Project details
Climate change, particularly extremes of hot and cold conditions, has increased the thermoregulatory stress many athletes experience when training and competing. To protect athlete health whilst maximising performance, integrated acclimation protocols, body cooling manoeuvres and nutritional interventions are key effective strategies. As one of five collective studentships in the SCAN cluster, this PhD will focus on optimisation of these strategies to support athletes training and competing in a climate-changed world.

The successful candidate will utilise a variety of investigative techniques to increase understanding of the physiological responses and adaptations to exercise in challenging environmental conditions. Working in collaboration with the supervisory team, you will undertake a series of studies in the environmental laboratories in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS) investigating physiological and behavioural responses, the impact of biological sex, risk of acute and chronic environment related illnesses (such as heat illness, renal injury and hypothermia etc.) and the effect of nutritional interventions on adaption and performance. This will include developing your analytical skills using a variety of biochemistry techniques and will include a combination of acute interventions and exploring longer-term effects. The findings from this studentship will contribute to and support the overarching climate action goals of SCAN.