The Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences in the Faculty of Psychology and Sport Science at the University of Münster, Germany, is seeking to fill the position of a
Research Associate (Wissenschaftliche*r Mitarbeiter*in, salary level E 13 TV-L)
for the externally funded project Ankle ReLoad commencing on 1 April 2026. We are offering a fixed-term part-time position (80%) for 3 years and 5 month. Project background Every year, approximately 105,000 patients in Germany and the Netherlands are treated for ankle fractures, most of them between 35 and 65 years old. In addition to the personal impact, these injuries lead to considerable societal costs due to lost workdays. Clinical evidence shows that active ankle joint loading significantly improves recovery. However, the optimal loading intensity is still unknown: excessive loading may delay healing, while insufficient loading limits functional recovery. The Interreg collaboration project Ankle ReLoad aims to develop a wearable measurement system capable of assessing ankle joint loading in home-based rehabilitation using a minimal number of sensors. Highprecision laboratory measurements of full-body movement and external forces will serve as the foundation for training predictive models. Using machine learning, these models will estimate joint loads from wearable sensor data and provide personalised feedback to patients and clinicians via a digital application. You will work at the interface of movement analysis, biomechanical modelling, software development, and AI-based data analysis, collaborating closely with engineers, movement scientists, and clinicians. Your responsibilities include technical support for experiments, integrating recorded signals into the musculoskeletal model Myonardo, and calculating body loads. You will develop a database for storing and sharing measured and processed data. In addition, you will work with machine-learning developers to implement body-load prediction algorithms into the musculoskeletal model.
Your tasks:
- Collaboration in the externally funded project Ankle ReLoad.
- Develop and implement data-processing pipelines to integrate kinematic and kinetic data into a musculoskeletal computer model.
- Contribute to the design, setup, and execution of experimental measurements
- Perform inverse-dynamics analyses to calculate internal ankle-joint forces and moments and prepare reference datasets for machine-learning model training.
- Develop and maintain a structured database for model training, documentation, and validation.
- Support the design, training and validation of machine-learning models for estimating joint loading from reduced sensor configurations (in collaboration with the University of Twente).
- Benchmark and optimise computational performance for offline and near-real-time load estimation.
- Contribute to scientific publications and conference presentations.
- Collaboration in acquiring additional third-party funding
Our expectations:
Essential
- Master’s degree (MSc) in Movement Science, Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Computational Science, Sports Engineering, or a closely related field.
- Strong skills in programming and data analysis (e.g., Python, MATLAB, C# or similar).
- Familiarity with motion-capture, wearable sensors, EMG and force-plate data.
- Background in 3D-musculoskeletal modelling, inverse dynamics, and signal processing.
- Experience with sensitive data, database implementation and automating AI components within backend structures
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary, international environment. - Excellent written and spoken English
Desirable
- Experience with machine learning or data-driven modelling.
- At least 2 years of experience in clinical biomechanics or experimental motion analysis.
- Interest in clinical rehabilitation contexts and hands-on data collection.
- Experience in project management
- German and Dutch spoken language skills.
We offer:
- A fully funded 80% position for 3 years within an international and interdisciplinary research consortium under the Interreg Germany–Netherlands program, with the opportunity to obtain a doctor´s degree.
- Access to state-of-the-art motion analysis laboratories meeting international standards.
- Close supervision by experts in biomechanics, rehabilitation, data science, and medicine.
- Opportunities for international collaboration, scientific publications, and conference participation.
- Contribution to an applied research project with direct clinical and societal relevance, improving recovery after ankle injuries.
Advantages for you:
- Appreciation, commitment, openness and respect – values which are important to us.
- Our broad range of diverse work-time models offers great flexibility – also when working from home.
- If you have family members or young children in your care, our Family Service Office offers concrete support to help you balance your private and professional responsibilities.
- As an educational institution, we are deeply committed to offering occupational training and continuing education opportunities tailored to your individual needs.
- From A – Z, Aikido to Zumba, our sport and health programmes ensure a healthy work-life balance.
- As a university employee, you are entitled to numerous benefits afforded to public servants, e.g. an attractive company pension scheme (VBL), an annual end-of-year bonus and a position that is shielded from economic fluctuations.
The University of Münster strongly supports equal opportunity and diversity. We welcome all applicants regardless of sex, nationality, ethnic or social background, religion or worldview, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity. We are committed to creating family-friendly working conditions.
We actively encourage applications by women. Women with equivalent qualifications and academic achievements will be preferentially considered unless these are outweighed by reasons which necessitate the selection of another candidate.
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Rosemary Dubbeldam (r.dubbeldam@uni-muenster.de).
Are you interested? Then we look forward to receiving your application by 2026-01-02 at:
Universität Münster
Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences
Prof. Dr. Heiko Wagner
Horstmarer Landweg 60b
48149 Münster
Germany
Please send your application electronically in PDF format to a.dalhaus@uni-muenster.de.
Please note that we cannot consider other file formats.
Reference number: 2025_12_18
