Sport and Exercise Sciences: Fully Funded Lions Sports Academy PhD Scholarship: Tackling in school rugby: evaluating methods to enhance safety and enjoyment

This scholarship is funded by the Lions Sports Academy.

Subject areas: Sport Science, Sport Coaching

Project start date: 01/10/2021

Length of project: Three years

The Lions Sports Academy delivers physical development and sports coaching programmes, with the aim of improving the physical abilities, confidence, enjoyment and safety of young people when playing sport. This includes the Lions Sports Academy’s ‘Rugby Tackling Programme’, which is delivered alongside physical coaching and monitoring. This PhD programme is aimed at understanding the effectiveness of a school-based intervention programme delivered by the Lions Sports Academy. This will include quantitative and qualitative research methods.

We are looking to appoint a motivated PhD student, who is passionate about youth sport and coaching. The candidate will be competent in both qualitative and quantitative data collection and will be responsible for delivering the coaching programme in areas around London. The majority of the student’s time will be spent in London areas, with regular online supervision from academics in Swansea and occasional travel to Swansea for face-to-face meetings.

Project supervisors:

Dr Mark Waldron (Swansea University)

Professor Camilla Knight (Swansea University)

Professor Liam Kilduff (Swansea University)

Dr Jamie Tallent (St Mary’s University)

Eligibility

Candidates should hold a minimum of an upper second class (2:1) honours degree (or its equivalent) and ideally a master's in a relevant discipline, such as Sports Science or Sports Coaching.

Candidates should also have:

• A driving licence
• Knowledge of rugby
• Coaching experience in youth sport (preferably rugby)
• Strong verbal and written communication skills

We would normally expect the academic and English Language requirements (IELTS 6.5 overall with 5.5+ in each component) to be met by point of application. For details on the University’s English Language entry requirements, please visit – http://www.swansea.ac.uk/admissions/english-language-requirements/.

Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is available to UK candidates only.