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Sports and Exercise Science: Fully Funded EPSRC INEOS PhD: Towards the Development of Digital Twins for Efficient Talent Identification in Professional Cycling (RS766)

  • DeadlineDeadline: 24th February 2025
  • WalesWales

Description

Closing date: 24th February 2025

Funding providers: EPSRC and INEOS

Subject areas: STEM, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Sports Science

Project start date: 1 October 2025 (Enrolment open from mid-September)

Supervisors: Prof Liam Kilduff (Joint Primary Supervisor), Dr Rowan Brown (Joint Primary Supervisor), Prof Neil Bezodis (Supervisor Team), Dr Mark Waldron (Supervisor Team), Dr Laura Mason (Supervisor Team), Dr Scott Drawer (Industrial Supervisor)

Aligned programme of study: PhD in Sports Science

Mode of study: Full-time – location will be a combination of Swansea University, INEOS and other key data partners

Project description:

The landscape of professional cycling has changed dramatically over the past decade with more nations represented at a professional level. This has led to more professional teams introducing development teams (U23s), and increasingly more teams are now considering riders at the junior level to ensure a pipeline of talented riders.


The identification of talent at younger ages is becoming increasingly competitive; more efficient and effective methods are needed. Cycling remains one of the more technologically advanced sports and various forms of performance and race data are often publicly available. However, these data sources are vast and sometimes inconsistent - automated methods would enhance the collation and analysis of data to better identify talent that can consequently be invited for further testing.


The aim of this project is therefore to design and build a digital thread. This will utilise current and legacy INEOS performance metrics and associated public data streams to identify and track the trajectory of junior level riders across the world. Initially, techniques will be designed to follow national junior results across all competition formats in a select number of countries and build automated systems to flag ‘unusual and interesting’ results. This will then allow more in-depth exploration of individual training history and trajectories over time.

For more details please see here: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/fse-epsrc-ineos-phd-sports-science-rs766.php

Entry Requirements

2:1 (or above) in STEM

It would be desirable for candidates to have experience in some or all of the following:

  • Data pipelines and database architecture
  • Private and public cloud data platforms (i.e. Azure, GCP, AWS)
  • A variety of programming languages (i.e. R, Python, SQL) required
  • Data visualization solutions (i.e. Power BI, Tableau) for producing reports

IELTS 6.5 Overall (with no individual component below 6.5) or Swansea University recognised equivalent. Full details of our English Language policy, including certificate time validity, can be found here.

If you have any questions regarding your academic or fee eligibility based on the above, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk with the web link to the scholarship(s) you are interested in.

Funding

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees and an annual stipend at the UKRI rate (currently £19,237 for 2024/25).
Additional research expenses of up to £1,000 per year will also be available.

EPSRC DLA studentships are available to home and international students. Up to 30% of our cohort can comprise international students, once the limit has been reached, we are unable to make offers to international students.   

 We are still accepting applications from international applicants.   
International students will not be charged the fee difference between the UK and international rates. Applicants should satisfy the UKRI eligibility requirements. 

How To Apply

To apply, please complete your application online with the following information

1. Course choice
 – please select as per preferred mode of study, either:

(Full Time) Sports Science / PhD / Full-time / 3 Years / October

In the event you have already applied for the above programme previously, the application system may issue a warning notice and prevent application, in this event, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk where staff will be happy to assist you in submitting your application

2. Start year – please select 2025

3. Funding (page 8 on the application process) –

  • ‘Are you funding your studies yourself?’ – please select No
  • ‘Name of Individual or organisation providing funds for study’ – please enter ‘RS766'

*It is the responsibility of the applicant to list the above information accurately when applying, please note that applications received without the above information listed will not be considered for the scholarship award.

One application is required per individual Swansea University-led research scholarship award; applications cannot be considered listing multiple Swansea University-led research scholarship awards.

NOTE: Applicants for PhD/EngD/ProfD/EdD - to support our commitment to providing an environment free of discrimination and celebrating diversity at Swansea University you are required to complete an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring Form in addition to your programme application form.  

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring Form (online form) 

Please note that completion of the EDI Monitoring Form is mandatory; your application may not progress if this information is not submitted.

As part of your online application, you MUST upload the following documents (please do not send these via email):

  • CV
  • Degree certificates and transcripts (if you are currently studying for a degree, screenshots of your grades to date are sufficient)
  • A cover letter including a ‘Supplementary Personal Statement’ to explain why the position particularly matches your skills and experience and how you choose to develop the project.
  • Two references (academic or previous employer) on the headed paper or using the Swansea University reference form. Please note that we are not able to accept references received citing private email accounts, e.g. Hotmail. Referees should cite their employment email address for verification of reference.
  • Evidence of meeting English Language requirements (if applicable).
  • Copy of UK resident visa (if applicable)
  • Confirmation of EDI form submission

For ALL scholarship applications from February 2023, an EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) Monitoring Form is required.

Informal enquiries are welcome; please contact Prof Liam Kilduff kilduff@swansea.ac.uk Rowan Brown r.brown@swansea.ac.uk

*External Partner Application Data Sharing – Please note that as part of the scholarship application selection process, application data sharing may occur with external partners outside of the University, when joint/co-funding of a scholarship project is applicable. 

Who is eligible to apply?

Scholarship open to UK and international fee eligible applicants

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