Current PhD Projects
Explore our research students projects in Sport and Exercise Sciences.
Sociology of Sport
Jacob Griffiths. A figurational examination of the working lives of backroom staff in men’s professional football clubs in the United Kingdom. Supervisors: Prof. Daniel Bloyce, Prof. Ken Green.
Bradley Spurdens. Parent’s perceptions of and engagement with their daughter’s combat sport participation. Supervisors: Dr Ian Pritchard, Dr Nollaig McEvilly
Gethin Foulkes. Primary PE.Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green
Emma Healy. A critical examination into the ways preschool children, parents and practitioners engage with discourses related to health, bodies and physical activity.
Supervisor: Dr Nollaig McEvilly, Dr Daniel Bloyce
Hannah Hook. Experiences of selfie culture. Supervisors: Dr Nollaig McEvilly, Dr Ian Pritchard
Patrick Foss Johansen. The sporting and leisure biographies of Norwegian youth.
Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green
Sonia Lal. Physical education and the transition from primary to secondary schooling.
Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green
Sean Reid. The lifestyles of elite youth athletes: A sociological study. Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green
Applied Sports Sciences
Rosie Anderson. Supervisor: The health and well-being of professional female football players. Dr Sam Moss
James Hetherington. The effects of insect protein in sport and exercise settings. Supervisors: Dr Sam Moss, Prof Jamie Highton
Aman Shergill. The use of micro-technology for monitoring training and match loads in professional soccer.
Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Prof Jamie Highton
PhD Completions since 2021
Neil Gibson (2020): High speed running and repeated sprinting in male academy football players. (Supervisor: Prof. Craig Twist)
Nick Dobbin (2020): The utilisation of the Rugby League Athlete Profiling battery for assessing the anthropometric and physical characteristics of rugby league players. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Dr Sam Moss, Dr Jamie Highton)
Linda Røset (2019): Physical education and mental health in Norway. (Supervisors: Prof. Ken Green, Prof. Miranda Thurston, Prof. Lorraine Cale, Dr Thorsteinn Sigurjonsson)
John Fernandes (2018): Muscle damage and recovery in older athletes. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Prof. Kevin Lamb)
Tom Mullen (2018): An investigation of the efficacy of simulated team game match-play. (Supervisors: Dr Jamie Highton, Prof. Craig Twist)
Andrew Scattergood (2017): How working-class kids negotiate working-class physical education: A sociological study. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
Luke Jones (2016): Primary school physical education in England and Wales. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
Lee Wilson (2016): The leisure lifestyles of university students. (Supervisors: Prof. Miranda Thurston, Prof. Ken Green)
Emily Lovett (2016): Delivering an Olympic legacy in Britian's second city? A sociological analysis of legacy policy implementation in Birmingham. (Supervisor: Dr Daniel Bloyce)
Graeme Law (2016): Pay and conditions in professional football: A sociological analysis. (Supervisors: Dr Daniel Bloyce, Prof. Ivan Waddington)
Jonty Norris (2015): Quantification of physical contact and its influence on performance and recovery in rugby players. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Dr Jamie Highton, Dr Stephen Hughes)
Rebecca Mead (2015): Working strategically to improve health and reduce health inequalities: a sociological study of one public health system. (Supervisors: Prof. Miranda Thurston, Dr Daniel Bloyce)
Nicola Cahill (2015): A three-season analysis of positional demands in elite English rugby union. (Supervisors: Prof. Paul Worsfold, Prof. Kevin Lamb, Dr Jamie Highton)
Edward Thomson (2015): The development of a simulation protocol for amateur boxing. (Supervisors: Prof Kevin Lamb, Dr Ceri Nicholas)
Simon Bicknell (2015): The 14–19 PE curriculum in England and Wales. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
John Fry (2014): Life in the Travelling Circus: A sociological analysis of the lives of touring professional golfers. (Supervisors: Dr Daniel Bloyce, Dr. Ian Pritchard)
Sharon Wheeler (2014): The role of parents in the transmission of sporting, artistic and educational capital. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
Samantha Moss (2014): The physical, physiological and performance characteristics of English youth team handball players. (Supervisor: Prof. Craig Twist)
PhD Completions before 2021
Matthew Fairbank (2023): The training practices of elite rugby league players.
(Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Prof Jamie Highton)
Chris White (2023): A sociological analysis of active travel as health promotion policy.
(Supervisors: Dr Daniel Bloyce, Prof. Miranda Thurston)
Alan Chorley (2023): Recovery of Wprime in endurance cycling. (Supervisor: Prof. Kevin Lamb)
Claire Mulvenna (2023): Understanding the role of video feedback within the coaching process: The need for portable video technology as part of the training and match day activity in soccer. (Supervisors: Dr Edd Thomson, Dr Daniel Bloyce, Prof. Craig Twist)
Anne Thompson (2022): A sociological analysis of organizational change within sporting organizations: A case study. (Supervisors: Dr Daniel Bloyce, Prof. Ken Green)
Chelsea Oxendale (2021): Fatigue in team sports and implications for injury.
(Supervisors: Dr Grace Smith, Prof. Jamie Highton, Prof. Craig Twist)
PhD Completions since 2014
Neil Gibson (2020): High speed running and repeated sprinting in male academy football players. (Supervisor: Prof. Craig Twist)
Nick Dobbin (2020): The utilisation of the Rugby League Athlete Profiling battery for assessing the anthropometric and physical characteristics of rugby league players. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Dr Sam Moss, Dr Jamie Highton)
Linda Røset (2019): Physical education and mental health in Norway. (Supervisors: Prof. Ken Green, Prof. Miranda Thurston, Prof. Lorraine Cale, Dr Thorsteinn Sigurjonsson)
John Fernandes (2018): Muscle damage and recovery in older athletes. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Prof. Kevin Lamb)
Tom Mullen (2018): An investigation of the efficacy of simulated team game match-play. (Supervisors: Dr Jamie Highton, Prof. Craig Twist)
Andrew Scattergood (2017): How working-class kids negotiate working-class physical education: A sociological study. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
Luke Jones (2016): Primary school physical education in England and Wales. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
Lee Wilson (2016): The leisure lifestyles of university students. (Supervisors: Prof. Miranda Thurston, Prof. Ken Green)
Emily Lovett (2016): Delivering an Olympic legacy in Britian's second city? A sociological analysis of legacy policy implementation in Birmingham. (Supervisor: Dr Daniel Bloyce)
Graeme Law (2016): Pay and conditions in professional football: A sociological analysis. (Supervisors: Dr Daniel Bloyce, Prof. Ivan Waddington)
Jonty Norris (2015): Quantification of physical contact and its influence on performance and recovery in rugby players. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Dr Jamie Highton, Dr Stephen Hughes)
Rebecca Mead (2015): Working strategically to improve health and reduce health inequalities: a sociological study of one public health system. (Supervisors: Prof. Miranda Thurston, Dr Daniel Bloyce)
Nicola Cahill (2015): A three-season analysis of positional demands in elite English rugby union. (Supervisors: Prof. Paul Worsfold, Prof. Kevin Lamb, Dr Jamie Highton)
Edward Thomson (2015): The development of a simulation protocol for amateur boxing. (Supervisors: Prof Kevin Lamb, Dr Ceri Nicholas)
Simon Bicknell (2015): The 14–19 PE curriculum in England and Wales. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
John Fry (2014): Life in the Travelling Circus: A sociological analysis of the lives of touring professional golfers. (Supervisors: Dr Daniel Bloyce, Dr. Ian Pritchard)
Sharon Wheeler (2014): The role of parents in the transmission of sporting, artistic and educational capital. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
Samantha Moss (2014): The physical, physiological and performance characteristics of English youth team handball players. (Supervisor: Prof. Craig Twist)
PhD Completions before 2014
Robbie Connell (2013): A biomechanical analysis of upper-extremity plyometrics applied to the dynamics of sporting movements. (Supervisors: Prof. Paul Worsfold, Prof. Kevin Lamb, Prof. Craig Twist.)
Mark Waldron (2013): A longitudinal analysis of performance, growth, and maturation in youth rugby league players. (Supervisors: Prof. Paul Worsfold, Prof. Craig Twist, Prof. Kevin Lamb)
Dean Burt (2013): The effects of exercise-induced muscle damage on endurance performance. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Prof. Kevin Lamb, Dr. Ceri Nicholas)
Jamie Highton (2012): Multiple-sprint sport exercise and carbohydrate-protein ingestion in humans. (Supervisors: Prof. Kevin Lamb and Dr. Ceri Nicholas.)
Chris Platts (2012): Education and welfare in professional football Academies and Centres of Excellence in England and Wales. (Supervisors: Dr Daniel Bloyce, Prof. Kevin Lamb)
Steven Cock (2012): The development of swimming as a competitive sport in England from the nineteenth century onwards. (Supervisors: Dr Daniel Bloyce, Prof. Kevin Lamb, Dr Ian Pritchard)
Mike Morris (2012): The prediction of maximal oxygen uptake from perceptually regulated exercise. (Supervisors: Prof. Kevin Lamb, Prof. David Cotterrell, Prof. John Buckley)
Kjersti Mordel-Moen (2011): A case study of physical education teacher education in Norway. (Supervisor: Prof. Ken Green)
Christine Foster (MPhil, 2011): Factors affecting small-sided game demands among high-level junior rugby league players. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Prof. Kevin Lamb, & Dr Ceri Nicholas)
Dave Sykes (2011): The development of a novel rugby league match simulation protocol. (Supervisors: Prof. Craig Twist, Prof. Kevin Lamb, Dr Ceri Nicholas)
Andy Smith (2006): Young people, sport and leisure: A study of 15–16-year-olds. (Supervisors: Prof. Ken Green, Prof. Miranda Thurston, Prof. Kevin Lamb)