How old are you really?
Not your calendar age, but your biological age says a lot about how you feel. Health is relevant to everyone, and at VU-Vital we challenge students and employees of the Vrije Universiteit to work on their vitality.
What we do
VU-Vital is an interdisciplinary student team dedicated to promoting a healthier lifestyle among VU students and staff. We do this by organising projects that focus on exercise, mental health and awareness. For instance, we have offered workshops such as kickboxing and yoga, as well as promoting hearing protection by handing out earplugs and participating in the Zuidas Run.
We have also set up a large-scale research project in which VU employees can have their biological age measured via cognitive and physical tests. With these insights, we want to encourage people to make healthier choices. A scientific article has also been written about this research - and the ambition is to expand this next year with an intervention study.
Note: the results of our ongoing research on the impact of understanding biological age on exercise behaviour will be published soon.
Why join this team next year?
At VU Vital, you get the chance to:
- Set up and conduct your own research project.
- Gain practical experience in project management, presentation, collaboration and leadership.
- Expand your network inside and outside VU - who knows, it might land you an internship!
- Work on themes that really matter: health, well-being and behavioural change.
VU-Vital consists of an average of eight motivated students who work together towards a vital VU Amsterdam. It is instructive, sociable and you directly make a positive contribution to the health of others. Do you have creative ideas about health and want to make an impact alongside your studies? Join VU-Vital and help make the campus fitter and more vital!
If you also want to be part of this Dream Team, send an email to dreamteams@vu.nl.
A student speaking
"Last year I was part of VU Vital with great enthusiasm. I not only learned a lot, but also actively contributed to various projects. For example, I set up the promotion of hearing protection, developed a research project and took care of the entire planning. I could immediately apply my research skills in practice. Moreover, I worked within a theme that fits perfectly with my future: health and well-being. VU Vital was an inspiring start to my career!"
Ambassador VU-Vital: Bart Visser
Bart Visser is endowed professor of Self-Management Support for Vital Movement. Bart was trained as a movement scientist and worked for years in various roles at the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). In 2010, Visser made the move to the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA), in the position of training manager and lector of remedial therapy - Daily Moving! Under his professorship, much research was done on strategies and interventions to coach people in optimising their exercise behaviour. Recently, Visser was appointed associate professor at VU Amsterdam. From this role, he aims to link the perspectives on research from the university and the hbo as optimally as possible.
This team is linked to the VU profile theme Human Health & Life Sciences.
