Postgraduate research students

Stroke is a leading cause of adult-acquired disability globally, with around 12 million new cases each year. At least 50% of people with stroke have an upper limb (UL) impairment. Rehabilitation is the means through which disability is reduced. Yet people with stroke receive less than 10% of recommended therapy time due to constrained resources, and the disability affects how they engage with and adhere to rehabilitation protocols.

My research develops and evaluates approaches to UL neurorehabilitation that combine immersive virtual reality with a passive brain-computer interface for neurophysiological monitoring. The framework follows a user-centred approach, in which custom games for UL rehabilitation were co-designed with people with stroke, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. The games were grounded in principles of neurorehabilitation to provide clinically meaningful and enjoyable experiences. A closed-loop neuroadaptive system for gamification was developed and tested for feasibility. Additionally, the games were evaluated to determine the effects of different game mechanics on the mental states of users. Data were collected from healthy adults as well as people with stroke, using brain signals and self-report questionnaires.

This research contributes a user-centred framework for adaptive, gamified neurorehabilitation, and offers insights into how measures of mental states might support more personalised rehabilitation technology.

• Professor Aleksandra Vuckovic
• Dr Julien Le Kernec

External supervisors

Dr Matthieu Poyade, School of Innovation and Technology, The Glasgow School of Art. 

1. Commonwealth Doctoral Scholarship, 2020.
   A prestigious, fully funded UK government doctoral scholarship for academic excellence and development impact. 
   
   
2. William Wilson Scott Scholarship, James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, 2023.
   Supports women in Engineering with the potential to deliver strong results in the field [awarded £1,000]. 
   
   
3. iCURe Discover Programme, Innovate UK, September to December 2025.
   Awarded £2,500 in market discovery activities to identify the potential market for my research work.
   
   
4. Business Bloom Programme, University of Glasgow, 2026.
   Awarded £1,000 for an early-stage entrepreneurial initiative by the Student Enterprise team.

    

1. World Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation. University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. 25^th to 26^th June 2026. [Posters presented: (i) Electroencephalography Indices Variation in Immersive Virtual Reality for the Upper Limb. 
   (ii) A Fatigue-Responsive Real-time Adaptive Brain-Computer Interface for Virtual Rehabilitation]
   
   
2. World Congress for Virtual Rehabilitation. 26^th to 28^th June 2024. De Hallen Studios, Amsterdam. The Netherlands. [Poster presented titled: Co-design and development of Immersive Virtual Reality Games for Upper Limb Rehabilitation]
   
   
3. Rehabilitation Technology to Support Self-Management. 9^th November 2022. Joint 2022 Society for Rehabilitation Research and Scottish Stroke AHP Forum Winter Conference at the University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde. [Poster presented titled: Co-design of Custom Virtual Reality Games with Brain-Computer Interface for Upper Extremity Rehabilitation]
   
   
4. BioMedEng24 Conference. Queen Mary University of London, London. 5th to 6th September 2024.
   
   
5. Second Women in Clinical Neurosciences Conference. Developing Female Leadership in Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. 7th December 2022. Said Business School, University of Oxford, Oxford.
   
   
6. Virtual Brain-Computer Interface Conference 7th to 9th June 2021. (Online)

1. Associate Fellow of Recognising Excellence in Teaching, awarded on completion of the Developing as a Teacher in Higher Education course, University of Glasgow, 2025.
   
   
2. Proposed, designed, developed and delivered a six-session course titled "21st Century Neurorehabilitation" under the 2023 - 2025 Transition to Glasgow elective courses pathway, introducing pre-undergraduates to studies at the University of Glasgow.
   
   
3. Proposed, designed and delivered single-session classes titled "Handling Academic Feedback" and "Presenting Data".
   
   
4. Taught postgraduate students the following classes:
   (i) Reflective Writing and Criticality in Debate - MSc Precision Diagnostics & Therapeutics.
   (ii) Developing a Methodology - Optional drop-in classes on dissertation writing.
   (iii) Academic Writing - MSc Physics.
   
   
5. Mentored 12 Master of Science students in various engineering disciplines, for the Integrated Systems Design Project M (ENG5044) course, via weekly meetings on the project in two groups:
   (a) "Robotic System for Hospital Services"
   (b) "Future transport in Glasgow: Bringing to life the recommendations of the Connectivity Commission"
   
   
6. Mentored, marked and provided feedback on posters, vlogs, an IDEAS document and group report of first-year students from Singapore in the Multidisciplinary Overseas Immersion programme for three weeks, overseeing a maximum of 10 groups (of at least four members each) during workshop sessions to tackle daily and weekly tasks.

Programmes

1. Postgraduate Leadership Programme, Resilient Leaders elements at the University of Glasgow, February to May 2023.
   
   
2. Start Up Summer Programme, University of Glasgow Student Enterprise, June to September 2022.
   
   

Awards and Recognition

1. Second Prize Winner, Science Slam, College of Science and Engineering, University of Glasgow, 2025.
   
   
2. Nominee (1 of 3), GU Award for Community Volunteering, Student Representative Council, 2024.
   
   
3. University of Glasgow Volunteering Awards (Gold, Silver and Bronze), 2022 - 2023.