Sport and exercise research unit
Convenor: Dr Jim Golby
The vibrant staff within the research unit have developed considerable expertise and contributed extensively to both theoretical and practical aspects of sport and exercise.
Exergaming
Development and evaluation of an 'exergaming' intervention to target cardiovascular and mental health outcomes | Dr Iain Spears, Dr Alan Batterham, Dr Liane Azevedo, Dr Wen Tang, Dr Paul Crawshaw and Dr Catherine Lock (Newcastle), funded by EPSRC, £198,485.
More about exergaming
Motion capture
Feasibility study into low cost motion capture system for use in gym environment | Dr Iain Spears, funded by Technogym Spa, £10,500.
Soccer training
Quantifying training in elite soccer | Matt Portas, funded by Middlesbrough FC, £7,000.
Power training
Tom Gee, funded by English Institute of Sport, £12,000 p.a.
Staff expertise is centred on the parent academic disciplines of exercise physiology, sport and exercise psychology, sport sociology and biomechanics.
The various combinations and permutations of research and development afforded by these disciplines are enormous. The research unit acknowledges the experience, knowledge and skills of other individuals and groups within the region and already has a well established profile of research collaboration with local, regional, national and international organisations.
Facilities
The University has made substantial investment in research facilities in the area of sport, exercise and physical activity. Recently capital investment in the area of sports injury research has been over £150,000 bringing its three yearly investment to over £500,000.
The Olympia Building, housing biomechanics laboratories, physiology laboratories and specialist equipment such as an environmental chamber, were completed in 2004 at a cost of £6.5 million. An additional new building is being constructed to facilitate future development of research and teaching in the domain of sport & exercise.
One example of the work of the unit is located within the health care and health sciences sector; an area identified as one of the three pillars in the region’s strategy for success in the North East of England. The Teesside Sports Injury Clinic affords a natural laboratory for both archival research and developing and testing new theoretical and practical initiatives within the field of sport and exercise injury prevention and treatment.
