From jamie.goodwin@hullcc.gov.uk | Wednesday 5 May 2021
Projects to focus on key themes of sustainability, social impact and athlete transition into retirement after competition.
The University of Hull has announced it will deliver a new PhD cluster of research as part of its official partnership with Team GB.
The research projects will focus on three key themes - sustainability, social impact and athlete transition into retirement after competition – aligned to the strategic objectives of Team GB.
Team GB and the University of Hull are working in collaboration to launch the trio of new research projects.
It comes as part of an exclusive partnership between Team GB and the University, which spans the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The three PhD projects are as follows:
Race to Zero: An Olympic journey
An interdisciplinary project featuring experts from the University’s Energy and Environment Institute and the Logistics Institute, this project aims to help Team GB understand its carbon footprint and develop a goal to reduce the overall environmental impact of its operations.
Green2Gold
The aim of the proposed PhD programme is to develop a model for effectively implementing socially-prescribed greenspace activity in economically-disadvantaged areas. Based in the University of Hull’s Sport, Health and Exercise Science department, the successful PhD candidate will work with a wide range of partner institutions, with the initial project being run in East Yorkshire. The project will involve the University partnering with high-profile regional and national non-profit organisations such as the National Forest Company and Wildlife Trusts.
Sustaining Team GB athletes post-elite sport
Retirement from sport is an extremely significant hot topic in contemporary sports research and is an area of huge importance to Team GB. Together the University of Hull and Team GB hope to research and identify characteristics of various Olympic sports and post sport experiences. Longer term the project will provide critical insight and knowledge that can be used to support athletes’ careers and well-being in their life beyond sport. Crucially, the aim is for the research is to inform and shape support provision for athletes both in the years preceding and post retirement.
Dr Dave Richards, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research & Enterprise at the University of Hull, said: “The University of Hull’s partnership with Team GB has provided unique opportunities for students and staff right across our organisation, from teaching and learning to research and knowledge exchange.
“I am delighted that the University can support Team GB through these three exciting PhD projects, which have been shaped around their strategy for the future.
“Our research at the University of Hull continues to make a huge difference to individuals and organisations right across the world. I look forward to seeing these three projects develop, and the benefits they will bring to Team GB.”
Find more information on the projects here.
