Meet a doctoral student

Karin Forsberg - From the Ski Slopes to the Research Frontier

After several years working as a ski instructor in Norway and Australia, the physiotherapist from Stockholm trained in both Melbourne and at the Karolinska Institute. She is now pursuing a PhD at Luleå University of Technology, where she is researching how virtual reality can be used in the rehabilitation of long-term neck pain – an area she is passionate about, both clinically and scientifically.

What is your background?
– I love alpine skiing and worked for many years as a ski instructor before I started studying to become a physiotherapist. I worked in both Norway and Australia, and when it was time to start my studies, I enrolled in the physiotherapy programme in Melbourne, Australia. I completed roughly half of my education there, then finished my degree at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. I’ve worked clinically as a physiotherapist in Stockholm for about 10 years, across several areas including pain rehabilitation, primary care rehab, and a private physiotherapy clinic. I completed my Master’s degree through Umeå University.
I’m originally from Stockholm, but for the past three years, I’ve been living in Skellefteå with my family.

Why did you want to pursue a PhD?
– I’ve always been interested in research and have had the ambition to go down that path. However, when I qualified as a physiotherapist, I wanted to work clinically and gain experience in the profession first. Then I began my Master’s studies and found the research project, which also focused on neck pain, really exciting.
When we decided to move up north to Skellefteå, I came across an advert for my current position. It felt like it was made for me – both because it was a PhD position, and because the research focused on neck disorders, which aligned perfectly with the topic of my Master’s project. I also found the aspect of using VR incredibly appealing – it felt like a forward-thinking and innovative approach that I believe physiotherapy needs.

What is your research about?
– My research is within the field of physiotherapy and focuses on neck pain and disorders. It’s about how we can use virtual reality (VR) for the assessment and training of the neck, to help people with neck pain. We use VR headsets to carry out assessments and design training programmes for individuals with long-standing neck problems.
VR is a relatively new technology in neck rehabilitation, and research is needed to evaluate how effective it is – both as an assessment tool and as a training method.
It involves a specific type of training called sensorimotor training, which targets the connection between the sensory systems and the muscles, essentially our motor control. Previous research has shown that people with neck pain often have impaired sensorimotor control in the neck, which may contribute to prolonged symptoms. Research in this area is therefore important.
The training in VR stimulates the sensorimotor system through various exercises. These are designed as game-like tasks – for example, you might control a ball through a course in the VR environment using precise head movements. We believe that this is a key strength of VR – it makes rehabilitation more engaging and fun.
VR technology also enables us to measure aspects of sensorimotor function that would previously have required a motion lab. Another benefit is the potential for remote rehabilitation, which adds further value.

What is it like to do a PhD at Luleå University of Technology?
– I think it’s fantastic. I’m constantly challenged and learning so much every day. I work with many talented and driven colleagues. I have an amazing team around me, with excellent supervisors and a great group in the motion lab.
There’s also strong collaboration between departments, which is an advantage of being at a smaller university. For example, in one of our projects, we needed to borrow a robotic arm, and this collaboration made it possible.

What is it like to do research?
– I love doing research. It’s fun to really immerse yourself in a topic. I also enjoy the teamwork involved in research. Another great aspect of doing a PhD is the variety – presenting research in different settings (at conferences, to school groups in the motion lab, etc.), conducting the research project, teaching students, and taking courses myself.

Hanna Forsberg: ”An incredibly stimulating environment”

Hanna Forsberg thrives in academia and had research as the goal even before her master's education. Now, her research is on how children's health can be improved through active school transport, and she feels privileged to spend her time on something she finds so interesting.

What is your background?

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in life, but one summer I had the opportunity to work as a transport assistant at the hospital. My conclusion was that I want to work with health, but not with illness. I studied health guidance at Luleå University of Technology and a master's degree in public health science at Mid Sweden University in Sundsvall. My background is different from the subject I will be doing my dissertation in. I think this is becoming more common and depends on the research project itself. A public health science project suits my background.”

Why did you want to do a PhD?

“When I attended the health guidance program, my feeling was I never wanted it to end, I enjoyed studying so much. Then I was offered a job as a lecturer, it was the first time I came into contact with academia from the inside. I realized that I was really attracted to the academic environment, the forward-thinking spirit that exists and the freedom to be creative and try out one's thoughts. To continue working in academia, I needed at least a master's degree. The choice fell on public health science, how to improve health at population level is an extremely interesting topic. Even before I started my master's education, my goal was a PhD. I didn't know exactly how, but I knew I wanted to do it”

What is your research about?

“My two supervisors have developed an intervention that aims to promote physical activity in children by cycling or walking to school. Physical inactivity in children is a huge problem both nationally and globally. My piece of the puzzle in the project has been to understand more about how parents reason. What makes you allow or not allow your child to walk or cycle to school? The knowledge is important to understand both why one does it and not, which can generate knowledge about how they can be supported.”

What is it like to be a doctoral student at Luleå University of Technology?

“At our department, we have a fantastic group of doctoral students who have become very important to me. We go through the same things, sometimes very tough and sometimes incredibly fun. There is a willingness to support and help each other. It is valuable that the department has created such a research environment.”

What is being a researcher like?

“The most enjoyable part is being in an extremely stimulating knowledge-seeking environment. You can be creative and no two days are the same. It is exciting to test your hypotheses, not least when there are unexpected results. What I didn't know before I started is that you go through different phases. If you are going to be able to do this for five years, you need to be very interested, it will carry you through ups and downs. I am incredibly privileged to be able to devote so much time to an area I care for so much.”

Mascha Pauelsen “I like to immerse myself”

Mascha Pauelsen, PhD student in physiotherapy at Luleå University of Technology, is from The Hague in the Netherlands, but came to Luleå because of her partner. Ever since her undergraduate studies, she has been focused on pursuing research.

What is your educational and professional background?

“I was a teacher in primary school in Hague, but when I came to Sweden I wanted to do something else so I started training as a Physiotherapist at Mälardalen University, but then switched to Luleå University of Technology.”

Why did you start researching?

“I am curious, I always want to move on and develop. It fits well with research, where I get to immerse myself. I discovered already during my education that I wanted to continue with research.”

What is your research about?

“I investigate how the ability to balance is affected by aging and how it is connected with fear of falling. I research how the different aspects are connected. We use several impressions to keep the balance, including the sight and feeling in the body that become signals that go to the brain. The body and muscles change and the ability to read the signals is disturbed as you get older. What I do is basic research, that is, I create and build on knowledge and understanding that at a later stage can be developed into clinical measures.”

What is it like to do research? What is most difficult, what is most fun?

“The most fun is to design, plan, the research. So that you get answers to the questions and problems that you have identified. It is also fun to identify the problems. The most difficult thing is that we work interdisciplinary, together with technical subjects. We combine knowledge and methods to find ways to solve different problems. This means that research is at the forefront of the current state of knowledge. It requires that you want to learn from each other, outside your own area. It is both difficult and exciting.”

Would you encourage others to do research?

“Absolutely, but only if the person is already thinking about it. You must probably have your own desire to do research. You have to like to immerse yourself and explore.”