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday, January 24th 2024.