Health and Sport Sciences research

The School of Health and Sport Sciences has a vibrant research environment, with a particular emphasis on interdisciplinary research.

The £8.5m Health Sciences Building opened in 2016 houses excellent research facilities and specialised laboratories for its active research groups in the main fields of Sport and Exercise Science, Nutrition and Food Science, and Applied Biomedical Health.

All academics within the School of Health Sciences are research-active and work very proactively towards research assessment exercises.

Research Groups

Musculoskeletal Sports Medicine Group

Exercise, Performance & Health Physiology Research Group

Psychology, Action and Learning of Movement (PALM) Research Group

Nutrition and Biosciences Research Group

In January 2016 the Health Sciences Building was launched, housing the Sport Science research facilities. The development of this £8.5m facility produced more than 320m² dedicated to research, including specialised laboratories: Sport Biomechanics, Sport and Exercise Physiology, Cardiovascular Physiology, Sport Performance, Body Composition, and Sport Psychophysiology.

The Health Sciences Building was supplemented by further investments of £7.7m in on-campus indoor and outdoor sport facilities (sports building including modern gym and strength and conditioning suite, 3G football pitch, tennis/net ball courts, rugby pitch) and on-site physiotherapy and sport rehabilitation clinic). The University explicitly dedicated these resources not only as leisure facilities for students, but for research space for the academics.

More than 100m²of further space is dedicated to research across separate rooms to support specialist areas of Exercise Physiology and Sport Performance, Cardiovascular Physiology, Psychophysiology, and Body Composition. These areas are supported by specialised equipment invested into the unit. Primary research equipment includes: eye tracking system (ALS), further 8-channel wireless EMG system (Delsys), transcranial magnetic stimulator (MagStim), 3 online, breath-by-breath expired gas analysis systems (LoveMedical), near infrared spectrometer (Oxiplex), cardiac ultrasound (VividQ), vascular ultrasound (Terason), Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (GE Lunar iDXA)), pulse wave velocity (?), motorised (h/p/cosmos) and non-motorised (Woodway Curve) treadmill, isokinetic dynamometer, programmable (Lode Excalibur Sport with pedal force measurement, Lode Corival, Tacx) and non-programmable (SRM trainer) cycle ergometers, cardiac stress-test / supine ergometer table (Lode Angio), automated desktop systems for blood lactate and glucose concentration (Biosen) and standard haematology.

The Health Sciences Building houses dedicated space and specialised research laboratories for Nutrition and Food Sciences in relation to clinical nutrition, nutritional biochemistry, food sensory analysis and food product development. Comprehensive and well-equipped product development kitchen and sensory labs are integral parts for the trailing and production of Food and Nutritional Sciences research projects. This 309m² space includes a dedicated phlebotomy suite and facilities for the measurement of metabolic and molecular markers of human function in a regular biosciences area. There are also research facilities for the biosciences, representing a shared space with other units of assessment for analysis of human blood samples. This 309m² space includes a dedicated phlebotomy suite and facilities for the measurement of metabolic and molecular markers of human function in a regular biosciences area.

In addition to the specialised and discipline-specific research laboratories, a broad range of multidisciplinary research equipment are available to the academics and research groups within School’s research environment including Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) lab (GE Healthcare); Evidence Investigator (Randox); Afinion multi-assay analyser (Alere); RX Misano (Randox); BioSpec Nano (Shimadzu); Real-time PCR Thermocycler (BIORAD); Bomb Calorimeter (C1); CDR Food lab; ChemicDoc XRS+ imager; HPLC 200 series (Perkin Elmer); I-stat (Abbot); LDX Analyser; Multi-scan Ascent plate reader (Thermo); Spectrophotomer (Shimadzu) and BodPod (Cosmed).

Studying an MPhil or PhD at the School:

The department features numerous MPhil and PhD supervision opportunities. These can have funding already in place or be self-funded. Details concerning the types of research projects currently underway at the school can be found on the different research groups' pages and research opportunities page.

The University admits students to its MPhil and PhD programmes at two points during the year.

For an October start date, you must submit your full application before the 1st May in the same year. For a February start date, you must submit your full application before 1st October in the preceding calendar year.

For more information concerning entry requirements and how to apply: click here

Our current PhD students:

The school is lucky to have numerous talented PhD students conducting leading research. Here is some information to help you get to know them and their journeys:

Maxime Ansell (Max) achieved his Undergraduate degree in SportsScience (2020) and Masters degree in Applied Sports Science (2021) at Bangor University. He is now completing his PhD as part of the VC Scholarship program at Liverpool Hope University and is expect to finish in 2026. The PhD investigates imagery and practice structure effects on skill aquisition. He is also in the process of writing up the experiments he completed during his masters involving personality effects on performance under pressure. In his spare time Max enjoys running, slacklining and making music/art.
Sima Jalali Farahani completed an Associate Degree in Physical Education (2012-2014), BSc in Sports Science and Health (2014-2016), and M.Sc. Degree in Sports Physiology and Nutrition (2017-2020). She acted as Lecturer in Sports Science and Exercise Physiology at Allameh Tabatabai University (2018- 2022). She was also a Professional Coach and athlete in the nation of Iran (Dragon Boat team and Karate; 2012-2020); winner of 13 Medals in a National competition (2012-2020). Her current research topic is the effects of chronic disease on Muscluskeltal health in older adults (heart failure, sarcopenia, and aging).
Ruth Batin finished her undergraduate degree in Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy in 2011 at Mariano Marcos State University in the City of Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. She attended the University of Santo Tomas – Graduate School in Manila, Philippines and successfully completed her Master of Science in Physical Therapy degree in 2019. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy in Sport and Exercise Science degree at Liverpool Hope University through the Vice Chancellor Scholarship awarded by the same university. Her research project focuses on the kinematics and muscle activation profiles in reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, and to compare these variables between patients with good and poor outcomes. Her research interests include teaching-learning methodologies, cardiac rehabilitation, virtual reality, mental health and shoulder complex conditions. In her spare time, she is fond of journaling, singing, playing the guitar and cycling.
Liam Pope completed his undergraduate degree in 2020 and his master's degree in 2022 at Hartpury University. Liam is currently pursuing a Vice Chancellor Scholarship PhD in Nutrition at Liverpool Hope University, focusing on the cardiovascular implications of low energy availability in female athletes. His previous research investigated the impact of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraception use on performance in female athletes. Apart from his academic pursuits, Liam has a passion for living a healthy active lifestyle and playing the guitar.