Physics/Computer Science/Sports Science: Fully Funded PhD Studentship, Race Strategy in Professional Cycling (RS878)

Funding provides: UKRI CASE Conversion and INEOS 

Subject areas: STEM, Maths, Physics, Computer Science, Sport Science  

Project start date: 1 October 2025 (Enrolment open from mid-June) ** (Please see the note below regarding potential later start dates.)

Supervisors: 

• Dr Rowan Brown (Joint Primary Supervisor) 
• Prof Liam Kilduff (Joint Primary Supervisor)  
• Additional supervisory team members: 
• Prof 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 primary objective of this project is to establish the evidence base on professional cycling road ‘racing’ trends and the critical tactical moments that determine how races are won. This evidence will inform future race strategy and live race tactics. 

Multiple factors influence the strategy and tactics in professional road cycling, and these have changed significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these factors include the course design, environmental factors, the peloton strength, interaction of team strategies, rider skills, and underlying physiological capabilities in the final critical moments. All these factors are highly dynamic in the way they interact to impact racing tactics and trends. 

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 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  

Open to UK fee-eligible 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 regulations 
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PhD: Applicants must hold a 2.1 (or above) in Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, or Sport Science. It would be desirable for candidates to have experience in some or all of the following:  

• Experience in working or competing in professional sports environments, especially road cycling, to have a grasp of the nature of the sport
• Data visualization solutions (i.e. Power BI, Tableau, Google Data Studio) for producing reports
• MATLAB/PYTHON/R/C programming
• Application of Machine Learning Algorithms

English Language: 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. 

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(s) you are interested in. 

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees, an annual stipend at UKRI rate (currently £20,780 for 2025/26 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 the entire application form:

In order to be considered for this scholarship award the following steps are also required. 

1) In section ‘Programme Related Information’ please input the relevant RS Code for the scholarship award i.e. RS878 

2) In section ‘Research’ you will see ‘Proposed project title/studentship title’* (Mandatory) 

• In ‘Proposed project title/studentship title’ please input:  

• the RS Code, RS878
• the scholarship title

• Please leave Proposed Supervisor field blank 
• Please leave Research Project (if applicable) blank 
• In ‘Do you have a proposal to upload?*’(Mandatory) Please select Yes 
• Then upload copy of advert (you can save the advert by clicking print, and then print to pdf) 

3) In section ‘Funding information’ please choose the option ‘Scholarship Funding’ only. Please ensure no other options are selected. 

*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. 

If you’ve previously applied for this programme, the system will display an “Application Submitted” warning and block a new submission. In this case: 

1. Apply for the same course with the next available start date (e.g., select January if October is unavailable). 
2. Email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk with your student number and the relevant scholarship RS code, requesting the start date be amended to match the advert. 
3. Admissions staff will then update your application accordingly. 

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, or Prof Liam Kilduff

*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. 

** In exceptional circumstances, and subject to the discretion of the University and/or the relevant funding body, a deferral of offer may be granted to the next available enrolment period. Such deferral will typically not exceed a duration of three calendar months from the originally stipulated commencement date. Please note that only one deferral may be considered, and any such deferral is not guaranteed.