Funded PhD in Sport and Exercise Science with NFL team

Starting: September 2025

Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Eligibility: 2:2 (or equivalent) in a relevant subject area

Studentship Duration: 3 Years

Project overview

Fitness testing and data collection in elite sport is commonplace. Methods vary widely and range from competition-based data using technologies such as GPS (which gather information relating to external load parameters) to proxy measures such as jump, sprint and change of direction speed (which assess physical attributes deemed relevant to sporting success). In strength and conditioning, proxy measures represent a key part of determining the efficacy of training interventions, helping to establish whether athletes exhibit meaningful change in relevant physical attributes. Further to this, such measures are also common in injury rehabilitation test protocols, as they help to bridge the gap between rehabilitation, the return-to-play process and re-optimising athlete performance and readiness.

Despite these well-established practices, conflicting findings exist regarding the utility of proxy measures for informing decision-making in sport. For example, whilst numerous studies report strong or very strong associations with sporting key performance indicators, this is often done for a single time point, which represents a mere snapshot in time. The relevance here being that it becomes challenging to determine whether such results are repeatable or have occurred by mere chance. Similarly, where injury-based literature is concerned, some empirical evidence indicates that passing return-to-sport criteria can assist with the reduction of re-injury occurrence. In contrast, some over-whelming evidence also exists highlighting an extensive risk of re-injury on the contralateral limb, even when a return-to-sport testing battery has been passed. This raises the question as to the usefulness of current assessment methods being used as proxy measurements.

One emerging theme gaining traction is the need to develop assessment methods during more sport-specific tasks, as opposed to solely relying on physical proxy measures to determine readiness to train and compete again. This PhD aims to explore the usability of different technologies and test protocols to better inform decision-making for sport performance and injury risk mitigation purposes.

Research Objectives

1. To determine the validity and reliability of new technology for assessing pre-planned and competition-specific linear and change of direction speed performance.
2. To determine whether pre-planned linear and change of direction speed assessments can predict success in comparable competition-specific movement patterns.
3. To investigate associations between strength / explosive strength measures with linear and change of direction speed performance, in both pre-planned and competition-specific scenarios.
4. To compare pre-planned vs. competition-specific test measures for assessing athlete readiness to return-to-training / sport, during the injury rehabilitation process.

Who are we looking for?

The studentship is ideal for those looking to enhance their knowledge, skills and behaviours, and advance their career in the field of sport and exercise science / sport rehabilitation. Owing to the location of this PhD, the following essential criteria must also be met:

• A minimum of a 2:2 (upper second) undergraduate degree (or international equivalent) with honours in a subject-related field.
• Be eligible to live and study in the USA for a minimum term of 3 years.
• Some experience of working in a high-performance sport setting; either at professional or collegiate level.
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Note: This is a fully funded PhD, providing international tuition fees only.

Supervisory Team

If successful, you will be enrolled as a student at the London Sport Institute, Middlesex University, London, UK. However, your study and all associated data collection will take place in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Across both organisations, you will work with a range of subject specialists to enhance your knowledge and skills, and to maximise the impact of your research.

This project will be supervised by: Dr. Chris Bishop (Director of Studies, Middlesex University), Prof. Anthony Turner (Supervisor, Middlesex University), Dr. Dustin Nabhan (Supervisor, Cleveland Browns), in addition to working with a few external advisors, as is required.

How to apply

Applications are open and will be accepted up to 17:00 on 22nd June 2025. To apply, please send a 2-page resume to Dr. Chris Bishop (contact details below), along with a cover letter explaining why you would like to undertake this project and your suitability.

For further information, please contact the Head of Department at the London Sport Institute:

Dr. Chris Bishop
Email: c.bishop@mdx.ac.uk