Top researchers at The University of Nottingham are teaming up with colleagues in other higher education institutions around the region, to work on pioneering Sport PhD courses.
They include research into a mobile biosensor, to detect the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs in sports, and a manufacturing process to make titanium golf clubs more affordable.
They’re just two of seven collaborative studentships, currently underway in the East Midlands. Dr Neil Thomas from the University of Nottingham is jointly supervising the biosensor research with Professor Glen McHale at Nottingham Trent University.
Dr Thomas said: “It’s very early days in the research, but it’s encouraging to see so many academics working collaboratively on projects which could potentially be of significant benefit to the sports community.”
Professor Sarah O’Hara, the Dean of Social Sciences, Law and Education at the University of Nottingham, is among the academics steering the innovative programme. She said: “We’re all very excited about the Sport PhDs. They not only highlight some groundbreaking work, but also show what can be achieved when the Higher Education Institutions in the region to work together for a common purpose.”
It is hoped more PhD students will use their expertise to tackle even more areas of sports.
Lisa Ambler from the East Midlands Universities Association said: "East Midlands Collaborative PhD Studentships in Sport allow young researchers to benefit from the wide range of expertise in our region's universities. We have some extremely talented and dedicated students working on the seven PhD projects and we believe that the collaborative nature of the supervision will result in some very successful research outcomes."
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham undertakes world-changing research, provides innovative teaching and a student experience of the highest quality. Ranked by The Times Higher in the world's Top 70 universities, and in Britain’s Top 10 by the Shanghai Jiao Tong World University Rankings, its academics have won two Nobel Prizes since 2003. The University is an international institution with campuses in the United Kingdom, Malaysia and China.
EMUA comprises a Steering Group of Vice Chancellors and Principals of 10 member higher education institutions. This group drives policy and strategy, and oversees the work of three Strategic Groups: Research Strategy, Academic Policy and Innovation and Knowledge Transfer. These groups head up work in these key strategy areas, and are composed of Pro-Vice Chancellors, Deputy Principals or similar. In turn, they set up subgroups to undertake specific tasks. EMUA is also linked with five Special Interest Groups Public Relations, Health and Social Care, IT, Librarians and Careers.
More information is available from Lisa Ambler, East Midlands Universities Association, +44 (0) 1509 217797, L.M.Ambler@lboro.ac.uk or from Andrew Burden, Internal Communications Officer in the University's Communications Office on +44 (0)115 846 8313, andrew.burden@nottingham.ac.uk