Natalie Vanicek

[PhD stipend of £21,805 plus tuition fees.] The University of Hull is recruiting two Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in its School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, starting from September 2026. This is a combined opportunity: the GTA role is part-time and includes teaching experience in higher education, while the research component is a full-time PhD. The post is designed for candidates who want to develop as researchers and educators in sport, exercise, and rehabilitation. Successful applicants will join a research-active school with strong facilities and a clear track record of helping GTA staff move on to permanent academic or research posts. Facilities include a biomechanics laboratory with marker-based and markerless Theia motion capture, force plates, musculoskeletal modelling software, EMG, isokinetic dynamometry, and strength and conditioning equipment. Physiology resources include an environmental chamber, respiratory physiology and lung function testing facilities, and access to an elite sport High Performance Centre. The School also offers a Sport Rehabilitation suite and Health and Injury Performance Hub with an anti-gravity treadmill and therapeutic facilities. Applicants are invited to propose doctoral work within one of four project areas: (1) Growing into the Game: understanding female footballer health, development, cognition and performance during adolescence; (2) ACTIVE Asthma: co-designing exercise guidance for people with asthma; (3) movement economy in people with a below-knee amputation, comparing standard and self-aligning ankle prostheses for people with limited mobility; and (4) the cyclical nature of perfectionism, exploring the reciprocal relationship between performance and perfectionism in sport. Each project has named supervisors and is aligned with the School’s broader research themes. For the female footballer project, supervisors are Dr Kate Donnan and Dr Chris Towlson-McLaren. The asthma project is supervised by Dr Andrew Simpson, Dr Laura Gale, and Prof Mike Crooks. The prosthetics and movement economy project is supervised by Dr Tom Nickolay, Dr Steve Hayes, and Prof Natalie Vanicek. The perfectionism project is supervised by Dr Dan Fleming, Prof Adam Nicholls, and Dr Laura Gale. Contact emails for the supervisors are listed in the posting. Entry requirements include at least a 2:1 undergraduate degree in Sport and/or Exercise Science, Sports Rehabilitation, or an equivalent discipline, plus strong attainment in the undergraduate research project or thesis. The School also asks for excellent written and oral communication skills, the ability to work independently, and strong motivation to undertake PhD research. Applicants must submit a brief literature review of up to 500 words on their chosen topic and identify at least one research gap, along with a covering letter of up to 500 words explaining how their experience and qualifications meet the person specification. The role offers PhD funding in the form of a stipend of £21,805 plus tuition fees. The application deadline is 2 September 2026, with interviews scheduled for 3 September. Applicants should apply through the University of Hull careers page using the provided application link.

Funded PhD and Graduate Teaching Assistant opportunities are available at the University of Hull in the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences . The post combines full-time PhD research with part-time teaching experience in higher education, making it a strong option for candidates who want both research training and academic teaching development. The advertised projects span several related areas in sport psychology , sports science , exercise science , rehabilitation , public health , and biomedical engineering . Topics include female footballer health, development, cognition and performance during adolescence; co-designing exercise guidance for people with asthma; movement economy for people with below-knee amputation using ankle prostheses; and the reciprocal relationship between performance and perfectionism in sport. Supervision teams include Dr Kate Donnan, Dr Chris Towlson-McLaren, Dr Andrew Simpson, Dr Laura Gale, Prof Mike Crooks, Dr Tom Nickolay, Dr Steve Hayes, Prof Natalie Vanicek, Dr Dan Fleming, and Prof Adam Nicholls. The post is based at Hull and gives access to the university’s research and teaching facilities. Funding information: the PhD stipend is £21,805 plus tuition fees at the UK rate . The post also notes that international students must pay the difference between the UK and international tuition fee rates, so this is not fully covered for all applicants. Deadline: 2 September . Interviews are planned for the week commencing 7 September . Interested applicants should review the project list and apply through the provided link.