Sport, Exercise and Health Science MRes
1 Year Full-Time | September Start

This MRes programme is designed to allow you to experience research rich learning within a challenging, yet supportive, environment. You will gain an advanced understanding of the theory and practice of sport, exercise and health research.

With the support of a supervisor, you will carry out an empirical piece of research (the thesis) that requires effective integration of the theoretical knowledge and practical skills covered on the programme. This will be your opportunity to demonstrate the research expertise, applying the learning and experience gained in previous modules.

You will also have access to the specialist research facilities which include a sprint track, nutrition laboratory, body composition laboratory, neurophysiology laboratory, exercise physiology laboratory, biomechanics laboratory, clinical gait laboratory, strength and conditioning suite and DXA bone scanner.

The excellent standard of equipment that we have on campus means that you can really explore your potential when it comes to choosing your research focus. The programme will also employ technology enhanced tools such as the e-Learning portal (Blackboard), electronic reading lists, lecture capture and online submission all of which will aide your learning.

Formative and summative assessments will afford you the opportunity to gain experience and demonstrate your knowledge of understanding via tasks such as developing research proposals, disseminating research findings across a range of formats (laboratory reports, poster presentations and oral presentations) and critically evaluating literature. 

We know that embarking on a masters course is a big decision and knowing whether you will have enough time to balance all of life’s other demands is important.  

During this course your on-campus lectures, workshops and seminars will all be timetabled on a Monday and Tuesdays. For a masters programme like this we expect a commitment of around 35 hours per week - how you do your self-directed study is completely up to you. We want you to be able to fit your studies in with your life, whether that be at our City Campus Library, the University Library Digital Commons, open 24/7 during term time, or at home with access to e-books and journals - make it work for you.     

Our specialist team of teaching staff are internationally renowned and have expertise in a range of individual disciplines such as Strength and Conditioning, Clinical Exercise Physiology, Sport and Exercise Nutrition, Exercise Science and Physiotherapy.

Depending on your module choices you will be working with HEA, BASES, HCPC CPsychol, HCPC Physio, UKSCA, NSCA, SENr accredited staff; and also, Level 4 and GB Coaching staff depending on your choice of modules throughout the progression of the programme.

This means that you will benefit from both fantastically passionate staff and our excellent industry connections in sport, which may help you in further research or employment.

Many staff have also worked in the sports industry, including coaching athletes competing at international, world and Olympic standards to bring that real-life experience to your learning.

Northumbria has some of the best campus sport facilities in the country. Our state-of-the-art sport and exercise science labs have been accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences. You will also benefit from Sport Central, £30 million sport and events facility at the heart of the Northumbria campus.

The equipment within the labs is also state of the art meaning that you will be taught vocationally relevant skills in an exciting and stimulating setting. The facilities you will have access to include specialist physiology, biomechanics and nutrition laboratories, strength and conditioning suites, indoor sprint track, environmental chamber and a DXA bone scanner.

We are very keen to embed MRes students within the University's vibrant research culture. For example, we encourage your participation in our seminar series where you will hear talks from and network with academics, including external speakers.

We offer all our students the opportunity to get involved in our research practice and make a tangible contribution to the field of exercise science research.

Within the programme, you will have the experience of confronting and dealing with conceptual, methodological, and logistical problems, thereby obtaining a deeper understanding of the research process and a more thorough grasp of current literature. 

You will be encouraged to demonstrate your individuality as a researcher. For example, within the Research in Practice module, you will be given the opportunity to choose a project to work on with one of the research groups within the department in alignment with your research interests.

Northumbria has an unrivalled reputation for sport and exercise science research power in the North East. Making full use of our sport science labs, we adopt an interdisciplinary approach to our three main themes:

• relation of, adaptation to, and recovery from exercise.
• clinical exercise physiology and nutrition in promoting healthy living.
• education and development of coaches' and athletes' performance.

This MRes in Sport, Exercise and Health Science provides an excellent foundation in research methods, perfect for people who wish to go on to study a PhD. It can be a great stepping stone that allows you to test out what it would be like to study for a doctorate, while earning a qualification that is extremely valuable for industry.

The practical nature of this course equips you with the necessary skills for a career in research and the opportunity to run a research project as part of a collaborative research team will provide a strong platform to build upon.

In order to achieve the MRes you will enhance your research professionalism, communication skills and evaluative abilities. You will show that you are capable of making decisions in complex situations, and that you possess a thirst for independent learning.

In addition to these personal attributes, the MRes demonstrates a high-level awareness of current research and scholarship. This will facilitate your ability to thrive in research settings related to exercise science as well as a variety of other professional fields.

You are actively encouraged to engage with the services offered by the careers office which provides discipline-specific careers advice and one to one support upon request. You will also be encouraged to obtain membership of a relevant professional body, i.e., the British Association of Exercise Sciences (BASES), the Physiological Society, and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

If your next step is a PhD then we will offer you support with your applications. If you decide not to progress to a PhD, the MRes will demonstrate your ability to fit into any research-based setting. You will have the skills necessary to meet the needs of employers with interests in public policy, professional research and project evaluation.