CQU scholarship

CQUniversity and the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) are offering a full-time scholarship for a researcher to design an evidence-based approach to support women to return to professional sport after having a baby.

This three-year PhD Elevate Scholarship is open to aspiring postgraduate researchers and provides $130,000 (including a $30,000 annual stipend) across three years, and is based at the QAS headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland.

The successful candidate will work within the academy alongside elite athletes, coaching and administrative staff, and learn from leaders in the industry.

CQUniversity exercise science researcher Dr Melanie Hayman is a co-supervisor of the research, and says it's an exciting opportunity to help significantly improve the support of female athletes wanting to return to play post-partum, through the development of essential evidence-based frameworks for sporting organisations. 

"We've seen fantastic growth across various aspects of women's professional sport. Women are now being paid more, they're entitled to paid maternity leave, and there's a guarantee they can return to sport following their pregnancy.

"These are significant steps that have been taken in the past few years, but there is still a long way to go – and currently, Australia's sporting codes have no evidence-based policies or processes to support a woman's return to her sport post-partum."

Scholarship applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents and have completed at least a bachelor's degree with honours or equivalent, in a field relevant to exercise science, science, organisational management, psychology or other organisational disciplines.

Applications close Friday 14 August 2020. For more information and to apply visit: https://www.cqu.edu.au/courses/future-students/scholarships/offerings/phd-elevate-scholarship-an-evidence-based-approach-to-supporting-professional-sporting-bodies-and-their-athletes-in-a-successful-return-to-sport-post-partum. 

The PhD Elevate Scholarship project is co-funded by QAS's Sport Performance Innovation and Knowledge Excellence (SPIKE) team and CQUniversity's School of Graduate Research.