Each year around 1.2 million people attend emergency departments in England and Wales with a recent minor head injury, while 90% of sports concussions are mild and occur without loss of consciousness. The symptoms of mild concussion are subtle, such as slowed reaction time, poor hand-eye coordination and an inability to ‘think clearly’. The mild concussion has serious potential consequences in the short-term effecting our ability to safely play sport or drive a car. In the long-term repeated mild concussions are linked to early onset dementia and many ex professional rugby and football players are coming forward to testify and challenge unions over the safety of their sports as a result. However, pitchside assessment of mild concussion is mostly qualitative, in some cases based only on visual assessment of the player by a medic or coach and the answer to basic Maddox questions.
During this PhD you will work with the supervisory team to develop and validate quantitative pitchside tests for mild concussion in sports. You will work in both the laboratory and in a professional sports environment. We are looking for candidates with a range of skill sets, from engineering, applied psychology, biomechanics, mathematics to join our multidisciplinary team in this endeavor. Please indicate in your cover letter how you might contribute to our work, developing and validating pitch side tests for mild concussion in sports based on your particular skill set and interests.
This award provides annual funding to cover Home tuition fees and a tax-free stipend. For students who pay Home tuition fees the award will cover the tuition fees in full, plus at least £15,285 per year tax-free stipend. Students who pay international tuition fees are eligible to apply, but should note that the award will only provide payment for part of the international tuition fee and no stipend.
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