Physical activity to promote health and well-being in the schools and workplaces of Essex.

Our School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences is offering a fully-funded studentship with an annual stipend of £14,777 plus Home/EU tuition fees, for a maximum of 36 months.

The start date is 2 January 2019.

Over 250,000 adults in the Essex county are inactive (doing less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week). Our research has shown that fitness of Essex schoolchildren declined by 10% between 1998 and 2008 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40812439_Ten_year_secular_declines_in_the_cardiorespiratory_fitness_of_affluent_English_children_are_largely_independent_of_changes_in_body_mass_index) and the rate of decline is accelerating (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26041699).

The high levels of inactivity are causing increased health risk and costing the NHS in Essex alone £58 million each year. Radical change is needed to turn this situation around and find out what works to increase physical activity in schools and workplaces (http://repository.essex.ac.uk/8982/1/brown.pdf) which act as two important gatekeepers for access to population at large.

The program of study is not fixed and will be shaped by the interests and skills of the successful applicant. However, the broad aims of the funding are to:

• evaluate the current evidence underpinning physical activity initiatives in schools and workplaces
• work with physical activity stakeholders (https://www.activeessex.org/essex-local-delivery-pilot/) and providers to evaluate existing initiatives to promote physical activity
• identify whether physical activity initiatives can enhance wider health and wellbeing outcomes
• use an evidence-based approach to help shape future physical activity initiatives that will bring about transformational changes in schools and workplaces using behavioural change framework (https://media.springernature.com/full/springer-static/image/art:10.1186/1748-5908-6-42/MediaObjects/13012_2011_Article_352_Fig2_HTML.jpg)


About you

Applicants should hold an undergraduate or master’s degree in a related subject such as Public Health, Sport and Exercise Science, Physiology, Psychology, and have an interest in health promotion and physical activity. This work will also potentially inform ongoing developments of the Essex Local Delivery Pilot (https://www.activeessex.org/essex-local-delivery-pilot/). You will need excellent interpersonal skills to help build on the already strong collaborations between the University and external stakeholders. You will need excellent written communication skills to publish your findings.

About us

This project will be supervised by two experienced members of research staff: Dr Gavin Sandercock and Dr Valerie Gladwell. To have an informal discussion about the studentship, get in touch with either Dr Gladwell ([Email Address Removed]) or Dr Sandercock ([Email Address Removed]).

How to apply

The close date to apply is 16 November 2018.

You should send your CV and a one-page letter explaining how your skills and experience make you suitable for this specific studentship to [Email Address Removed].

Interviews will be confirmed ASAP, but interviewees will be asked to present a short proposal about their ideas for the studentship.