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Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Funded PhD Studentship to work with the FA Blind Football Team to describe the magnitude, frequency, and severity of head impacts
Are you ready to shape the future of player welfare for this exciting sport, in preparation for the Los Angeles Paralympics?
This prestigious PhD studentship offers a rare opportunity to work directly with world-leading experts within blind football and head impact monitoring and assessment. Your research will help drive transformative change to understand head impact exposure, with the potential to change head injury management protocols in a global sport.
In this exciting collaboration between the Football Association and the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University, we are seeking an ambitious and passionate researcher to join a project with real-world impact. The research project will also involve world-leading experts from Imperial College London. During the 3-year funded PhD studentship, you will be part of a vibrant research community working across a range of sports to quantify and reduce head injuries, improving player safety, and enhancing player performance.
The Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University is purposefully driven to make a difference to people, communities and organisations through collaborative research and knowledge exchange. Our culture is founded upon a genuine commitment and capacity to work with others on real-world applied problems to achieve impact beyond academia. From our work examining head impacts and concussion, talent development systems and ethical coaching, to our research tackling gender equality, threats to sporting integrity and obesity, we are generating transdisciplinary knowledge to address some of the key issues facing our communities today.
We are offering one funded PhD from 1 October 2026.
The primary research location will be at the Carnegie School of Sport (LS6 3QS), but the role may require travel for data collection.
During blind football, rates of head impacts have been reported as over 1 per min (Tsutsumi et al., 2023), and the head, face and neck are the second highest incidence of all injuries (Runciman et al., 2026). Blind football players have also been shown to have some difference in head kinematics during laboratory-based trials, in comparison to non-disabled football players (Ivanic et al., 2026).
The magnitude of head impacts during a blind football match in both male and female players is currently unknown. In addition, the clinical significance has also not been investigated. Using an observational research design, it is possible to describe the kinematics of head impacts, as well as the associated mechanism using validated instrumented mouthguards (iMG) (Jones et al., 2022; Tooby et al., 2024; Wu et al., 2016) and video analysis (Tooby et al., 2025). This can be undertaken during both matches and training. In addition, following standardised clinical assessments for a sports related concussion, it is possible to establish associations between head kinematics and clinical signs and symptoms. Finally, the project will involve sharing head kinematic data with Imperial College London to undertake advanced computational analysis to identify specific brain regions of interest during head impacts, using finite element brain models (Ghajari et al., 2017).
The core-research team is Prof. Ben Jones and Dr James Tooby (Leeds Beckett University), and Mat Jones (FA and CMO IBSA Football).
The project will involve a wider team of collaborators, including Dr James Brown (Leeds Beckett University), Dr Mazdak Ghajari (Imperial College London) and Dr Osman Ahmed and Cath Gilby (FA).
Applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposals with Professor Ben Jones or Dr James Tooby
Application Reference Number: 2026-October-THE FA/CSS-PhD
Mode of Study: Full-Time (3yrs)
This studentship includes:
International candidates will be required to pay the international fee top up and are advised to contact our Research Admissions team researchadmissions@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Type of Funding Available: Home (UK) Fees and Stipend
Stipend Value: £21,805
Stipends are tax-free and paid pro-rata in monthly payments
The successful candidates would ideally have: 2:1 or higher in a relevant undergraduate degree.
For those whose first language is not English you must also have an overall IELTS score of 7.0 with no individual score below 6.5 in order for applicants to obtain a CAS and Visa.
The PHD Studentship will be awarded to the strongest applications assessed on the applicant’s academic excellence, the strength of the research proposal and how the proposal fits with the research project.
To apply, please go to the application portal which can be found through the 'Apply Now' button.
Important when applying through the portal: To find this course on our portal you will need to:
Please make sure that you complete the application process in full and also provide the following additional information:
1. RESEARCH PROPOSAL (include title and project reference)
The proposal should align to the project summary and include a brief literature review related to this project, with an outline of the studies that you would propose to the answer the aims of the PhD (maximum 5 pages single spaced). It must include the research project title and reference.
The criteria listed below will be used in both selecting those applicants who will be called for interview and those who will be successful in securing a PGR award, and these should help you form your research proposal.
a) Context and significance of your research
Please outline the significance and originality of your proposed research, indicating: aims, relationship to previous research in the field, research question(s) you are seeking to answer.
b) Research design and methods
Please outline the design of your proposed research, indicating: methodology and methods, a timetable for completion of the PGR award, ethical considerations that your research may raise.
c) Dissemination and impact
Please identify: possible opportunities to disseminate your research to academic audiences during your PGR programme, the ways in which your research might be relevant outside academia.
You are strongly advised to discuss your proposal with the named Supervisor(s) before making your application.
How applications will be assessed Your application will be considered by a Carnegie School of Sport selection panel. The panel will evaluate applications based on the quality of the proposal, preparedness of the applicant and feasibility of the research project.
2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
This should be a maximum of 1000 words outlining: What knowledge, skills, and training would you bring to the proposed research? This may include relevant academic study, relevant experience as a professional or practitioner, and any specific training in research skills/methods. Why do you want to undertake this research in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. How does the proposed research relate to your career goals.
3. CV
A current CV, including your employment history or other professional experience, including internships.
Application Deadline: 24 August 2026
Ghajari, M., Hellyer, P.J., Sharp, D.J., 2017. Computational modelling of traumatic brain injury predicts the location of chronic traumatic encephalopathy pathology. Brain 140, 333–343. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/aww317
Ivanic, B., Ageberg, E., Ryan, N., Derman, W., Runciman, P., Lexell, J., Fagher, K., 2026. Head acceleration in blind football players: a laboratory-based exploratory study. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2026.03.007
Jones, B., Tooby, J., Weaving, D., Till, K., Owen, C., Begonia, M., Stokes, K.A., Rowson, S., Phillips, G., Hendricks, S., Falvey, É.C., Al-Dawoud, M., Tierney, G., 2022. Ready for impact? A validity and feasibility study of instrumented mouthguards (iMGs). Br J Sports Med bjsports-2022-105523. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2022-105523
Runciman, P., Rademan, V., Boer, P., Fagher, K., Ahmed, O.H., Derman, W., 2026. Injury patterns in blind football: a cohort analysis from three Paralympic games (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020). Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2026.03.008
Tooby, J., Rowson, S., Till, K., Allan, D., Bussey, M.D., Cazzola, D., Falvey, É., Friesen, K., Gardner, A.J., Owen, C., Roe, G., Sawczuk, T., Starling, L., Stokes, K., Tierney, G., Tucker, R., Jones, B., 2025. Optimising Instrumented Mouthguard Data Analysis: Video Synchronisation Using a Cross-correlation Approach. Ann Biomed Eng 53, 923–933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-025-03679-1
Tooby, J., Till, K., Gardner, A., Stokes, K., Tierney, G., Weaving, D., Rowson, S., Ghajari, M., Emery, C., Bussey, M.D., Jones, B., 2024. When to Pull the Trigger: Conceptual Considerations for Approximating Head Acceleration Events Using Instrumented Mouthguards. Sports Med 54, 1361–1369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-024-02012-5
Tsutsumi, S., Sasadai, J., Maeda, N., Shimizu, R., Suzuki, A., Fukui, K., Arima, S., Tashiro, T., Kaneda, K., Yoshimi, M., Mizuta, R., Ishihara, H., Esaki, H., Tsuchida, K., Terada, T., Komiya, M., Urabe, Y., 2023. Head Impact in Blind Football During the Tokyo Paralympics: Video-Based Observational Study. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 102, 836–839. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHM.0000000000002187
Wu, L.C., Nangia, V., Bui, K., Hammoor, B., Kurt, M., Hernandez, F., Kuo, C., Camarillo, D.B., 2016. In Vivo Evaluation of Wearable Head Impact Sensors. Ann Biomed Eng 44, 1234–1245. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-015-1423-3
Applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposals with Professor Ben Jones or other members of the supervisory team Prof. Ben Jones, Dr James Tooby and Dr Thomas Sawczuk
