Within the area of Sport and Exercise Sciences we draw on over 40 years of experience in delivering undergraduate Sport and Exercise related degree programmes, over 20 years of delivering Masters programmes, and have successfully graduated over 200 Doctor of Philosophy students (PhDs). We pride ourselves on offering a real transformational journey during your research and will give you the knowledge and skills required for both a practical or research career in the expanding sport, health, exercise, and adventure markets and academic sectors. Our excellence is reflected in our outstanding and consistent performance in independent league table rankings.
Due to this reputation for research excellence we attract students from all over the world. We are proud of these independent, external quality indicators but our students often tell us that what they really value is that they are part of a small, friendly environment and benefit from high student-staff contact time.
Whilst staff are open to supervising research students in many areas related to Sport and Exercise we have world leading expertise in:
- Elite Sports Performance
- Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing
- Adventure Sport Science
- Extreme Environments
- Physical Education
- Sport and Exercise Psychology
- Psychology of Elite Performance
- Talent and Expertise Development
- Talent Identification
We provide world leading and cutting edge research to the Sport and Exercise markets which directly informs our curriculum. Meaning you will be mentored and supervised by leading experts using the most up-to-date and innovative methods possible. All our staff are research-active and work with the highest levels of sports performers and medical experts in the UK and worldwide. This expertise means we have strong links with highest echelons of both the sport performance and health sectors. This research ethos drives both quality critical thinking and what and how you will research.
You’ll develop skills to generate cutting-edge questions of your own whilst also having the skills to design methods to answer these questions. You’ll be taught the skills required to think and work independently together with the know-how and confidence to continue to learn and lead on knowledge development once graduated. These essential skills enable you to ‘future proof’ your development in your chosen career. Examples of who we work alongside are:
- NHS
- British Psychology Society
- England and Wales Cricket Board
- UK Sport
- English Institute of Sport
- Rugby Football Union
- Ministry of Defence
- British Gymnastics
- Manchester City FC
- Outlook Expeditions
- RGC rugby
- MENCAP
- Adventure Parc Snowdonia
- Always Aim High
- Weightlifting Wales
- Welsh Institute of Performance Science
- Conwy Outdoor Centre
- GB Triathlon
- Swim England
- GB Hockey
- GB Rowing
- British Canoeing
- RYA, Wales
- RAF
- UK Deaf Sport
- England Athletics
We are based in a beautiful Grade II listed building on the banks of the Menai Strait and in an area of the UK that is passionate about both Sport and Health. As well as the beautiful mountains, beaches, and forests of Snowdonia’s National Park, you’ll have access to an extensive range of laboratories containing state-of-the-art equipment for sport and exercise physiology, psychology, motor control and learning, and motion analysis including:
- £1M teaching lab
- an altitude (hypoxia) chamber
- multiple 3D motion analysis labs
- a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) whole body scanner
- exercise testing and rehabilitation labs
- an environmental chamber
- psychology, psychomotor and psychophysiology testing suites
- biochemistry and cell biology labs
We will help make you stand out from the crowd with a PhD from one of the ‘original’ and leading sports science universities in the UK.