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Human Movement & Sport Sciences: Adapted Physical Activity and Health

In order to apply to one of the programmes of the master, please select the programme you are interested in under the "Year 1 & 2 Master's programmes" tab.

Présentation
Learning outcome targets

The main objective of this course is to educate public health engineers who are specialists in human movement (STAPS), as well as paramedics and doctors in analysis and research concerning difficulties linked to age, illness or disability in order to provide expert analysis, make suggestions and contribute to the implementation of adapted technical solutions to prevent decompensation, promote, maintain and/or re-establish conditions of mobility and social or professional integration.
The specific objective is therefore to help establish, in a context of information sharing, a functional diagnosis in a given environment and to propose practical solutions in terms of adapted individual or collective assistance or environmental planning.
General student profile and objectives:
Entry: students come from the STAPS specialisation, with an APA-S specialisation, or from a medical and/or paramedical background, with a good knowledge of human movement, special needs groups and the problems of adaptation and mobility within these groups.
Outcome: graduate students are able to design, lead, coordinate, implement, manage, evaluate and disseminate adapted and/or innovative projects in the field of health and adapted physical activities, based on a reflective and objective analysis which takes into account the challenges, problems and the complexity of a request or a situation.
Main disciplinary fields found within the training: physiology, psychology, neuroscience, motor control, anatomy.
The relevance of the science programme: The whole programme is approached from a scientific angle, with reference research work in each disciplinary field acting as a foundation. The scientific relevance of the programme is therefore due to the strong correlation between training and research. This is essential in the training. In fact, all Master's degrees at
UPSaclay are research-based training courses aimed at completing a thesis, as well as integration into the socio-economic world at a Bac+5 level. This research support, which forms the foundation of the training, is made up of the teaching team and the host teams during a project or a work placement, and also includes several laboratories.
The three pathways are led by teacher-researchers from research laboratories in the Paris-Saclay area who have recognition in the subjects covered by the course. As a result, the course is linked to many research laboratories: CIAMS, TEC, ENDICAP, HANDIReSP, LPP, EDA, UBIAE, INSERM, VIMA Aging and chronic diseases, pathophysiology and clinical pharmacology of
pain, etc.
In addition, all students, whether they complete a professional or research work placement, must complete a research-orientated dissertation followed by an EC from the various laboratories linked to the course. These work placements are therefore an opportunity to create very strong links with the world of research at a local, regional and international level.
Generally speaking, the link between training and research is performed by the teaching team, which is composed essentially of teacher-researchers from two laboratories and partners from the socio-economic world. As a result, subjects related to the different courses are proposed to students, and students contribute to the proposal of the protocol, to its implementation (partial or total) and to the collection of data and its interpretation on accessible and realistic issues. Material is also acquired by the school to support this link between training and research as a result of calls for educational projects from Paris-Saclay in particular.
In addition to carrying out the work placement and research dissertation, which make up the largest share of the ECTS credits in the model dedicated to training through research, many UEs are set up to help develop the key skills of training through research. In fact, many lectures are closely linked to research either because the lecturers are teacher-researchers presenting recent results in their field, or because students work in project mode resolving a scientific problem on all or part of a UE, or because the tutorials of several UEs are organised as several stages during the same research. Several presentations are made in the form of written or oral scientific results on all courses. For example, many UEs are based on the development of skills related to literature-based research through summaries and
comments on selected papers until the completion of a quality framework is completed in theory for the completion of dissertations in M1 and M2.
Expertise in the key methods of investigation in the different scientific fields is done through theoretical courses which focus on scientific method, as well as through the use of technological tools essential to the field in question, so that students are trained in the collection, manipulation and analysis of data. Finally, command of scientific communication tools is achieved through different UEs and the dissertation defence. Several oral presentations take place of a scientific article or a research problem addressed during the work placement. The UEs Communicating in English on scientific objects specifically target the learning of language for international conferences.The format of the dissertations to be delivered is extremely close to current publication standards in order to train students in the requirements of scientific writing.

Intrinsic position
Within the Université Paris-Saclay, the APA-S course is part of the school of Science of Sport and Human Movement and has no rival courses. It comprises 3 courses which are Ageing and Disability: Movement and Adaptation (VHMA), Physical activity, Exercise and Health (PAEH) and Neurological Disability (HN). There are 2 other degree courses within the school (The STAPS degree with 3 Master’s courses and the ISMH degree with just the 1 course).
Within the school, the VHMA Master’s is the one with the most students (about 50 in M1, 40 in M2). The VHMA Master’s does not have a competing Master’s (in the same field) in Paris Sud and Paris-Saclay.
The research Master’s in Neurological Disability does not have an equivalent in UVSQ, Paris Sud or Paris-Saclay. It is the only one to focus on research in the field of neurological disability.
The PAEH Master’s is one of the few APA-S Masters with a strong international element since it is taught entirely in English.

Intrinsic position
There are several APA Master’s in France and in the Ile de France (Paris X, Paris XIII). However, after careful research, it appears that there is no competing APA Master's degree which really has the same range of students both regionally and nationally with such a multidisciplinary approach and students coming from such different backgrounds (STAPS, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses,
speech therapists, chiropodists, osteopaths, psychomotor therapists, etc.). One of the main characteristics of the course is its accommodation of a diverse, yet complementary, cohort. The training is carried out together with the school of physiotherapy at Saint-Maurice (l'ENKRE), Ostéobio, l'Ecole Supérieur d'Ostéopathie (ESO) and several paramedic schools in UVSQ (psychomotricity, chiropody, occupational therapy) in order welcome their students onto the degree course. At the national level, this is the only degree to propose an approach taught entirely in English (PAEH), an in-depth approach to research in neurological disability (HN), accessibility issues (VHMA) and to be offered as an apprenticeship (VHMA).

Strategic direction
The STAPS APA-S course is fully in line with current problems in society and permits the training of health professionals in a rapidly expanding field. In fact,
- demographic ageing and in particular the increase in the number of years of life spent in a dependent situation,
- the Act of 11 February 2005 on equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of persons with disabilities,
- the law to modernise our health system (decree 2016-1990) which introduces the possibility for general practitioners to prescribe physical activity for people suffering from long-term illnesses (ALD) (this measure concerns 10 to 11 million French people suffering from, for example, diabetes, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis or cancer, obesity or other conditions)
are all developments in our society that suggest that the strategic direction of STAPS APAS is relevant and justified.

Post-graduate profile

Graduate students are able to design, lead, coordinate, implement, manage, assess and disseminate adapted and/or innovative projects in the field of health and adapted physical activities, based on a reflective and objective analysis that takes account of the challenges, problems and complexity of a request or a situation.

Transfer paths

Transfer paths can be taken over the M1 and M2 years (but not during semesters) between the 3 study paths of the discipline, according to prerequisites specific to each study path (relating to students' profile, academic level, and career path).

Academic partnerships

Université de Paris

Prerequisites

STAPS (sports science) students, holders of an undergraduate degree (preferably APA-S), along with students or professionals from a paramedical background (Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, Psychomotor education, Ergonomics, Osteopathy, Podiatry, Psychology, Medicine, nursing, etc.)
Applicants from other study backgrounds will be considered on a case-by-case basis, particularly international students.

Compétences
Skills required within the Field of Study :
  • Acquire and implement complex and highly specialised multidisciplinary knowledge

  • Develop and interpret an evaluation protocol using specific tools

  • Design, plan and coordinate projects according to professional contexts

  • Implement a scientific approach with a view to the dissemination and transfer of knowledge

  • Adapt actions and projects to professional and societal contexts while contributing to innovation.

  • Work in a team and maintain long-lasting interpersonal relationships in a professional network