MSCA-IF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Physical Education and Sport

Professor Palma Chillón Garzón, from the Department of Physical Education and Sport at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF) in 2019 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (more information: http://sl.ugr.es/09Qg).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. It serves more than 60000 students per year, including many foreign students, as UGR is the leader host institution in the Erasmus program. UGR, featuring 3650 professors and more than 2000 auxiliary personnel, offers a total of 75 degrees through its 112 departments and 28 centers.

UGR is also a leading institution in research, located in the top 5/10 of Spanish universities by a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, or international funding. UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking (http://www.arwu.org/), and it is also well recognized for its web presence (http://www.4icu.org/top200/).

Internationally, we bet decidedly by our participation in the calls of H2020, both at partner and coordination. For the duration of the Seventh Framework Programme, the UGR has obtained a total of 66 projects, with total funding of 17.97 million euros, and for H2020, until 2015, more than 25 projects with total funding of more than 6 million euros. Our more than 3,000 researchers are grouped into 365 research groups covering all scientific fields and disciplines.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group

The PROFITH research group (no. CTS-977) is a young, enthusiastic and highly competitive group. Our overall goal is to advance the current scientific knowledge in a way that contributes to create a healthier society by means of examining the beneficial effects of physical activity on individuals’ health with and without disease and of any age.

Our main research lines/interests are:

• Active commuting: methods, determinants and consequences
• Epidemiology of physical activity and health
• Assessment of physical fitness
• Assessment of physical activity and sleep
• Exercise’s effects on brown adipose tissue, insulin resistance and obesity
• Exercise’s effects on cognitive performance, academic achievement, and brain structure and function

Project description

The project is based on the research line “active commuting” and was funding by “Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad” in Spain (Ref: DEP2016-75598-R), conducted from 2017-2020.

Low physical activity levels and a high sedentary time determine unhealthy lifestyles among children and adolescents. Active modes of commuting to school (i.e. walking or cycling) might be a daily source of physical activity. Young people who walk or cycle to school have higher physical activity levels, better cardiorespiratory fitness and there is evidence about a better academic performance compared to those who use passive modes of commuting.

The current project pretends three aims: a) to analyze the patterns of the mode of commuting to school in Spanish youth the last two decades, b) to design and study the validity, reliability and feasibility of two questionnaires about mode of commuting to school and correlated variables and of two technological tools mobile-based targeted in parents and youth to promote active commuting, and lastly, c) to study the feasibility at school-setting of the assessment protocol to evaluate mode of commuting to school in order to be retorted in future research and to implement and assess the effect of school-based interventions to promote walking and cycling to school in the cities of Granada, Jaén and Valencia.

The provided results in the current project will offer broad and entire view of the behaviour of active commuting to school that does not exist nowadays. These results will orienter policy makers to implement succesfull strategies to promote active commuting to school behaviours and may be a public health strategy for benefing a society with higher health levels and, in general, higher quality of life.

Research Area

Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Palma Chillón Garzón (pchillon @ugr.es):

• CV

Letter of recommendation (optional)