Current & future projects

Current and Future Research Projects

Thermal Physiology Laboratory (Australia)

  • Neural and pharmacological control of human sweating
  • Thermal adaptation: heat and cold
  • The interaction of hydration state on physiological and cognitive function
  • Regional variations in thermosensitivity, sweating, skin blood flow and thermal comfort
  • Evaluation of clothing and personal protective equipment
  • Auxiliary and post-exercise cooling for emergency service and military personnel
  • Physical employment standards for workers in stressful environments

Environmental Physiology Laboratory (Slovenia)

  • Contribution of thermal and non-thermal factors to the regulation body temperature in humans
  • Mathematical modelling of human temperature regulation
  • Decompression sickness projects: ocular bubbles; exercise; hydration state; body temperature
  • Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: freezing and non-freezing cold injuries
  • Physical employment standards for divers
  • Altitude (hypobaric) physiology projects: hypoxic training protocols; training sustained human performance at altitude and sea level performance; altitude retinopathy; metabolism at high altitude; sleep; high-altitude (mountain) sickness
  • Gravitational physiology projects: prolonged simulated weightlessness and vascular distensibility, thermoregulatory responses, muscle structure and function, and sleep
  • The effect of motion sickness on G-tolerance
  • The effect of carbon monoxide on exercise performance
  • Clothing and textile research: thermal and evaporative resistance of protective clothing; flame retardant clothing; development of hiking boots; design and development of protective clothing from 3-D body scans; design and development of footwear from 3-D foot scans
  • Technological projects: immersion (whole-body) thermal manikin; sweating (whole-body) thermal manikin; sweating thermal foot manikin with gait simulator; sweating thermal hand manikin with grip simulator; sweating thermal head manikin; sweating thermal torso manikin; development of sweating rate monitor; development of hypoxic training facility (Olympic Nordic Centre Planica); development of oxygen generator; development of underwater ergometer; development of radio pill and receiver system for hyperbaric environments; development of flame manikin

Human and Applied Physiology Laboratory (United Kingdom)

  • Fluid replacement in elite triathletes
  • Cooling systems for athletes and soldiers
  • Thermoregulation in spinal cord injured athletes
  • Thermal and metabolic responses of protected individuals in cold water
  • The mathematical modelling of survival time in water
  • Specificity of human adaptation to cold
  • Evaluation of post-exercise cold immersions
  • Thermal comfort and clothing microclimate conditions
  • Psychophysiology of survival
  • Cognition and deep body cooling
  • Physiological and psychological responses to long-distance single-handed sailing
  • Physiological and psychological responses to Arctic and Antarctic exploration
  • Fitness standards for the oil industry

Laboratory for Applied Physiology (Japan)

  • Effects of non-thermal factors on human heat loss responses
    Blood flow responses in conduit vessel in humans
  • Thermoregulatory responses during intermittent exercise
  • Thermoregulatory responses after exercise
  • The effect of physical training on the thermoregulatory system in humans
  • Difference in thermoregulatory responses between men and women
  • The effect of menstrual cycle on thermoregulatory responses
  • Human thermoregulatory adaptation to dynamic changes in the environment
  • Identification of single sweat grand activity in humans

Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (France)

  • Phantom limb sensations in amputees
  • Auditory processing in preterm newborns
  • Electrophysiological investigation of intersensory interactions
  • Ageing and thermal adapation
  • Driver comfort and arousal: ergonomics and the thermal environment
  • Physiological determinants of cognitive functions


Department of Environmental Physiology (Sweden)

  • Thermal balance in soldiers patrolling in desert climate
  • Different techniques to prepare (acclimatize/acclimate) individuals for physical work at high altitude
  • Effects of motion sickness on thermal balance
  • Effects of cold habituation on local cold-induced peripheral vasodilatation
  • Gas mixtures and decompression tables
  • Physiology based adjustments of breathing apparatus
  • High-altitude physiology and hypoxia
  • Spatial disorientation
  • Increased gravitoinertial load
  • Weightlessness