PhD Physical Activity and Health

University of Strathclyde

Our research is focused on the development and testing of interventions that encourage people to participate in more physical activity and less sedentary behaviour throughout life.We accept applications for postgraduate research study at any point throughout the year.You can study an MPhil/ MRes over one year or a PhD over the course of three years, or part-time equivalents.PhD involves at least three years of independent research study supported by a number of members of academic staff. You'll complete a minimum of 60 credits of the Postgraduate Certificate in Research development programme (PgCert RPD) over the course of your PhD studies.MPhil involves at least one year of independent research study with academic supervision. As part of your MPhil, you'll participate in the PgCert RPD and will complete a minimum of 20 credits over the course of your studies.MRes involves a minimum of 20 credits of taught element and 160 credits of independent research study supported by members of the academic research team. You can study these degrees in any of our research areas.Physical activity and healthBehaviour & behaviour changeHealth effectsGlobalisation & non-communicable disease (NCD)MeasurementTechnologyPhysical activity and public healthOur research on physical activity and public health is focused on improving population health across the lifecourse and across the globe. This includes improving the monitoring of physical activity and the other movement behaviours (sedentary behaviour including screen time and sleep), improving policy on the movement behaviours, developing a better understanding of how the movement behaviours influence population health, and the development and testing of population health interventions to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).Research supervision is available in the following topics:Public health surveillance of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleepEvaluation of physical activity and sedentary behaviour policyBehavioural epidemiology of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep across the lifecourseDevelopment and evaluation of population-based interventions aimed at improving levels of the movement behavioursLongitudinal studies of the movement behavioursObesity and public healthOur research on obesity and public health is focused on prevention and treatment of obesity and diabetes across the lifecourse and across the globe. This includes improving monitoring and surveillance, policy, definitions and diagnosis, developing a better understanding of the aetiology of obesity and the health consequences of obesity and diabetes, and the development and evaluation of interventions.Research supervision is available in the following topics:Improving diagnosis and definition of obesity in clinical practice and public healthNovel and emerging health consequences of obesity or diabetesObesity contributions to the global crisis of non-communicable diseases including cancerDevelopment and evaluation of interventions to prevent and treat obesity or diabetesAetiology of obesity and/or diabetesDevelopment of the obesity pandemic in low-and-middle-income countriesDevelopment of the diabetes pandemic in low-and-middle-income countries