Classification of sports-related functional vision

Update Nov. 2024



In August 2021, I kicked-off my PhD journey by joining the classification department of the International Paralympic Committee in Bonn, Germany. In this department I am involved in projects within the Paralympic movement, and I am supervised by Tea Cisic, head of classification, and Marieke Creese, VI classification manager. From an academic point of view, I am enrolled at the Free University of Amsterdam and my academic supervisor is dr. David Mann – who as an optometrist and sport scientist, is an expert in the field. 

Personal Background and Interest:

In the summer of ’21, I graduated as a Human Movement Scientist. On the side, I worked as a research assistant for a research group in the Ophthalmology clinic. Here I gained valuable experience in vision science. Additionally, working with those PhD students motivated me to pursue my own academic career. With my background in human movement science and vision science, topped with a HUGE passion for sports, I am definitely very happy with my position!

Aim of the project:

Athletes with vision impairment (VI) who compete in the Paralympic Games are placed into one of three ‘sport classes’ to compete against others whose impairment has a similar impact on their sport performance. However, the current classification system is controversial and may not adequately assess the functional vision of athletes. Eye movements are often impacted by VI, yet the classification system does not currently take these impaired eye movements into account. The objective of this project is to apply objective tests of functional vision to protect the interests of sportsmen and -women with genuine impairment. In particular, by leveraging consortium expertise (e.g., UMCG, VU, RPR) and by applying eye-tracking-based tests this project aims to 1) classify sports-relevant functional vision, (2) identify misrepresentation and, (3) study the capacity of athletes to compensate for their vision impairment.

Current activities:

To date, I tackled all research questions outlined above. I’m currently putting everything together in my thesis, which will be submitted soon..!

Future directions:

I will join the VR4eVR project as a postdoc at the Visual Neuroscience department of the UMC Groningen! Super exciting 🎉

My OptiVisT experience:

Oh boy, where to start. I learned SO MUCH - not only academic skills and such but also a lot about myself. Colleagues turned into friends. Traveled the world for data collections, conferences, workshops, and such. I have been the most privileged PhD student ever!