Sport Research Degrees
With around 30 current PhD students, we have a vibrant and diverse postgraduate community conducting research in a wide range of sport disciplines.
A recent Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) revealed that 90% of students were satisfied with their programme and 100% of students were satisfied with the development of their research skills as a result of their supervision.
Our research in the Institute of Sport spans 6 broad themes and these encompass a range of research interests and approaches.
If you have a research idea you would like to pursue or just want to find out more about PhD research please do get in touch with our Research Lead Iain Greenlees on i.greenlees@chi.ac.uk or our Research Degrees Co-ordinator Jason Lake on j.lake@chi.ac.uk. Please also feel free to contact potential supervisors to arrange preliminary discussions about PhD research with us.
Our Supervisors
Browse our staff and their fields of study
Dr Phil Birch
Think aloud protocols in sport; Mental toughness in sport; Psychometric testing
Dr Sam Blacker
Occupational physiology, sports and exercise nutrition, exercise induced muscle damage
Dr Naomi Datson
Physiology of women’s soccer; Optimising preparation and recovery in team sport athletes; Performance analysis of team sports
Dr Melissa Day
Stress and coping, injury, disability and narrative research methods
Dr Sarah Edmunds
Physical activity and wellbeing, physical activity behaviour change, peer support interventions
Dr Suzanne Everley
Children’s experiences of physical education and physical activity
Professor Iain Greenlees
Psychological predictors of sporting performance, Person perception in sport, Confidence
Dr Mandy Gault
Aging and exercise, health promotion and exercise
Professor Beverley Hale
Unusual methods of data analysis for sport. Medical and health statistics
Dr Chris Hodgson
Psychophysiology and adventure sport
Dr Henriette Hogh
Dyslexia in adults, fluid intelligence and working memory, physical activity and age-related cognitive decline
Dr Penny Hudson
Gymnastics, biomechanics and sprint performance in both animals and humans
Dr Jason Lake
Resistance exercise biomechanics, movement asymmetry, and measures of mechanical power output
Professor Mike Lauder
Water-based sports technique analysis, resistance exercise biomechanics, movement asymmetry, and measurement of mechanical power output
Dr Ben Lee
Human adaptation to extreme environments, role of heat shock proteins in insulin resistance and diabetes
Dr Melissa Mantle
Educational research in pedagogical strategies to enhance reflection
Dr Jordan Matthews
Social movements, women, and sport, women’s sport leadership, socio-historical development of women’s, sport
Dr David Muggleton
Subcultures and youth culture, social and oral history of sport and leisure
Professor Steve Myers
Physiological demands of high-speed boat racing and altitude and exercise
Dr Sarah Needham-Bech
Physiological demands of dance, fitness testing methodologies, training and workload monitoring
Dr Julia Potter
Children’s exercise and health and stress physiology
Dr Matt Robins
Performance analysis in sport
Dr Carla Rue
Obesity/Disordered Eating and Physiological Responses to Hypoxia
Dr Andy Siddall
Physical training, injury risk and physiological employment standards in arduous occupations. Exercise physiology in environmental extremes. Lifestyle factors (smoking, physical activity, sleep) and their effect on chronic disease and injury risk
Dr Jenny Smith
Decision making, hazard perception, and perception in relation to expertise. Perceptual training. Measures of and factors influencing cognitive load
Dr Marcus Smith
Decision making, hazard perception, and perception in relation to expertise. Perceptual training. Measures of and factors influencing cognitive load
Dr Neal Smith
Non-linear movement analysis and biomechanics of soccer and racket sports
Professor Mark Willems
Muscle physiology, occupational physiology, ageing and exercise
Our PhD Students
Meet our PhD students
Toby Richards
Part-time PhD Student
Dr Tilly Spurr
Senior Lecturer Sports and Exercise Nutrition
Stefano Montanari
PhD Researcher
Simon Federer
Part-time PhD Student
Guillermo Martinez-Arastey
Part-time PhD Student
Sport Research
Explore our research themes and centres as we research sports development, performance and more.
