PhD Studentship Competition: Sport / Physical Activity and Society

Are you interested in doing a PhD in Social Sciences that relates to Sport and / or Physical Activity?

The Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences is delighted to invite high quality applications to be considered for entry into the prestigious NINE DTP scholarship competition. We are supporting applications to the Sport and Society pathway of this programme and encourage applications from candidates with an interest in the social scientific study of sport and / or physical activity.

A NINE DTP studentship provides a significant number of benefits and opportunities, including:

• Tuition fees paid and/or waived for the full duration of the period of study. This includes all fees for those candidates who need to undertake a Masters course, or a six-month research methods course prior to commencing their PhD.
• Tax-free stipend, set at £18,622 per year in 2023-24.
• Support to develop research skills
• Opportunities to apply for funding to undertake research.
• Funding for fieldwork (overseas / UK) and can fund attendance / participation in conferences and research events. Funding can also be sought to purchase equipment and books, where appropriate.
• Opportunities to work with partners and external organisations.
• Access to the RCUK Policy Internship Scheme, and our own NINE DTP Placement Scheme.
• Opportunities to apply for funding to support Overseas Institutional Visits,
• An ESRC studentship is an internationally recognised mark of excellence, proving that the student has met the exceedingly high standards required to receive funding.

Working in accordance with the rigorous standards of the ESRC, NINE DTP students will benefit from exceptional supervision, with all pathways embedded in departments which have been ranked as being internationally excellent, or world leading.

We welcome proposals that demonstrate alignment with either of our two research themes: (i) Sporting Lives, and (ii) Healthy Communities. Example areas of study might include one or more of the following topics: Physical activity inequalities and marginalised communities; Menopause; Healthy ageing; Women, football and inequality; Disability; Intersectionality; Policy, whole systems approaches and knowledge translation and mobilisation; social media, mental health and gender; nutrition for sport, athlete health, body composition; cancer and clinical populations; childhood obesity. Please refer to staff/supervisor profile pages on our Department Webpage for further details about our research expertise.

The Department

The research within the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences addresses inequalities, social justice, and health and wellbeing within and through sport, exercise and physical activity. We are an established World top 100 sport and exercise sciences department (QS World Rankings, 2023). We have been named Sports University of the Year by @thetimes and are proud to be ranked 2nd in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2023, and 10^th (grade point average) in the 2021 UK Research Excellence Framework. As a global leader in the sport and exercise sciences, we pioneer and carry out research that shapes the field, moving it in new directions that make a difference.  

How to apply

For information on how to apply please follow this link to the full Studentship advert on the Department’s website.

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