Student Projects

Modern medicine increasingly focuses not only on diagnosing and managing illness, but also on supporting individuals’ resilience, the capacity to withstand, recover from, or adapt to diverse health-related stressors. Despite its importance, the concept of resilience remains inconsistently defined and applied across different health disciplines. This limits its translation into research, clinical practice, and public health. To address this gap, our team recently developed the SSRO Framework [1], a generic resilience framework designed to guide resilience research in medicine and foster a shared language across disciplines. The framework essentially emphasies four core elements for studying resilience: the Stressor, the System under study, the Resilience resources and mechanisms, and the Outcomes of interest. The next stage of our work is to investigate how usable, understandable, and acceptable the SSRO framework is across different disciplines and communities, including clinicians, epidemiologists, physiologists, ageing scientists, and translational researchers. [1] https://osf.io/preprints/osf/7sb6p_v1

Project Tasks: 1. Design the usability study o Develop the overall study protocol including questionnaires to assess usability and acceptability of the SSRO Framework. 2. Recruit and engage study participants o Advertise the study through appropriate networks and online channels. o Contact potential participants (e.g., clinicians, researchers, epidemiologists). o Provide participants with a clear explanation of the SSRO Framework and guide them through applying the framework to a resilience-related study example. o Collect completed questionnaires and qualitative feedback. 3. Analyse and summarise the study results o Perform analyses of study outcomes. o Summarise findings in a structured report. o Prepare and deliver a presentation of the key results. 4. Contribute to scientific dissemination o Support, and potentially lead, the development of a research article based on the study findings. Your Profile: We are looking for a motivated and curious student with a strong interest in the concept of resilience in medicine and health sciences. You should be enthusiastic about working with conceptual frameworks and exploring how they are understood and used across disciplines. The ideal candidate has: • Interest in qualitative or mixed-methods research • Strong communication and coordination skills, as the project involves engaging with clinicians, researchers, and other stakeholders. • Ability to work independently, manage tasks efficiently, and take initiative in a research process. • Comfort working remotely, as supervision will be provided collaboratively by three institutions (ETH Zurich, Radboud University Medical Center, and University of Jyväskylä). • Good organisational and writing skills, with an interest in contributing to scientific dissemination. Experience with qualitative analysis or survey platforms is an advantage but not required. What We Offer: • Supervision by an international team of experts from ETH Zurich, Radboud University Medical Center, and the University of Jyväskylä, providing exposure to multiple perspectives and research cultures. • A highly relevant and timely research topic, with the opportunity to contribute to shaping how resilience is understood and applied in medicine and health sciences. • Flexibility in working mode, including the option to carry out the entire project remotely. • Regular guidance and feedback, while also giving you space to develop your own ideas and lead key components of the project. • Opportunities for scientific contribution, including the possibility to co-author and potentially lead a research article emerging from this study.

Supervisors: Dr. Deepak K. Ravi (ETH Zurich); Dr. René JF Melis (Radboud University Medical Center); Dr. Kaisa Koivunen (University of Jyväskylä); To apply: Please send a cover letter outlining your motivation and experience in the topic, CV and a transcript of records to Deepak K. Ravi (deepak.ravi@hest.ethz.ch). Questions regarding the position should also be directed to Deepak. Note: This is an unpaid research position. We are particularly interested in students who wish to carry out this project as part of their formal study requirements.