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General Syllabus for Postgraduate (Third-Cycle) Studies in Rehabilitation Engineering

The Board of the Faculty of Engineering LTH at Lund University adopted this curriculum on November 3, 2008.

1. Description

Rehabilitation and Habilitation Engineering (referred to here as "Rehabilitation Engineering") focuses on people with disabilities. It is an interdisciplinary field where the epistemologically separate branches of technology, natural sciences, humanities, social sciences and medicine intersect.

Human needs, wishes and dreams are the starting points for Rehabilitation Engineering; its most important yardstick is the enjoyment and benefit it brings to users and others in their surroundings. The process thus begins and ends with the individual. At the same time, the methods, and to some extent the language, are that of technology – it is in the technological solutions and their design that it becomes evident both how problems are interpreted and what the actual implementations end up being, when we make the most of technological and educational possibilities.

Rehabilitation Engineering is even more clearly focused on human needs than technology is in general. When it concerns people with disabilities, it becomes apparent hat technology must be adapted to humans and not the opposite, for they cannot compensate for the shortcomings of technology as others so often do. That is why research on functionality and useworthiness is so highly prioritized.

A high level of stringency and awareness regarding theory, method and ethics is required because of the strong research focus on both technology and people. This results in the inclusion of widely differing disciplines such as the humanities, behavioral sciences, medicine, natural sciences and technology. The paradigms from these disciplines cannot easily be added together. That is why there is an ongoing and comprehensive effort to carve out on one hand a common theoretical and methodological foundation, and on the other, a visible variation on this common foundation for each specific thesis.

Positioning of Rehabilitation Engineering 
We endeavour to create useworthy technology by designing side by side with those who will benefit from our efforts. There is seldom a quick fix and behind the results achieved, there is an ongoing development of theory and methodology. In everyday situations, however, we often let the artefacts and results speak for themselves.

Positioning in the field requires an indication of boundaries, but the boundaries between related research fields can be "disabling" in themselves, especially for the person who is directly affected. After all, problems are seldom just medical or social or technical/pedagogical – there is simply a problem that needs to be solved. To highlight Certec's role in this, it is important to first show how we relate to other disability models before presenting the rehabilitation engineering one.        

Relation to the social model
There are two separate, previously established models in disability research. One is the social model, which places the affected person in focus and views disability as something that is primarily defined and maintained by societal norm concepts. Social model research is not tied to any kind of "social technology"; on the contrary it has, if anything, distanced itself from the field of design and technology.

Certec acts in the spirit of thesocial model and carries out research on the design of useworthy technology, technology that can satisfy human dreams, wishes and needs, while the self-image of the individual continuously improves. The greatest difference in relation to the social model, and the essential addition from our approach, is that rehabilitation engineering (like all other technological research) is characterized by action research, an effort not only tounderstand in order to do but to do in order to understand. The actual, and even more so the potential influences of artefacts on humans and cultures today are irrefutable. For the situated individual – the person in his or her overall setting and situation – technical assistance is in no way an antithesis to human assistance. The most personalized assistance in all likelihood is a personalized combination of human and technical assistance, which in addition has to be able to work together.    

Relation to the medical model
The second model is the medical model, based on diagnoses and treatment, and is tied to medical technology. Since at Certec we proceed from the lived need rather than from the diagnostic need, we do not have many points in common with the medical model – but they do indeed exist. And when the actual solutions are such things as surgically implanted electrodes, medical technology and rehabilitation technology have considerable overlap. 

Rehabilitation engineering a field of its own
From a design perspective, the pedagogical and technological "doings" are beyond what we can derive from the medical and social models. Pedagogy and technology have their own theories and methods that often arrive at results unachievable through medical or social efforts. Certec's main contribution is a rehabilitation model, a model for the design of useworthy technology.

More on this can be found in:

2. Aim of third-cycle (doctoral) studies at LTH

In addition to the objectives stated in the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance, The Board of LTH established the following aim for third-cycle studies on 15 February 2007.

The overall aim of third-cycle studies at LTH is to contribute to social development and prosperity by meeting the needs of industry, academia and society for staff with third-cycle qualifications. LTH shall primarily provide education leading to a PhD or licentiate in the fields of LTH's professional degrees. The programmes are first and foremost intended for the education of engineers and architects. The programmes are designed to encourage the personal development and the individual's unique qualities.

Characteristics of an individual with a third-cycle degree from LTH are:

  • proficiency in scientific theories and methods and in a critical, scientific approach
  • both breadth and depth of knowledge within the subject area of his or her third-cycle studies 

The programmes aim to develop:

  • creativity and independence with the ability to formulate advanced research issues, solve problems and plan, carry out and evaluate projects within a set timeframe
  • openness to change
  • personal networks, both national and international
  • social skills and communication skills
  • teaching ability
  • innovation skills, leadership and entrepreneurship

In order to enable students to achieve these good qualities, LTH provides the following:

  • high-quality supervision and a good social conditions for study in a creative environment
  • a good balance between basic and applied research with openness to society
  • a range of advanced third-cycle courses at the department and faculty level
  • a good balance between courses and work on the thesis
  • research findings presented at national and international conferences and in internationally recognized journals, or by another equivalent method which leads to wide exposure and circulation
  • opportunities to spend time in international research environments for short or long periods 

3. Learning outcomes for third-cycle studies

The learning outcomes for third-cycle studies are given in the Higher Education Ordinance.

3.1 Licentiate

Knowledge and understanding
For a Licentiate degree the third-cycle student shall:

  • demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the field of research, including current specialist knowledge in a limited area of this field as well as specialised knowledge of research methodology in general and the methods of the specific field of research in particular.

Competence and skills
For a Licentiate degree the third-cycle student shall:

  • demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues with scholarly precision critically, autonomously and creatively, and to plan and use appropriate methods to undertake a limited piece of research and other qualified tasks within predetermined time frames in order to contribute to the formation of knowledge as well as to evaluate this work 
  • demonstrate the ability in both national and international contexts to present and discuss research and research findings in speech and writing and in dialogue with the academic community and society in general, and  
  • demonstrate the skill required to participate autonomously in research and development work and to work autonomously in some other qualified capacity. 

Judgement and appoach
For a Licentiate degree the third-cycle student shall:

  • demonstrate the ability to make assessments of ethical aspects of his or her research
  • demonstrate insight into the possibilities and limitations of research, its role in society and the responsibility of the individual for how it is used , and
  • demonstrate the ability to identify the personal need for further knowledge and take responsibility for his or her ongoing learning. 

3.2 Doctor of Philosophy

Knowledge and understanding
For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy the third-cycle student shall:

  • demonstrate broad knowledge and systematic understanding of the research field as well as advanced and up-to-date specialised knowledge in a limited area of this field, and
  • demonstrate familiarity with research methodology in general and with the methods of the specific field of research in particular.   

Competence and skills
For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy the third-cycle student shall:

  • demonstrate the capacity for scholarly analysis and synthesis as well to review and assess new and complex phenomena, issues and situations autonomously and critically
  •  demonstrate the ability to identify and formulate issues with scholarly precision critically, autonomously and creatively, and to plan and use appropriate methods to undertake research and other qualified tasks within predetermined time frames and to review and evaluate such work
  • demonstrate through a dissertation the ability to make a significant contribution to the formation of knowledge through his or her own research
  • demonstrate the ability in both national and international contexts to present and discuss research and research findings authoritatively in speech and writing and in dialogue with the academic community and society in general
  •  demonstrate the ability to identify the need for further knowledge, and
  •  demonstrate the capacity to contribute to social development and support the learning of others both through research and education and in some other qualified professional capacity.

Judgement and approach
For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy the third-cycle student shall:

  • demonstrate intellectual autonomy and disciplinary rectitude as well as the ability to make assessments of research ethics, and
  • demonstrate specialised insight into the possibilities and limitations of research, its role in society and the responsibility of the individual for how it is used.

4. Admission requirements

To be admitted to doctoral studies in the Rehabilitation Engineering the student must have been awarded a second-cycle degree with a content that is relevant to the subject of the third-cycle studies.

Finally, the student must be judged to have the potential to complete the programme.

Exemptions from the admission requirements may be granted by the Board of LTH.

5. Selection procedure

Admission to third-cycle studies is based on the student’s potential to profit from such studies.

The assessment of potential in accordance with the first paragraph is made primarily on the basis of academic results from the first and second cycle. Special attention is paid to the following:

  1. Knowledge and skills relevant to the work on the thesis and the subject of study. These may be demonstrated through documents appended to the application and possibly at an interview.
  2. An assessment of ability to work independently and to formulate and tackle research problems. The assessment could be made on the basis of the student’s degree project and a discussion of this at a possible interview.
  3. Written and oral communication skills
  4. Other experience relevant to the third-cycle studies, e.g. professional experience.

6. Degree requirements   

Third-cycle studies lead to a PhD or, if the student wishes or if it has been specified in the decision on admission, to a licentiate. The student also has the right to complete a licentiate as a stage in his or her third-cycle studies, but is not obliged to do so.

Requirements for a licentiate degree are:

  • successful completion of courses of at least 30 credits, and
  • an approved scientific thesis of a scope corresponding to studies of at least 60 credits

The thesis and courses together shall correspond to at least 120 credits.

Requirements for a doctoral degree are:

  • successful completion of courses of at least 60 credits, and
  • an approved scientific thesis of a scope corresponding to studies of at least 120 credits

The thesis and courses together shall correspond to at least 240 credits.

7. Courses

The programme is to include courses. For each course, an examiner at the department shall be appointed, who is to deliver the course. The examiner shall draw up a written syllabus which states the course title in Swedish and English, the aim of the course, the course content and the number of credits.

The individual study plan is to include details of which courses the individual student shall or may include in his or her studies and how many credits for each course may be included in the degree. Courses taken at other faculties or universities/colleges may also be included in the study plan.

8. Thesis

The programme shall include a research project documented in a licentiate or doctoral thesis.

In most cases, the dissertation/thesis is primarily based on articles that can be or have been published in scientific journals.

The doctoral student shall also publish during his or her studies in publications aimed at relevant disability groups, and should be able to express him or herself in a language that pertains to the people in question.

The student shall be encouraged to subject his/her work to scrutiny from the various branches of science that are part of or relate to the topic of the thesis.

The thesis shall contain a section that focuses directly on the relevant disabled people and those around them. This should include an analysis of why the thesis has been carried out in the area in question, its purpose in plain language, and how the findings can be anticipated to lessen or compensate for (totally or in part) the effects of the disability in question.

For some students, most of the scholarly research will deal with the development of genuinely new and relevant rehabilitation technology and methods, while a lesser portion will involve an analysis of user effects. For others the opposite will be true.

8.1 Licentiate dissertation
Prior to receiving a licentiate, the student shall have presented his or her research at at least one international scientific conference. 

The licentiate thesis will be presented at a seminar open to the public at which printed copies are available. The principal supervisor will appoint a discussion leader. This person is to have thorough knowledge of the subject, examine the thesis in detail and during the seminar express constructive criticism. The thesis may be defended in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian or English.

8.2 Doctoral thesis
Prior to receiving a PhD, the student will present his or her research at at least two international scientific conferences.

If the student has completed a licentiate degree, the thesis normally constitutes a part of the doctoral thesis.  

The doctoral thesis will be presented and defended orally in public by the doctoral student at which printed copies are available. Prior to the oral defense, the relevant faculty board will appoint an examining committee, an opponent and a chair for the public defense. The chair determines the order of the public defense. The thesis may be defended in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian or English.   

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