Centre for research in Psychology and Sport Sciences

The Centre for Research in Psychology and Sport Sciences coordinates work in diverse research areas. The Centre’s research lies primarily within the University’s Health and Wellbeing research theme, where psychological/mental health and sports-related interventions are significant sub-themes. The Centre also contributes psychological expertise to Cyber Security within the Information and Security Theme, to sustainability within the Global Economy theme and to several strands of the Food theme.

The Centre brings together the work of approximately 45 members of academic and research staff, as well as around 75 doctoral-level students, several of whom are supported by Centre studentships. The Centre enjoys collaborative research links with the NHS, universities, businesses and charities.

The Centre is committed to Open Science. We are members of the UK Reproducibility Network and actively promote the use of online preregistration services

• Applied Psychology Research Group
  Applications of psychology to the workplace; policy; law; crime; applied social and cognitive psychology; scientific and educational uses of magic.
• Behaviour change
  Public health, ‘do something different’, large socio-technical organisation, pro environmental, criminal and legal psychology.
• Cognitive neuropsychology
  Dementia and cognitive decline, obsessive compulsive disorder,  schizophrenia, body consciousness, attention, space.
• Exercise, Health and Wellbeing Research Group
  Improving health and wellbeing through exercise, nutritional supplementation, and general wellbeing activities.
• Health and clinical psychology
  Body compassion, eating disorders, haemophilia, neurodevelopmental, personal construct theory and psychosocial factors.
• High Performance Sport Research Group
  Research in high performance sport such as fencing, judo, genetics and the female athlete.
• Learning, memory and thinking
  Memory:  autobiographic, mind-pops, immediate recall , word learning. Problems and decisions: language and space, cyber, paranormal, magical thinking, embodied cognition.
• Psychology of movement
  Movement and Parkinson’s disease, dance psychology, gestures and communication, motion capture and visual tracking.
• Sport and Social Inclusion Research Group
  Social inclusion in and through sport: disability sport information, gender equity and sport, physical activity for adults living with dementia.