Interdisciplinary Aspects of Healthy Aging

General introduction to the course
As populations age, we need to understand how to ensure life-course processes that enable older adults to live independently in good health, stay engaged in social relationships within families and communities, and uphold social roles important to well-being.

From the molecular basis to the politics determining the societal resource allocations, all aspects of ageing have an inherit concept of sustainability. This include the decision of cells to become senescent to avoid becoming cancer cells, the clinical decision of weighing a life extending treatment against a loss of life quality due to side effects, and the societal decision of when an individual is allowed to depart the labor market.

At this international summer course, you will explore the concept of sustainable ageing through an interdisciplinary lens and combine research results and concepts from the humanities, social sciences, epidemiology, neurology, physiology, public health, and molecular biology. You will be able to identify your most important stake holders and how to reach them through dissemination events, publication strategies and grant applications.

Objectives & course format
The primary objective is to gain interdisciplinary knowledge and research experience in the field of aging to better understand how elderly people can preserve their vitality and enjoy a robust older age. We will focus on the concept of sustainable aging throughout the course.

Over three weeks, you will meet engaged and highly skilled researchers and work with ambitious students from a wide range of academic backgrounds and countries. The course provides experience with interdisciplinary work and aging research under the supervision of researchers from Center for Healthy Aging at the University of Copenhagen. The course is offered as part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) Courses.

After the course, the participants will gain:

Knowledge:
- On aging as a complex phenotype that necessitates research integrating concepts from the humanities, social sciences, epidemiology, neurology, physiology, public health, and molecular biology.
- On defining the necessary methods that can be used to conduct aging research.
- On the principles for carrying out interdisciplinary aging research.

Skills:
- To evaluate and discuss the essential concepts of sustainable aging from an interdisciplinary perspective.
- To critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of aging research presented in the course.
- To discuss and evaluate research methods presented.
- To synthesize and present current knowledge and practical experiences into a research proposal.
- To transform a research proposal into a grant application.

Competences:
- To independently adapt to a new environment and take responsibility for professional development.
- To collaborate and effectively communicate with peers from different disciplines.
- To critically evaluate, to acquire new knowledge, and to reflect on how this can be incorporated into other contexts.
- To evaluate presentations on research proposals of peers.

On-campus module 9 - 27 August 2021
Exam  27 August 2021
Credit points  5 ECTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IARU Summer Schools