Fully Funded PhD: Nutrition support through embedded research: a vehicle for improving health, performance and culture at GB Taekwondo 

We invite applications for funding for a three-year full-time PhD project to explore nutrition in Taekwondo, a weight-category combat sport where the way athletes fuel, recover and manage weight affects both performance and long-term health. This project is a partnership between Manchester Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Health and Education and GB Taekwondo, offering the chance to shape nutrition practice in a high-performance Olympic programme ahead of Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.

Working as an embedded researcher within GB Taekwondo, you will explore current nutrition practice and the views of male and female athletes and para-athletes, their coaches and support staff, co-design an evidence-informed nutrition curriculum covering performance, health and culture, and evaluate its impact at group and individual level. You will gain expertise in mixed-methods research, curriculum design, quality improvement and single-case study designs, working alongside experienced supervisors in a real-world setting, benefiting athletes across other combat sports.

As part of our inclusive and supportive doctoral community, you will benefit from structured training, mentoring and access to the facilities and expertise of the Faculty of Health and Education and the Institute of Sport. If you are curious, ambitious and passionate about sport, health and nutrition, we would love to hear from you.

Aims and objectives 

This PhD aims to improve nutrition practice in Taekwondo, at both group and individual level, to support performance, health and culture. Working as an embedded researcher, the successful candidate will: examine current nutrition practices and the challenges faced by athletes, coaches and support staff; evaluate how nutrition curriculum design and implementation are approached in sport; co-design an evidence-informed curriculum spanning performance, health and culture with input from all stakeholders; evaluate and refine current practice and the new curriculum through a quality-improvement project; and assess individual-level impact through a person-centred case series. Findings will inform nutrition practice and curriculum design across combat sport and beyond, with real-world benefit for athletes and the wider high-performance system.