A Sport and Exercise Science student from the University of Chichester has won an award for the best student presentation at the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (CASES).
Rebecca Vartan, who is studying BSc Sport and Exercise Science, gave a 10-minute presentation on her undergraduate dissertation, which examined the physiological and cognitive effects of creatine supplementation during skiing at simulated 3000m altitude.
She was awarded the ‘Student Free Communication Award’ for best student presentation at the conference.
Rebecca said: “The conference was an excellent opportunity to network with students and professionals who I may work with in the future. I loved presenting and the questions I received afterward will be really helpful as I start to plan my MSc project. I felt very proud to be selected for the presentation.”
It’s the second time this year a Chichester student has won a CASES award, after Marcus Peach, PhD student, won the Masters Dissertation of the Year award.
Marcus attended the conference alongside Rebecca and a second Chichester student, Kaia Pilbeam, who is studying MSc Sport and Exercise Physiology.
Kaia gave a poster presentation her research project, which investigated the viability of a revised 12-week approach to the University of Chichester’s Health Awareness and Maintenance Programme (UCHAMP), the pulmonary rehabilitation collaboration between University of Chichester and St Richard’s Hospital. Kaia’s project has helped evidence a potential strategy for relieving pressure from pulmonary rehabilitation programmes within and beyond the NHS.
Kaia said: “Presenting at the CASES conference was an excellent opportunity to discuss my research with like-minded academics and sparked new ideas of how I could develop the project in the future. I also found the networking, both with students and academics, to be useful as it helped me understand where my research fits within the world of sport and exercise science. The conference has increased my confidence, and it was nice to see my hard work acknowledged.”
John Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, added: “The standard of this year’s CASES conference was high; Rebecca and Kaia’s success further showcases the quality of their work and the overall research outputs from University of Chichester. We were impressed by their professionalism, confidence, and eagerness to get involved which presented both them, and the University, in an excellent light.”
Marcus Peach said: “Both students should be incredibly proud, it is not easy to present your research at a national conference, but they both thrived in that environment.”
CASES held the combined professional and student conference at Manchester Metropolitan University on June 3–4, 2026.
Find out more about our CASES Endorsed undergraduate degrees in sport and exercise science, or find out more about our courses in Sport and Exercise Science and Sport and Exercise Physiology.