Challenging Hazing and Negative Group Events in Sport (CHANGESIntervention) – An exploration of positive team building and the development of support packages

The Department of Psychology at University of Chester is a vibrant and friendly place to work and study. We are proud of our excellent teaching and the high quality research we undertake.

The Department is seeking to appoint five Graduate Teaching assistants (GTAs) in Psychology. The GTAs will be employed part-time and will support the delivery of undergraduate teaching, most especially lab classes. They will also be required to be registered as research students and fees will be waived.

Successful applicants will be enthusiastic graduates with a good BPS-accredited degree in Psychology and preferably also a master’s degree. You will have the ability to support the learning of others and to work well as a member of a team. As a PhD candidate, you will also be able to demonstrate strong research skills and motivation to pursue an academic and research career.

You will be employed 0.6 FTE and it is expected that the rest of your working week will be spent engaged in your studies as a part-time PhD student. You will be employed for five years, subject to regular review of your performance in post and progress with your PhD.

Throughout this period, home / EU PT fees will be waived. You will also be eligible for waiver of fees for a sixth year, if required. All GTAs will also be able to apply for funding to support attendance at conferences etc. You will also follow a programme which will support an application for Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

A number of PhD projects (listed below) are available for GTAs or it may be possible for you to pursue your own project idea. Please read the application instructions carefully as we cannot shortlist candidates who have not provided all the necessary information in the required format.

The project
The CHANGES-Intervention (Challenging Hazing and Negative Group Events in Sport - Intervention) has been developed and implemented by the principal supervisor in collaboration with Dr Wakefield based on six years research in the area of initiation activities in sport. To-date, work has focused on challenging hazing and the next stage in the intervention development is to develop a set of positive team building initiatives to inform and shape behaviour change. This will form the central component of the proposed PhD.

Plan of research
It is envisaged that the programme of study will utilise a mixed methods approach and be composed of several interconnected studies. The research will begin by exploring knowledge, and current use of positive team building activities and approaches (study 1). This information will then inform the development of a positive team building guide to supplement the online CHANGES-package (study 2). The final study will assess the efficacy and use of the team building materials through a case study approach (study 3). Within this proposed programme there is the chance for the candidate to shape and orientate the later stages to their own specific interests in discussion with the supervision team. With its roots firmly embedded in applied practice and the real world this PhD offers an
exciting opportunity for anyone wishing to follow a career in sport and exercise psychology and work with athletes, teams and coaches.

Principal supervisor and further details
Informal enquiries relating to the project should be directed to Professor Moira Lafferty, email [Email Address Removed] who is the principal supervisor. To find out about her background click here: http://www.chester.ac.uk/psychology/staff/dr-moira-lafferty