About the Project
An exciting opportunity for one, part-time or full-time PhD project is available in the School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, in collaboration with Sportscotland Institute of Sport. Please note, these funded PhD opportunities do not come with a stipend. International students may apply but if successful, would be required to fund the difference in fees between UK and International rate.
As a research degree student, you will become a member of Edinburgh Napier University’s Graduate College and will be based in the School of Applied Science. You will be supported throughout your studies with training and events hosted locally in the school and by our Research, Innovation and Enterprise events team. Bespoke training will help you develop both your research and transferable skills. In the School of Applied Science, you will have access to leading facilities and expertise. For this project, a range of other staff will help supervise and advise on this project with expertise across different sports, contexts, and research methodology including Dr Cedric English, Dr George Andronikos, Dr James Dugdale, and Dr Hollie Fountain. You will join a vibrant and growing community of postgraduate research students within the university, including access to our workspace and social space in our recently refurbished researcher community suite.
Applicants with applied experience working in performance sport (e.g., sport psychology, or coaching, or pathway management) will be ideal for this project. Prior applied experience within sport may offset the need for a strong academic background. As such, we encourage practitioners, as well as academics passionate about applied and impactful research to apply if you have an interest in pursuing a PhD aimed at helping to improve the quality and coherence of practice within sport performance pathways and specific athlete development environments. A number of sports will be involved across this project including team and individual sports.
Project Background
Long term success in development youth settings comes from providing good quality environments and appropriate opportunities to young talented people. Generic features of effective talent development environments have been shown to include factors such as long-term development focus, coherent and consistent messaging, individualised training, catering for developmental variations over time, good support network, psychological development, and holistic consideration (e.g., Martindale et al., 2010). Research has shown that higher quality environments, as measured by the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire (Martindale et al., 2010) are associated with improved progression to professional athlete status and other important athlete outcomes (Hauser et al., 2024; Martindale et al., 2013).
Building an environment to help young talented athletes develop effectively requires the coherent efforts of a range of people, including coaches, parents, peers, and the athletes themselves (Webb et al., 2016). Parents in particular can have a significant bearing both positively and negatively on a young person’s trajectory and developmental experience. As such, getting feedback from, and building relationships and communication channels between coaches, players and parents is a crucial element of success (Martindale et al., 2023).
Furthermore, due to the time constraints and busy roles of those coaches and staff working in elite youth settings, there are limited opportunities to interact with colleagues to access feedback, have discussion, reflect, and plan. There is even less opportunity to have discussion and share good practice with colleagues from different clubs or elements of the performance pathway. However, these types of opportunities are invaluable to help identify strengths and priorities, plan new developments, and continue to raise the quality and coherence of talent development practice more broadly within performance pathway structures (English et al. 2018, Hall et al., 2019).
Project Aim
This project will aim to develop, test and evolve a process that will help SGBs, clubs and coaches drive forward evidence-based practice more effectively and coherently across their development environments, with a particular focus on cross sport dissemination and sharing.
More specifically, the project is designed to a) help athletes, coaches and parents co-evaluate and co-plan to create more coherent and effective learning plans and programs for and with athletes, b) help SGBs, clubs and coaches drive evidence-based practice and process to improve athlete experiences across different development environments, and c) help SGBs share and receive good practice ideas between different sports.
The evolution and impact of this process will be at the forefront of this project.
Academic qualifications
A first degree in sport and exercise science, sports coaching and development, sport psychology, or equivalent, with a good fundamental knowledge of sport and exercise interventions in youth populations.
English language requirement
IELTS score must be at least 6.5 (with not less than 6.0 in each of the four components). Other equivalent qualifications will be accepted. Full details of the University’s policy are available online.
Essential attributes:
- Knowledge of psychological assessment in athletic populations
- Competent in delivering applied workshops to sport coach populations
- Knowledge of coaching and talent development pathways
- Good written and oral communication skills
- Strong motivation, with evidence of independent research skills relevant to the project
- Good time management
Desirable attributes:
- Prior experience working with sport coaches in an applied or research environment
A relevant professional qualification or in the process of attaining (e.g. BASES, HCPC, UKSCA, etc.)
TO APPLY PLEASE CLICK ON THE 'INSTITUTION WEBSITE' LINK ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THIS PAGE.
When applying, please quote the application reference SAS0233 in your personal research statement.
APPLICATION CHECKLIST
- Completed application form
- CV
- 2 academic references, using the Postgraduate Educational Reference Form (Found on our Application Guidance page)
- A personal research statement (This should include (a) a brief description of your relevant experience and skills, (b) an indication of what you would uniquely bring to the project and (c) a statement of how this project fits with your future direction. You should quote the name and reference number of the project you are applying for clearly near the top of this document.
- Evidence of proficiency in English (if appropriate)
Funding Notes
This application has fees funded, however, students must be able to complete a full time or part time PhD without the provision of a stipend. International students may apply but if successful would be required to fund the difference in fees between UK and International rate.
References
English, C., Nash, C., & Martindale, R. (2018). The effects of structural change: an investigation into the South African cricket development pathway, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 10:2, 371-391, DOI: 10.1080/19406940.2018.1434811
Hall, A., Jones, L., & Martindale, R. (2019). The Talent Development Environment Questionnaire as a Tool to Drive Excellence in Elite Sport Environments. International Sport Coaching Journal, 6, 187-198
Hauser, L.L., Höner, O., & Wachsmuth, S. (2024). Links between environmental features and developmental outcomes of elite youth athletes: A cross-sectional study within the German talent pathway, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 71, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102569
Martindale, R.J.J., Collins, D., Wang, J., McNeill, M., Sonk Lee, K., Sproule, J. & Westbury T. (2010) Development of the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire (TDEQ) for Sports. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28(11), 1209–1221
Martindale, R. J., Collins, D., Douglas, C., & Whike, A. (2013). Examining the ecological validity of the talent development environment questionnaire. Journal of Sports Sciences, 31, 41–47.
Martindale, R., Fountain, H., Andronikos, G., English, C., Dugdale, J.H., & Ferrier, S. (2023). A mixed methods exploration of the parent perspective of talent development environments across a national multi-sport landscape. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 69, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029223001115
Webb, V., Collins, D., Cruickshank, A. (2016). Aligning the talent pathway: exploring the role and mechanisms of coherence in development. J Sports Sci, 34(19), 1799-807.