Honours and PhD Research Students

Students completing their Bachelor of Exercise & Sport Science (Honours) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) provide a valuable contribution to the research profile and culture within the School. Honours research is typically completed full-time while a PhD program can be undertaken part-time or full-time. Both Honours and PhD research may be completed on the Bathurst or Port Macquarie campuses where academic research student supervisors may be located on located on either or both campuses.

Student research are able to undertake projects in a wide range of discipline areas, including but limited to biomechanics, motor control, exercise physiology, strength and conditioning, sport psychology, sociology, and sports media.

• Information on all Faculty of Science research courses.

If you are interested in completing your Honours or a PhD within the School, please review our staff profiles to identify potential supervisors for your project and contact the Honours or Higher Degree by Research Coordinators on the details provided below.

PhD Scholarships

A number of prestigious scholarships are available for both domestic and international PhD research candidates. In most cases, these scholarships are available to Australian or New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents. Further information regarding available PhD scholarships can be found on the CSU Research webpage.

Before submitting a PhD scholarship application, candidates are strongly encouraged to first make contact with a potential PhD supervisor to discuss their project and refine their research proposal.

Honours and PhD Student Research Opportunities

Below is a list of research projects of interest to academic staff that may be used as a basis for undertaking Honours or PhD research in the School. For further information about these projects, please contact the relevant project team members.

Biomechanics

• Movement screening for injury risk identification.
• The influence of lumbopelvic instability in injury risk.
• Running biomechanics in injury prevention and rehabilitation.

Motor Control

• Neuroscience of motor control in health and disease.
• Effects of ageing on neuromotor function.
• Neuromuscular adaptations to acute and chronic resistance exercise.
• Neural mechanisms contributing to exercise-induced fatigue in health and disease.

Exercise Physiology

• Thermoregulation and human performance.
• Understanding human fatigue through human evolutionary biology.
• Regulation of exercise under different conditions.
• Influence of sleep on exercise performance, health, and appetite.
• Regulation of pacing strategies in self-paced exercise.
• Effects of knowledge and deception on exercise performance.
• Alternative therapies for optimal health and human performance.
• Training and recovery strategies for team sport and endurance athletes.
• Workplace exercise/physical activity programs for injury prevention, improved cardio-metabolic health and psychosocial wellbeing.
• Immune and inflammatory responses in health and disease.

Strength and Conditioning

• Can injury prevention training programs reduce injury risk?
• Conditioning for sport performance.

Psychology and Sociology of Physical Activity

• Successful ageing and leisure in later life.
• Sociology of sport and physical activity participation and promotion across the lifespan.
• Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health.
• Sport history particularly in the ancient world.
• Aspects of sport and the media with particular attention to gender.
• Sport, gender, sexuality and major sporting events.

Sports Media

• Social media and athletes/social media abuse aimed at athletes.
• Women, sport and media studies in Australia (and internationally).
• Sport and social media (including abuse of athletes and mental health).

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