Award

PhD scholarship including:

a stipend of £17,668 per year
a tuition fee waiver for three years
an annual expense allowance of £500.

Deadline

31 May 2023

Eligibility criteria

Applications will be considered based on the quality of the research proposal and its alignment with the focus outlined below. The strengths of the individual candidate (in relation to academic competence and commitment) will be considered.

How to apply

You will be asked to interview with a potential supervisor in the Faculty and will be required to submit a research proposal
Submit your application via the website
Click on the Apply now button in the blue bar at the bottom of the page
Select ‘Sport and Exercise Science’ for the area of research
Select your subject area
Select the award
Select your preferred mode of study and your preferred start date
Tick the box on the proposal form to indicate an application for a scholarship alongside a place on the PhD programme.

Scholarship focus

Applications are invited in the following research areas:

Isometric exercise training in adults with renal disease

The aim of this PhD is to examine changes in blood pressure and cardiac structure, function and mechanics following a programme of isometric exercise training in adults with chronic kidney disease and end stage renal disease. Current objectives are to:

examine the acute haemodynamic and cardiac responses to isometric exercise in adults with chronic kidney disease and end stage renal disease;
investigate the physiological benefits of an isometric exercise training programme in adults with chronic kidney disease and adults with end stage renal disease;
explore the feasibility and benefits of performing intradialytic isometric exercise.

The successful candidate will be based within the School of Psychology and Life Sciences and supported by Dr Jamie O’Driscoll, Dr Jonathan Wiles and colleagues at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.

Interested applicants should contact Dr Jamie O’Driscoll for an informal discussion on jamie.odriscoll@canterbury.ac.uk. You can also download an overview.

Physical activity and sport of the least active

The aim of this PhD will be to examine how to implement new guidelines From the UK Chief Medical Officers’ published for the first time for Disabled Children and Disabled Young People, within school settings as well as within teacher education.

It will examine how to help support teachers and trainee teachers, and children’s learning and also identify the barriers to such implementation. The PhD will also develop effective resources / guidance for teachers and practitioners that are currently missing from the curriculum. The aim of these resources will be to support disabled children and disabled young people to achieve the physical activity guidelines within educational environments and ultimately offer new policy and practice guidelines for teachers.

Supervision will be provided from Dr Kristy Howells, who has been leading research in this area. For more info please email kristy.howells@canterbury.ac.uk. You can also download an overview.

Sport and physical activity engagement of less active young people

The aim of this PhD is to explore the sport and physical activity engagement of less active young people and those from low socioeconomic groups. The objectives are to:

identify the barriers and enablers of sport and physical activity engagement for these young people;
develop, deliver and evaluate an intervention to engage these young people in sport and physical activity;
develop a set of guidelines and recommendations for policy makers, providers and practitioners to increase and enhance the engagement of these young people.

This PhD will be informed by and built upon applied research conducted by the Centre for Sport, Physical Education and Activity Research (spear) to inform and impact policy, provision, practice and participation.

Proposals will be required to have a strong policy focus and demonstrate the potential to inform policy and engagement activity. They will also be expected to be theoretically informed, methodologically sound and contextualised within current policy debates in and beyond sport and physical activity.

Candidates are advised to discuss their proposal with Dr Abby Foad abby.foad@canterbury.ac.uk prior to submitting their application. You can also download an overview.

The evil twin of placebo effects: what is the influence of nocebo effects on sport performance?

The aim of this PhD is to examine the influence of nocebo effects on sport performance. The objectives are to:

understand the contribution of nocebo effects in the effectiveness of performance enhancing substances;
examine the psycho-social factors that cause nocebo effects;
develop and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions that aim to minimise nocebo effects during sport competition.

The project will be under the supervision of Dr Philip Hurst, Dr Damian Coleman, Dr Abby Foad and Professor Andrew Edwards.

Informal project related enquiries about the post can be made to Dr Philip Hurst via philip.hurst@canterbury.ac.uk. You can also download an overview.

Cheating in Tennis: what causes it and how can we prevent it?

The aim of this PhD is to examine the prevalence of cheating in tennis within the United Kingdom and the psychological factors that influence an athlete’s likelihood to cheat. The PhD candidate will look to develop an intervention that prevents cheating in tennis, which can be implemented by international and national organisations.

The project will be positioned within the Sport, Human Rights and Safeguarding Research Group and under the supervision of Dr Jon Swain, Dr Philip Hurst and Dr Dikaia Chatziefstathiou.

Informal project related enquiries about the post can be made to Dr Jon Swain via jon.swain@canterbury.ac.uk, or Philip Hurst via philip.hurst@canterbury.ac.uk. You can also download an overview.

Developing socio-cultural understandings of performance enhancement in disability sport

The aim of this PhD is to develop socio-cultural understandings of performance enhancement practices in disability sport from disabled athletes themselves. Employing qualitative research methodologies it will seek to illuminate the following:

what performance enhancement practices are being undertaken in disability sport;
what are disabled athletes experiences of these practices;
what informs decisions to engage in enhancing performance and what are the moral justifications for doing so.

Analyses will include the broader constraints and social inequality to which disabled athletes are presented with. Although not limited to one specific form of performance enhancement, exploring ‘boosting’, or the intentional induction of Autonomic Dysreflexia amongst spinal cord injured athletes for athletic performance would be of interest.

The successful candidate will be positioned in the Sport, Human Rights and Safeguarding Research Group of the School of Psychology and Life Sciences under the supervision and support of: Dr James Brighton; Dr Laura Gubby; Dr Rachel Williams and Dr Phil Hurst.

Interested applicants should contact Dr James Brighton for an informal discussion on james.brighton@canterbury.ac.uk. You can also download an overview.

BSc (Hons) Biochemistry and Genetics with Foundation Year.