Matthew Welsh
PhD Researcher, Associate Lecturer
About
Having completed both his undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Chichester, Matt continued his education at Chichester and is now completing his PhD entitled ‘Investigating the use of heart rate variability as an indicator of self-regulation in esports’.
Alongside this, Matt is an Associate Lecturer with a focus on Sport and Exercise Psychology. He is currently the seminar lead for IOS4201 Introduction to Sport and Exercise Psychology, IOS4204 Interpersonal Skills, and a guest lecturer for IOS7201 Advanced Performance Psychology.
Professional
PhD – Sport and Exercise Psychology – University of Chichester (2022 – Current)
MSc Sport and Exercise Psychology – University of Chichester (2019 – 2021)
BA Hons Outdoor and Adventure Education – University of Chichester (2015-2019)
Key Publications
Welsh, M. R., Mosley, E., Laborde, S., Day, M. C., Sharpe, B. T., Burkill, R. A., & Birch, P. D. (2023). The use of heart rate variability in esports: A systematic review. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 102495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102495
Sharpe, B., Besombes, N., Welsh, M., & Birch, P. (2022). Indexing Esport Performance. Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1123/jege.2022-0017
Research
Matts primary research interests are within performance psychology and specifically psychophysiological indicators of performance. He is currently conducting research encompassing heart rate variability and eye tracking in esports but shares the same interest with adventure sports.
His latest publication systematically reviewing the use of heart rate variability in esports highlights major limitations in the current research base and provides recommendations for robust future research. His work on ‘Indexing Esport Performance’ hopes to generate conversation around what constitutes performance within esports and raises recommendations for the semantics of future research.
PhD
Matt is currently working towards his PhD titled the use of heart rate variability as an indicator of self-regulation in esports. His first PhD study has already been published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102495) and data collection is underway for studies two and three. Matt is supervised internally by Dr Phil Birch and Dr Melissa Day and, externally by world leaders in heart rate variability Dr Emma Mosley and Dr Sylvain Laborde.
Research Output
Articles
Welsh, M. R., Mosley, E., Laborde, S., Day, M. C., Sharpe, B. T., Burkill, R. A. and Birch, P. D. J. (2023) The use of heart rate variability in esports: a systematic review. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 69. pp. 1-38. ISSN 1469-0292 10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102495
Sharpe, B. T., Besombes, N., Welsh, M. R. and Birch, P. D. J. (2023) Indexing Esport Performance. Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports. pp. 1-13. ISSN 2836-3523 10.1123/jege.2022-0017
Conference or Workshop Items
Welsh, M. R., Mosley, E., Laborde, S., Day, M. C., Sharpe, B. T., Burkill, R. A. and Birch, P. D. J. (2024) The use of heart rate variability in esports: a systematic review. In: 17th European Congress of Sport Psychology, 15 - 19 July 2024, Innsbruck, Austria. (Unpublished)
Welsh, M. R., Mosley, E., Laborde, S., Day, M. C., Sharpe, B. T., Burkill, R. A. and Birch, P. D. J. (2023) The use of heart rate variability in esports: a systematic review. In: Annual Research Conference 2023, University of Chichester, 5 - 6 July 2023, Bognor Regis, England.
Sharpe, B. T., Besombes, N., Welsh, M. R. and Birch, P. D. J. (2022) Psychological index of individualised esports performance. In: FEPSAC 2022, Padova: 16th European Congress of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 11 - 16 July 2022, Padova, Italy.
