Our studentships

Our PhD projects explore ways to improve Para athlete performance and health, targeting highly transdisciplinary topics.

Each studentship provides hands-on experience, interdisciplinary training and direct engagement with elite Para sport athletes - ensuring research discoveries translate into practical performance solutions.

Our main themes of exploration are:

  • Interaction with equipment and environment
  • Female athlete health
  • Wearables and technologies

Right-hand banner image used courtesy of David Baird.

Our studentship topics

We are delighted to have successfully recruited to the opportunities described below, but please review the projects in which our students are engaged.

Student: Hannah Lonsdale
Supervisors: Dr Aimee Mears and Dr Matt Maley
Para sport partners: UK Sports Institute

Sports apparel and equipment are critical determinants of an athlete’s performance and overall experience. Despite this, research focused on female Para athletes, particularly regarding apparel and equipment design, remains limited.

Hannah is investigating the specific sports apparel and equipment requirements of female Para athletes. Her research will provide the biomechanical and mechanical underpinning to inform the design of functional and comfortable sportswear and equipment, addressing their unique needs.

Student: Zoe Palmer
Supervisor: Professor Tom Slatter
Para sport partner: UK Sports Institute

Sports equipment, apparel and clothing are critical to an athlete’s performance. Despite this, research focused on equipment used by Para athletes remains limited. What's more, equipment is often only slightly modified from conventional designs, rather than taking into account the needs of Para athletes from the outset of the design process.

Zoe is investigating the specific sports equipment requirements of Para athletes to provide the underpinning mechanical engineering science to inform the design of equipment that addresses their unique needs.

Student: Aphra Sutherland-Howard
Supervisors: Professor Vicky Tolfrey and Dr Stuart McErlain-Naylor (Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences)
Advisors: Dr Alex Gonzalez (Stanford University) and Dr Thomas Rietveld (Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences)
Para sport partners: UK Sports Institute

Aphra is exploring how - with innovative applications - existing wearable technologies can effectively support Para athletes, assessing their transferability for training prescription and performance monitoring.

By collecting detailed biomechanical and physiological data during daily mobility, training and competition environments, her findings will enhance understanding around training intensity, performance optimisation and injury prevention.

Student: Natália Moura
Supervisors: Dr Iuliana Hartescu and Professor Vicky Tolfrey with input from Dr Nicola Paine for stressors (Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences) 
Para sport partners: ParalympicsGB

With the next Paralympic Games taking place in Los Angeles, followed by Brisbane in 2032, long-haul trans-Pacific and trans-continental travel is inevitable for participating athletes.

Travel fatigue and jet lag often follow long-haul flights across multiple time zones and can have profound impacts on physical and mental performance. In comparison to non-disabled athletes, Para athletes are likely to experience greater logistical and physiological challenges when travelling.

Natália is investigating the travel strategies and associated stressors for high-performance Para athletes.

Student: Sarah Schonenberg
Supervisors: Dr Matt Maley, Dr Thomas O’Brien, Professor Vicky Tolfrey and Dr Simon Hodder (Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences and Design and Creative Arts)

Sarah is investigating thermal responses in Para athletes with different impairments and classifications, focusing on sweat and thermal sensitivity mapping.

To inform future clothing design for improved thermoregulation, she is examining how individuals regulate temperature in different sports environments, assessing variations in sweat distribution across impairment groups.

In addition, she is exploring cooling interventions, using computational modelling to tailor recommendations based on impairment, classification, environmental temperature and humidity - contributing to inclusive sports policies and improving athlete safety and competitiveness.

Student: Cheyenne Cheung
Supervisors: Dr Anna Fitzpatrick, Dr Thomas O’Brien and Professor Vicky Tolfrey

Wheelchair tennis research has focused on male players and hard courts, with little research examining females, juniors or court surface differences. With the French Open and Wimbledon Grand Slams only four weeks apart, this surface transition is particularly crucial.

Cheyenne is comparing the physical and tactical demands of wheelchair tennis on different court surfaces - hard, clay and grass. Tracking British wheelchair tennis players longitudinally over two years, she will conduct physical and tactical match analysis as well as physiological testing in a combined lab- and field-based approach.

Her research findings will support players’ health and recovery, allowing us to identify periods of increased injury risk. Her analysis of match, health and recovery data will facilitate players’ physical preparation and recovery. It will also support the development of the next generation of players, guiding their progression towards the LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Paralympics.

Student: Liam Readle
Supervisors: Dr Thomas O’Brien, Dr Richard Blagrove and Professor Vicky Tolfrey

Wheelchair rugby is a mixed gender, mixed impairment Paralympic sport, characterised by intermittent sprint activity and a large aerobic contribution.

During international competitions - such as the World and Paralympic Games - players face back-to-back games over five days. Therefore, coaches and performance staff seek training methods to best prepare their athletes for the physiological demands.

Liam's research will quantify the physiological demands of wheelchair rugby performance to optimise training and recovery strategies for Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby as they prepare for LA 2028 - and beyond.

He is investigating internal and external load responses to training and competition, while plotting the associations between training load, injury and illness risk with particular focus on periods of intensified training and competition.