Sports and Exercise Science: Fully Funded UKRI & INEOS PhD Studentship: Race Strategy in Professional Cycling (RS843)

Funding providers: UKRI CASE Conversion and INEOS  

Subject areas: STEM, Maths, Physics, Computer Science, Sports and Exercise Science  

Project start date: 1 July 2025 (Enrolment open from mid-June)

Supervisors: 

Dr Rowan Brown m.r.brown@swansea.ac.uk (Joint Primary Supervisor) 

Professor Liam Kilduff  l.kilduff@swansea.ac.uk (Joint Primary Supervisor)  

Additional supervisory team members: Professor Neil Bezodis, Dr Mark Waldron, Dr Laura Mason, Dr Mehdi Kordi (Head of Performance Support, INEOS Grenadiers) 

Aligned programme of study: PhD in Sports and Exercise Science 

Mode of study: Full-time – location will be a combination of Swansea University and INEOS Grenadiers 

Project description: 

The main aim of this project is to develop the evidence on professional cycling racing trends and define the best indicators of how and when races are won. This evidence will be used to inform race future race strategy and live race tactics. 

There are multiple factors that influence the strategy and tactics in professional cycling racing, and these have changed significantly since Covid. Some of these factors include the course design, environmental factors, the peloton strength, rider type, and power profiles of individual riders. All of these are dynamic and the way they interact to impact on racing trends and race outcome remains relatively unknown.  

The specific objectives include:  

• Historical analysis of racing from the past 3-5 years across Grand Tours, one day races (monuments and semi-classics) and select World Tour 1 week stage races. The data sources will include video and previous race commentary to ‘code’ key events in races that help define observable events based on expert knowledge and available evidence.
• Development of a post-race analysis structure, process and data ‘toolkit’ that can build on historical understanding of race trends to provide immediate post-race feedback to Sport Directors that can be used to assess race strategy and tactics.
• Research, review and develop models based on objectives 1 and 2 to develop a race prediction model for stage racing that can be used to inform live in race decisions based on emerging events.

The successful candidate will also spend time embedded in a professional cycling environment and gain significant experience in hands on data collection, data analysis, data presentation and interpretation.  

Funding duration: 4 years  

UK Students Only - Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK rate only, as defined by UKCISA. Full list of categories for HE in Wales 

Applicants for PhD must hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 (or above) in Mathematics, Physics, Computer Sciences, Sport Science. For non-UK qualifications please see - Country Specific Entry Requirements page.  

IELTS 6.5 Overall (5.5+ each comp.) or Swansea University recognised equivalent. Full details of our English Language policy, including certificate time validity, can be found here. 

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

• Experience in working in professional sports environments 
• Data visualization solutions (i.e. Power BI, Tableau, Google Data Studio) for producing reports
• MATLAB/PYTHON/R/C programming
• Application of Machine Learning Algorithms

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 you are interested in

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees, an annual stipend at UKRI rate (currently £19,237 for 2024/25) and a minimum additional top up of £3000 per annum.  

Additional research expenses of up to £1,000 per year will also be available. 

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 and Exercise Science / PhD / Full-time / 3 Years / July 
   
   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  ‘RS843’ 

*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.    

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. 

• One reference (academic or previous employer) on 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 requirement (if applicable). 

• Copy of UK resident visa (if applicable) 

• Confirmation of EDI form submission 

Informal enquiries are welcome; please contact  Dr Rowan Brown (m.r.brown@swansea.ac.uk), Prof Liam Kilduff (l.kilduff@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.