Course catalogue doctoral education - VT24

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  • Ansökan kan ske mellan 2023-10-16 och 2023-11-15
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Title Stress, Sleep and Health
Course number 5216
Programme Neurovetenskap
Language English
Credits 3.0
Date 2022-10-31 -- 2022-11-11
Responsible KI department Institutionen för klinisk neurovetenskap
Specific entry requirements
Purpose of the course Stress- and sleep disturbances are common in the discourse of modern societies, and can affect wellbeing and health. The purpose of the course is to provide an overview of how stress and sleep affect mental and physical health. The course will also offer an opportunity to develop critical thinking about research findings, and to apply a cross-disciplinary mechanistic perspective across physiological and pathological conditions. The students will be given good opportunities to network with each other and to interact with leading national and international researchers in this area of research.
Intended learning outcomes At the end of the course, the doctoral student shall be able to:
1) understand, describe, and critically discuss central theoretical and empirical issues regarding how stress and sleep affect health, and the basic mechanisms by which this association occurs;
2) critically reflect on the literature in the field;
3) identify knowledge gaps, and design an adequate research plan for a study of the effects of stress and sleep on health, and to critically discuss the chosen design in relation to pertinent literature.
Contents of the course The course will consist of lectures and seminars that will provide an overview of the essential concepts and the research on stress, sleep, and health. In particular, how acute stress, chronic stress, circadian rhythms, and sleep disturbances affect physiological systems such as the immune system and metabolism, and mental health and cognition, will be discussed. Lectures/seminars will also describe neuronal underpinnings of such effects, and possible treatments to improve stress- and sleep-related disorders. Models/tasks to study the effect of stress and sleep will also be presented and discussed.
Teaching and learning activities - Lectures and seminars, which will provide an overview of the essential concepts and the research in the different areas of relevance for the use of the doctoral student in the preparation of the examination assignment (time to prepare the written and oral presentations is included in the course).
- Journal club where specific papers will be discussed
- Meet-the-experts session, where the students will have the opportunity to meet and interact with leading national and international researchers in areas of interest.
- The doctoral student will have access to supervision in the preparation of the written examination

Note that the course will be held in a hybrid form (some teaching activities online, and some teaching activities that are available either on site or online at the student’s choice) if the situation allows it, or online.
Compulsory elements - Written and oral examination
- Participation in the examination seminar. In case of absence from the scheduled examination seminar, another occasion for examination can be arranged as agreed upon with the course leader.

The compulsory elements can be adapted, for instance by providing more support or additional time to finish the assignments, on a case-by-case basis (e.g. students with special needs).
Examination The examinations will consist of short written and oral presentations of a mock research project that is well motivated in background of the current state of knowledge/lack of knowledge in the research area of relevance. The oral presentations will take place during a seminar in the end of the course.

Literature and other teaching material Relevant scientific publications will be provided before the course in Canvas.
Number of students 8 - 30
Selection of students Selection will be based on 1) the relevance of the course syllabus for the applicant's doctoral project (according to written motivation), 2) start date of doctoral studies (priority given to earlier start date)
More information Note that the course will be held in a hybrid form (some teaching activities online, and some teaching activities that are available either on site or online at the student’s choice) if the situation allows it, or online. The compulsory elements can be adapted, for instance by providing more support or additional time to finish the assignments, on a case-by-case basis (e.g. students with special needs).
Additional course leader Mats Lekander mats.lekander@ki.se
Latest course evaluation Course evaluation report
Course responsible Julie Lasselin
Institutionen för klinisk neurovetenskap

julie.lasselin@ki.se
Contact person Mats Lekander
Institutionen för klinisk neurovetenskap

Mats.Lekander@ki.se


Julie Lasselin
Institutionen för klinisk neurovetenskap

julie.lasselin@ki.se