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350153 VU BD2I - Biomechanical Motion Analysis (2026S)
Continuous assessment of course work
Labels
Registration/Deregistration
Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).
- Registration is open from Mo 02.02.2026 09:00 to Fr 20.02.2026 07:00
- Deregistration possible until Tu 31.03.2026 12:00
Details
max. 30 participants
Language: German
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
Lectures will be held in English.
- Tuesday 03.03. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 10.03. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 17.03. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 24.03. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 14.04. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 21.04. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 28.04. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 05.05. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 12.05. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 19.05. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 26.05. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 02.06. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 09.06. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 16.06. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 23.06. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
- Tuesday 30.06. 16:30 - 18:00 ZSU - USZ II, EDV Raum, 2. Stock
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
REQUIRED PERFORMANCES (partial performances and exam components)The final grade is based on all components below:
* Theory + participation / homework (10%)
* Short presentation of a scientific paper (15%)
* Theory exam (25%)
* Seminar paper (25%)
* Final seminar presentation (25%)* Re-take exam will be provided at the last day of the course.Type of Assessment and Allowed Aids:
The entire performance by students in exam-related courses must be completed by March 31 of the following year for the winter semester and by October 31 of the following year for the summer semester. All students who have been allocated a place in the course will be evaluated unless they have deregistered in time or provide a valid reason for discontinuing the course (§ 10, Paragraph 6 of the study regulations of the University of Vienna). A negatively graded exam-related course must be repeated by re-taking it. Committee evaluations are not permitted (§ 10, Paragraph 7 of the study regulations).Students who use unauthorized aids during examinations (e.g., cheating, copying, plagiarism, forgery, ghostwriting, etc.) will not be evaluated (entry in u:space: X = not evaluated). The exam attempt will be documented separately on the collective transcript and will count towards the allowed number of attempts (§ 12, Paragraph 6 of the study regulations).
* Theory + participation / homework (10%)
* Short presentation of a scientific paper (15%)
* Theory exam (25%)
* Seminar paper (25%)
* Final seminar presentation (25%)* Re-take exam will be provided at the last day of the course.Type of Assessment and Allowed Aids:
The entire performance by students in exam-related courses must be completed by March 31 of the following year for the winter semester and by October 31 of the following year for the summer semester. All students who have been allocated a place in the course will be evaluated unless they have deregistered in time or provide a valid reason for discontinuing the course (§ 10, Paragraph 6 of the study regulations of the University of Vienna). A negatively graded exam-related course must be repeated by re-taking it. Committee evaluations are not permitted (§ 10, Paragraph 7 of the study regulations).Students who use unauthorized aids during examinations (e.g., cheating, copying, plagiarism, forgery, ghostwriting, etc.) will not be evaluated (entry in u:space: X = not evaluated). The exam attempt will be documented separately on the collective transcript and will count towards the allowed number of attempts (§ 12, Paragraph 6 of the study regulations).
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Minimum requirements to receive a positive assessment (pass)
* Overall course score ≥ 50%.
* Theory exam: at least 50% of the exam points.
* Seminar project: submission of the seminar paper and delivery of the final presentation (attendance/presentation is mandatory unless officially excused).
* Completion of required homework/participation tasks as announced on Moodle.Assessment criteria (how partial performances are graded)
* Participation/homework (10%): completeness, correctness, timely submission, engagement in practical sessions.
* Short paper presentation (15%): scientific accuracy, clarity and structure, timing (4 minutes), critical understanding, quality of slides/visuals, ability to answer brief questions.
* Theory exam (25%): correctness of definitions and explanations, correct application of concepts, interpretation of simple data/figures, correct calculations where required.
* Seminar paper (25%): clear research question/aim; appropriate methods description; data processing steps documented; presentation of results (figures/tables); interpretation linked to biomechanics theory; limitations and quality considerations; structure, language, and referencing.
* Final presentation (25%): coherent story (aim–methods–results–discussion), correct interpretation, quality of visuals, teamwork, and responses during Q&A.
* Overall course score ≥ 50%.
* Theory exam: at least 50% of the exam points.
* Seminar project: submission of the seminar paper and delivery of the final presentation (attendance/presentation is mandatory unless officially excused).
* Completion of required homework/participation tasks as announced on Moodle.Assessment criteria (how partial performances are graded)
* Participation/homework (10%): completeness, correctness, timely submission, engagement in practical sessions.
* Short paper presentation (15%): scientific accuracy, clarity and structure, timing (4 minutes), critical understanding, quality of slides/visuals, ability to answer brief questions.
* Theory exam (25%): correctness of definitions and explanations, correct application of concepts, interpretation of simple data/figures, correct calculations where required.
* Seminar paper (25%): clear research question/aim; appropriate methods description; data processing steps documented; presentation of results (figures/tables); interpretation linked to biomechanics theory; limitations and quality considerations; structure, language, and referencing.
* Final presentation (25%): coherent story (aim–methods–results–discussion), correct interpretation, quality of visuals, teamwork, and responses during Q&A.
Examination topics
Students are expected to learn and demonstrate competence in:
a) Kinematics: definitions (position, displacement, velocity, acceleration), coordinate systems, joint/segment angles
basics of measurement error, reliability/validity, and interpretation of kinematic outputs; principles and workflow of markerless kinematics (recording setup, calibration concepts, typical limitations)
b) Acceleration / accelerometry: principles of accelerometers; gravity component; sensor orientation and placement
sampling; deriving simple movement measures from acceleration signals; typical artefacts and common troubleshooting
c) Muscle activity / EMG: basic physiology of EMG; electrode placement and skin preparation, sampling, filtering concepts, noise sources and artefacts; basic feature extraction and interpretation (amplitude-based measures; introductory frequency-based measures)
d) Data analysis and reporting: basic data quality checks and documentation; interpretation of results in relation to biomechanics concepts; structure and content of a short scientific report (seminar paper) and presentationPartial performance topics
e) Short paper presentation: understanding and critical summary of an assigned/approved scientific paper connected to the respective lecture topic.
f) Seminar project: applying measurement and analysis workflows to a dataset, reporting results, and presenting findings.
a) Kinematics: definitions (position, displacement, velocity, acceleration), coordinate systems, joint/segment angles
basics of measurement error, reliability/validity, and interpretation of kinematic outputs; principles and workflow of markerless kinematics (recording setup, calibration concepts, typical limitations)
b) Acceleration / accelerometry: principles of accelerometers; gravity component; sensor orientation and placement
sampling; deriving simple movement measures from acceleration signals; typical artefacts and common troubleshooting
c) Muscle activity / EMG: basic physiology of EMG; electrode placement and skin preparation, sampling, filtering concepts, noise sources and artefacts; basic feature extraction and interpretation (amplitude-based measures; introductory frequency-based measures)
d) Data analysis and reporting: basic data quality checks and documentation; interpretation of results in relation to biomechanics concepts; structure and content of a short scientific report (seminar paper) and presentationPartial performance topics
e) Short paper presentation: understanding and critical summary of an assigned/approved scientific paper connected to the respective lecture topic.
f) Seminar project: applying measurement and analysis workflows to a dataset, reporting results, and presenting findings.
Reading list
Basic literature (core texts)
Robertson, D. Research Methods in Biomechanics
Zatsiorsky, V. Kinematics of Human Motion
Zatsiorsky, V. Kinetics of Human Motion
Nigg, B. & Herzog, W. Biomechanics of the Musculo-skeletal System
Winter, D. A. Biomechanics of Human MovementAdditional course materials
Lecture slides, lab protocols, datasets, and supplementary papers will be provided on Moodle and updated continuously.
Robertson, D. Research Methods in Biomechanics
Zatsiorsky, V. Kinematics of Human Motion
Zatsiorsky, V. Kinetics of Human Motion
Nigg, B. & Herzog, W. Biomechanics of the Musculo-skeletal System
Winter, D. A. Biomechanics of Human MovementAdditional course materials
Lecture slides, lab protocols, datasets, and supplementary papers will be provided on Moodle and updated continuously.
Association in the course directory
BD2I
Last modified: Mo 27.07.2026 09:28
After successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
a) explain core biomechanical concepts and terminology related to kinematics, acceleration/accelerometry, and muscle activity (EMG);
b) plan and conduct basic biomechanical measurements, including markerless kinematics, accelerometer-based recordings, and surface EMG;
c) interpret results in relation to human movement and performance, and communicate findings in a scientific format (paper-style report and conference-style oral presentation);
d) critically read and present a scientific paper, and apply evidence-based reasoning to methodological choices.CONTENTS
The course covers:
a) Kinematics: definitions, coordinate systems, joint/segment angles, displacement/velocity, typical sources of error. Markerless kinematics (data collection): setup, calibration, practical recording, basic workflow, reliability/validity considerations.
b) Acceleration and accelerometry: physical principles, sensor orientation, gravity component, sampling, drift, deriving movement metrics from acceleration data. Accelerometry (data collection): sensor placement, recording procedures, documentation, typical pitfalls and troubleshooting.
c) Muscle activity and EMG: physiological basics, electrode placement, skin preparation, sampling, common artefacts (movement, noise), basic amplitude/frequency features. EMG (data collection): practical recording, signal quality control, normalization principles.
d) Data analysis sessions (Q&A / guided work): supervised analysis of collected datasets, interpretation, and preparation of seminar paper and presentation. Templates and scripts (Matlab) will be provided.
e) Scientific communication: short paper presentation (4 minutes), seminar paper submission, and final seminar presentation.TEACHING / LEARNING METHODS
a) Interactive lectures introducing theoretical foundations (with in-class problem solving applied to sports).
b) Practical lab-style sessions for data collection (markerless kinematics, accelerometry, EMG).
c) Guided analysis (guidelines, templates, and scripts provided) with Q&A and feedback on data processing, interpretation, and reporting.
d) Student-led mini-presentations of scientific papers (4 minutes) to train concise scientific communication.
e) Preparation of a group seminar project (paper + final presentation) supported by materials on Moodle.