Skeletal muscle performance in basic and applied exercise studies
Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen
This course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD Students from NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at a Danish university, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. This also applies to PhD students from NorDoc member faculties. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to applicants on the waiting list.
Long Course title Skeletal muscle performance in basic and applied exercise studies – in health, aging, and disease
Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
1. identify human adaptations to physical performance
2. understand how to measure physical performance in interventions studies as well as larger cohort studies
3. identify possibilities, challenges, and limitations when measuring physical performance in healthy as well as diseased populations
4. design studies with focus on skeletal muscle adaptations and define outcome measures in such studies
Content
Through the course, the participants will be introduced to factors that affect physical work capacity, with an emphasis on muscle mass, strength, function, and aerobic capacity. The topic of the course will be highlighted in healthy people as well as patient groups. Furthermore, focus will be placed on how to measure physiological variables (muscle strength, muscle power, muscle mass, muscle function, and oxygen uptake), both in a clinical setting as well as in larger cohorts.
The course consists of lectures and practical hands-on experience with methods to measure muscle mass, muscle strength, muscle function, and aerobic capacity. The topic of the course and the experience with the methods will be put into practice through case-based group work, with focus on study design with physical work capacity as a primary outcome.
Participants
The course is for clinicians as well as human physiologists who seek insight into factors that affect functional ability and knowledge of how to measure physical capacity.
Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD students from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:
Basic and Clinical Research in Musculoskeletal Sciences
Basic Metabolic Research
Clinical Cancer Research
Language
English
Form
Lectures, presentations, group work, discussions, and exercises
Course director
Jakob Agergaard, Senior Researcher, PhD, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Hospital, jakob.agergaard@regionh.dk
Teachers
Professor Per Aagaard, Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark
Professor Mette Aadahl, Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital and Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen
Professor Lars Andersen, National Research Centre for the Working Environment
Professor Michael Kjær, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital and Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen
Professor Morten Tange Kristensen, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen and Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Bispebjerg-Frederiksberg Hospital
Senior Researcher Monika Bayer, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital
Senior Researcher Rene Svensson, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital
Associate Professor Christian Have Dall, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen
Project manager Mikkel Hansen, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen
Postdoc Anne Theil Gates, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital
Postdoc Anne-Sofie Agergaard, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital
Postdoc Kenneth Mertz, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital
Ph.D. Rikke Høffner, Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, and Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Bispebjerg-Frederiksberg Hospital
PhD. Theresa Bieler, Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Bispebjerg-Frederiksberg Hospital
Ph.D. Sports Physiologist, Peter Møller Christensen, Team Denmark
Ph.D. student, Tue Rømer, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Team Denmark
Dates
20-22 April 2026
Course location
Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Hospital, Nielsine Nielsensvej 11, 2400 Copenhagen NV
Registration
Please register before Please register before 12 March 2026
Expected frequency
Yearly – next time Spring 2027
Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules. Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrolment.
Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor.