The School has a long tradition of excellence in Sport and Exercise Science research. A key feature of the School's mission and identity is to nurture and renew its strong and energetic research culture. This research culture permeates the School's activities. The School contains a large number of researchers with international reputations, who have had a significant impact in their fields of study.
Working on a wide range of topics relating to sport, leisure and physical education, these are the research groups within the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences:
* Exercise Physiology Research Group
* Physical Activity and Health Research Group
* Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy Group
* Sport and Leisure Policy Research Group
* Sociology of Sport Research Group
* Sport and Exercise Psychology Research Group
* Sports Biomechanics and Motor Control Research Group
Staff Research Interests
Dr Mahfoud Amara: Comparative sports policy; sport policy and politics in developing countries; sport in Arab and Muslim countries and communities.
Professor Kathy Armour: Continuing professional development for teachers and coaches; Pedagogy in physical education and sport; Lives and careers of physical education teachers and coaches.
Dr Mike Atkinson: Post-sport cultures; masculinities, violence and abuse in sport; threshold experiences in endurance sports; eating cultures in sport; athletes with chronic illnesses; cultural studies and post-structuralist theory.
Dr Laura Azzarito: Equity and social justice in school physical activity contexts - issues of gender, race and social class therein.
Professor Alan Bairner: Sport, nationality and nationalism; sport, community relations and conflict resolution; sport, leisure and the city; Marxist theories of sport.
Dr Laura Barrett: Paediatric exercise physiology; exercise and health
Mrs Di Bass : Young people in sport; coach, parent, athlete relationships in sport and disability sport.
Professor Stuart Biddle: Psychology of health, exercise and physical activity; Determinants of activity and inactivity; Motivation and emotion in exercise and youth sport.
Dr Nicolette Bishop: Exercise and immune function; Nutritional influences and effects on health.
Dr Guillame Bodet: Sport marketing.
Dr Fiona Bull: The epidemiological evidence on physical activity and health, population measures of physical activity, health promotion and intervention research and evaluation on physical activity, and global and national policy, action plans and advocacy on physical activity.
Dr Lorraine Cale: Promotion of exercise and physical activity within and beyond the school curriculum.
Dr Chris Cushion: The coaching process, coaching practice, coach behaviour and learning environments, coach education and development. Coaching and talent development pathways. Coaching and performance analysis.
Professor John Evans: Equity in physical education and sport; Policy and pedagogy in physical education and sport; Equity and identity in education.
Dr Richard Ferguson: Skeletal muscle and peripheral vascular function. Exercise tolerance and functional ability in older people.
Dr Jonathan Folland: Muscle function, strength and power for performance and health; genetic influences on physical performance; sports physiology.
Mr David Fletcher: Sport organisation dynamics and high performance cultures; Mental toughness in performance environments; Stress and emotions in competitive sport; Competitive anxiety and performance; Psychological interventions for performance enhancement; Psychological skills and strategies; Achievement motivation in elite sport.
Professor Michael Gleeson: Physiology of exercise; biochemistry, nutrition and immunology.
Dr Trish Gorely: Psychology of health, exercise and physical activity; Young people and sport, physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
Dr Stuart Gray: Exercise, inflammatory proteins and cardiovascular disease.
Dr Mick Green: Theoretical approaches to policy analysis and policy change and their application to: comparative sport policy; elite sport development; sport for all; school sport and PE; 'modernisation' of British sport
Dr Jo Harris: Health-related policy and practice within the National Curriculum for physical education; Pedagogy, exercise and children's health.
Dr Chris Harwood: Motivational issues in competitive sport, with a focus on achievement goal theories; Psychological aspects of youth sport including the psycho-social roles of parents and coaches; Professional practice issues in sport psychology, training and supervision of consultants.
Professor Ian Henry: Sport and leisure policies, politics, and governance at the transnational, national, urban and regional levels, and in relation to Olympism.
Dr Mike Hiley: Computer simulation and optimisation of gymnastics skills and technique.
Professor Barrie Houlihan: Application of approaches from the fields of policy analysis and politics to the study of sport; Comparative analysis; Sport and international relations; Drug abuse in sport.
Dr David Howe: The impaired sporting body, health and identity and the relationship between the sporting body, professionalism and medicine.
Dr Sophia Jowett: Research revolves around the affective, cognitive and behavioural aspects of interpersonal relationships in sport (e.g., dyadic relationships such as coach-athlete, athlete-partner, and athlete-parent ) including relationship rules, interpersonal perceptions, relationship strategies and empathy in relationships
Dr Tess Kay: Youth sport; monitoring and evaluation; development of sporting talent; youth sports volunteering; sport and international development; sport and diversity; sport and family life; leisure and family; leisure and masculinities.
Dr Mark King: Simulation of dynamic human movements; cricket and racket sports.
Dr Jessica Lee: Bridging the gap between traditional epidemiological approaches and social theoretical approaches in understanding participation in physical activity to inform health promotion policy, initiatives and practices that are supportive, equitable and sustainable.
Professor Joseph Maguire: Sport and globalisation; sport and national identity, sport labour migration, sport and the media; globalisation and the Olympics.
Dr Dominic Malcolm: the social construction of pain and injury in sport, the sociology of sports medicine, the development of cricket, cricket and national identity.
Professor Ron Maughan: Nutrition and hydration; metabolic responses to exercise; the brain and fatigue.
Dr John Morris Paediatric exercise physiology.
Dr Mary Nevill: Paediatric exercise physiology including physiological profiling of young elite athletes and the effect of exercise on cardiovascular risk factors in children.
Professor M.A. Nimmo: Thermal stress, heat shock proteins and other cytokines.
Dr Matthew Pain: Biomechanics of impacts; Soft tissue motion and disruption during impacts; Neuro-muscular effects in high velocity and high power activities.
Dr Emma Rich: Equity and inclusion in Sport; Gender and Sport; Identity, health and pedagogy.
Dr Leigh Robinson: Governance and management of sport organisations; Commercialisation of public and voluntary sport management; The business of sport.
Dr Susan Shirreffs: Exercise physiology and nutrition: hydration, electrolyte balance and thermoregulation.
Dr Chris Spray: Motivation in physical education, youth sport, and exercise settings including approach-avoidance goals, fear of failure, beliefs about athletic ability, and self-determination.
Mr David Stead: Sport labour migration; Sport and the media; Political economy of sport.
Dr David Stensel: Exercise and health: physical inactivity and disease risk, effects of exercise on heart disease risk markers, exercise and appetite regulation.
Dr Eleni Theodoraki: Decision-making, organisational structures and institutional processes in sports organisations; The Olympic Movement and organisation of the Olympic Games.
Dr Keith Tolfrey: Paediatric exercise physiology focusing particularly on lipid metabolism, exercise training and cardiovascular health, endurance performance, and estimating free living energy expenditure.
Dr Vicky Tolfrey:Disability sports performance including physiological profiling of Paralympic wheelchair athletes and the energetics of wheelchair propulsion.
Dr Mike Waring: E-Learning and development of an integrated pedagogy in Higher Education and Initial Teacher Education. Pedagogy in physical education.
Dr Phil Watson: Exercise, the brain and fatigue; thermoregulation; sports nutrition.
Dr Louisa Webb: Teachers' work, lives and careers, gender equity and leadership including the sociological concepts of power, identities and embodiment. Innovative pedagogies such as Teaching Games for Understanding and Sport Education, and the use of ICT to support the assessment of these pedagogies.
Dr Oliver Webb: Design and evaluation of physical activity interventions, psychological and environmental determinants of exercise, habit formation.
Professor Clyde Williams: Influence of nutrition on human capacity for exercise.
Professor Fred Yeadon:Computer simulation of sports movements.