Scholarships for postgraduate research students

Using Playermaker’s footwear-mounted wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU) technology, the project has the following research objectives:

• Determine the within- and between-session reliability of Playermaker metrics and examine concurrent validity against existing gold standards
• Characterise and compare within-player gait adaptations between standardised running drills and open-environment small-sided games or competitive matches.
• Track players prospectively across a competitive football season to establish individual Gait Deviation Indices (GDI) and evaluate their capacity to predict musculoskeletal injury risks or performance decrements.

Utilising FIFA-approved foot-mounted inertial devices (Playermaker) worn by NCFC players in training and competition, metrics including bilateral ground contact time (ms), flight time (ms), stride length (m), leg stiffness, vertical stiffness, impulse and estimated ground reaction force, will be measured routinely. Analysis of this data in a range of closed and open environments will permit quantification of reliability, validity and subsequently the predictive capacity of the system to detect meaningful changes in gait patterns that may be important for performance and/or injury-related interventions.

Successful applicants must have a postgraduate master's degree from a UK HEI (when applying for doctoral scholarships), The degree must be in a discipline that is relevant to the research (for example, Sport and Exercise Science).

We welcome applications from candidates with lived experience of the research and/or practice in a professional football context and have a passion and affinity for data analytics and data insight to drive performance. This role will involve daily management and interpretation of training data, and therefore, the candidate should have some proficiency with typical data management software (e.g., Microsoft Excel, Power BI, R or Tableau).

Although supervised by York St John University, the candidate will be embedded in practice with Norwich City FC and will therefore need to be based within an accessible distance to the club’s training facility in Suffolk.

Applicants are required to provide a research proposal in the area identified above. This is an opportunity to demonstrate understanding of the topic and research design, as well as provide us with an opportunity to assess your vision of how the overall aims of the project will be executed.

The research proposal should include an overview of the area of research, rationale for the research, specific research question/s, research methods to be employed, and proposed timelines (1500 words). It will be evaluated regarding its originality, impact, rigour, feasibility, and benefits to the sponsor. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview.

This scholarship will cover UK tuition fees for the duration of the PhD (£5,238 per year for the 2026-27 academic year) as well as a UKRI-linked stipend for 3 years (£21,805 for 2026-27 academic year). 

This scholarship is only open to applicants who are interested in pursuing a PhD on a full-time basis and starting from 1 October 2026.

The candidate will receive comprehensive academic and industrial guidance from an expert supervisory team:

• Dr Jamie Salter (Primary Supervisor, York St John University)
• Dr Dale Forsdyke (Co-Supervisor, York St John University)
• Dr Steve Barrett (Industry Supervisor, Playermaker Ltd)
• Performance Staff at Norwich City FC

Application Deadline: Monday 29 June 2026
Interviews: Thursday 9 July 2026 or Thursday 16 July 2026
Start Date: 1 October 2026

Please contact Dr Jamie Salter (j.salter@yorksj.ac.uk) for any questions relating to the research and scholarship.

An application should be made by following the YSJU admission process. To apply, please use the link below:

Apply for studentship

For admissions queries, please contact pgr.admissions@yorksj.ac.uk. 

Please submit a research proposal of up to 1,500 words, with reference to the enquiry questions included here, and how you would focus and approach researching these questions. Please note that CVs will not be accepted in place of the application form.  

Please note that the final details for this project are still under review, and the project will only proceed after final internal ratification.

Application should be made by following the YSJU admission process. To submit an application, please follow the link below.

Apply for scholarship

Please submit a research proposal or personal statement of up to 1,500 words, with reference to the enquiry questions included here, and how you would focus and approach researching these questions. Please note that CVs will not be accepted in place of the application form.  

For admissions queries, please contact pgr.admissions@yorksj.ac.uk.