Sport and Exercise Sciences: Fully Funded PhD studentship in Sports Science, Performance Scienc[...]

Swansea University; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 21,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK university is offering a full-time PhD opportunity focused on developing immersive simulations for competitive sports performance. The project aims to explore new sporting applications and evaluate the effectiveness of these simulations. Candidates must hold a minimum of a 2.1 undergraduate degree and will receive full tuition fees coverage and an annual stipend at the UKRI rate, currently £20,780. Additional research expenses are also available.

Benefits

Full tuition fees coverage

Annual stipend at UKRI rate

Additional research expenses

Qualifications

• Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (or equivalent).

Responsibilities

• Develop simulations to support performance in competitive sports.
• Evaluate the validity and fidelity of simulations.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams.

Education

Undergraduate degree at 2.1 level

Job description

Organisation/Company Swansea University Department Central Research Field Other Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Country United Kingdom Application Deadline 2 Feb 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/London) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Apr 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

This studentship aims to develop valid and high-fidelity immersive simulations to support the transfer of performance to competitive sporting environments. Immersive simulation is widely used in healthcare teaching and training, and in 2023 Swansea University opened a new Simulation and Immersive Learning Centre (SUSIM) for this purpose. The Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences have been collaborating with the SUSIM team to explore the potential for applications of immersive wall technology to support skill acquisition, training and testing in performance sport. This proposed collaborative PhD between Swansea University and the University of Canberra aims to complement and enhance an existing project at Swansea University that has scoped similar across other domains and is exploring the potential for this technology toelicit realistic emotional responses in simulated sporting environments. The proposed PhD will explore new potential sporting applications, develop new simulations, and evaluate the validity (particularly face and construct) and fidelity of these simulationsin order toprovide an evidence base to support their implementation into high performance sport.

The PhD is jointly funded by Swansea University and the University of Canberra. Both universities have committed to match funding the project, and there will be supervisory input from both Universities from the outset. The successful candidate will initially enrol on a Swansea University PhD, and when a formal agreement between the two Universities is finalised, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to transfer enrolment to the PhD programme agreed by both Universities. The studentship will be hosted at Swansea University given the location of the SUSIM Centre. Whilst time at the University of Canberra is not an expectation of this studentship, the student will have the opportunity to spend some time at the University of Canberra if they wish and it is valuable for the project and/or their development, but there is currently no additional funding (to that listed below) allocated to support this travel.

Thisis a full-time PhD, and is an interdisciplinary sports sciences project, including input from experts inPerformance Science,Skill Acquisition, andBiomechanics & Technology, as well as others asrequired.

Applicants for PhD must normally hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (orNon-UKequivalent as defined by Swansea University)

Note for international and European applicants:details of how your qualification compares to the published academic entry requirements can be found on our Country Specific Entry Requirements page.

Additional Information

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees and an annual stipend at UKRI rate (currently £20,780for 2025/26).

Additionalresearch expenses of up to £1,000 per yearwill also be available.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants for PhD must normally hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (orNon-UKequivalent as defined by Swansea University)

Note for international and European applicants:details of how your qualification compares to the published academic entry requirements can be found on our Country Specific Entry Requirements page.

Selection process

Please see our website for further information