Swansea University is a UK top 30 institution for research excellence (Research Excellence Framework 2014), and we are also extremely proud to be named Welsh University of the Year 2017 by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide.
Project start date: 1 October 2017
Interviews will take place in the week commencing 24 July 2017.
This is a fully-funded, three-year PhD studentship which is part of a new collaboration between Swansea University’s College of Engineering and Auckland University of Technology (New Zealand). The successful student will be based within the College of Engineering at Swansea University’s new £450 million Bay Campus under the supervision of Dr Neil Bezodis and Professor Huw Summers, with the collaborative input of experts from AUT.
Alongside the collaborative PhD advertised under the supervision of Dr Melitta McNarry and Dr Kelly Mackintosh, the purpose of this project is to develop valid and reliable methods for assessing key performance variables in sprinting from wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU) devices. Sprinting is a fundamental movement in many team sports, and much research has been undertaken to explore and understand the variables which are important for high levels of sprint performance. However, the measurement of these kinetic and kinematic variables typically requires expensive equipment (e.g. force platforms, motion capture systems, laser- or radar-based devices) which cannot be used in all environments, or is limited by insufficient accuracy for identifying meaningful differences in performance. IMU devices are commonly worn by team sports athletes during both training and competition and provide detailed data about the motion of the device. This project aims apply complex novel analytic techniques which have recently been applied to physical activity settings to determine the components of these data which can be used to accurately assess key sprint performance variables.
The Athena SWAN Charter recognises work undertaken by institutions to advance gender equality. The College of Engineering is an Athena SWAN bronze award holder and is committed to addressing unequal gender representation across academia and is committed to supporting equality and diversity for all staff and students. If you want to know about our commitment to gender equality or have any questions pertaining to inclusivity in the College of Engineering, please contact our Athena SWAN Lead Dr Camilla Knight; c.j.knight@swansea.ac.uk.