Physical activity and health,PhD

University of Strathclyde

United Kingdom, Glasgow

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Home/United Kingdom/Glasgow /University of Strathclyde/Physical activity and health,PhD

University of Strathclyde

United Kingdom , Glasgow

Key Facts

Program Level

PhD (Philosophy Doctorate)

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

On Campus

Campuses

MainSite

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake DeadlinesSeptember-2026

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 3 year(s)

Tuition Fee

GBP 18,050 / year

Next Intake September-2026

Physical activity and health,PhD

About

Research opportunities

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 health

Physical activity and public health

Our 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 sleep
Evaluation of physical activity and sedentary behaviour policy
Behavioural epidemiology of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep across the lifecourse
Development and evaluation of population-based interventions aimed at improving levels of the movement behaviours
Longitudinal studies of the movement behaviours

Obesity and public health

Our 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 health
Novel and emerging health consequences of obesity or diabetes
Obesity contributions to the global crisis of non-communicable diseases including cancer
Development and evaluation of interventions to prevent and treat obesity or diabetes
Aetiology of obesity and/or diabetes
Development of the obesity pandemic in low-and-middle-income countries
Development of the diabetes pandemic in low-and-middle-income countries

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Apply

Entry requirements

You require to have a first-class or upper second-class UK Honours degree, or overseas equivalent, in a related discipline.

Before you apply

We strongly advise you contact one or more potential supervisors or the Postgraduate Research Director, Dr William McGeown (hass-psh-pgr@strath.ac.uk), before completing the online application. Please click on the ‘Supervisors’ tab above for further information.

The application

During the application you'll be asked for the following:

your full contact details
transcripts and certificates of all degrees
roof of English language proficiency if English isn't your first language. For postgraduate studies, we require a minimum overall IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent (no individual test score below 5.5, the test must be taken within two years of the programme start date)
two references, one of which must be academic
funding or scholarship information
research proposal of 250 to 1,000 words in length, detailing the subject area and topic to be investigated

By filling these details out as fully as possible, you'll avoid any delay to your application being processed by the University.

Supervisors

You'll need to identify your research supervisor before you finalise your application, preferably as soon as possible. When you've identified a potential supervisor, based on how well your research interests match theirs, drop them an email to introduce yourself. In the email, make sure you attach a draft of your research proposal along with a copy of your CV. Don't worry about how rough your research proposal may be at this stage – you'll have help from our School of Psychological Sciences and Health to refine it.

If your chosen supervisor if available to work with you, they'll confirm this and nominate a potential second supervisor. As soon as a second supervisor is confirmed, an offer of study will be sent to you through Pegasus, our online application system.

When you accept our offer, you'll receive a full offer in writing via the email address you provide.

Accepting an offer

When you've accepted our offer, we'll need you to fulfil any academic, administrative or financial conditions that we ask.

UK or EU students

If you're applying as a UK or EU student, you'll then be issued with your registration documentation.

English Program Requirements

We accept a number of English language tests as proof of proficiency in English. IELTS is the most widely available. Information on this can be found on the British Council Website.

Our current standard requirements are:

IELTS (Academic): 6.5 overall (no individual band less than 5.5)
Faculty of Science: IELTS (Academic): 6.0 overall (no individual band less than 5.5)
Faculty of Engineering (Undergraduate only): IELTS (Academic): 6.0 overall (no individual band less than 5.5)

Some degree programmes have different English language requirements to the above so please check each individual course page for details.

Other English language tests may be acceptable and you can find these here:

Recognised English language qualifications for pre-sessional and degree entry

If you have a qualification not listed, you should contact our Recruitment & International Office for advice.

Career

The University Careers Service can help you with everything from writing your CV to interview preparation. Take a look at our careers service pages to get more information.

Fee Information

Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

We're delighted to offer all NHS staff a 25% discount on tuition fees.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that tuition fees are revised annually and may increase in subsequent years of study. Annual increases will generally reflect UK inflation rates and increases to programme delivery costs.

Tuition Fee

GBP 18,050

Application Fee

GBP