Organisation University of Edinburgh Salary £5000 scholarship Location Motherwell FC training locations and Moray House School of Education and Sport (Holyrood, Edinburgh) Contract type Fixed Term (Part time) Closing date 1 June 2026 Interview date 22 June 2026 Job Description Project description
In partnership with Motherwell Football Club, a Masters by Research (MScR) project in the Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh has been developed. Details of the scholarship can be found here -
Coordinated within the Academy of Sport and the Human Performance Science Research Group, this programme of work will provide the successful applicant with exposure to sports science support in a professional football academy and research opportunities at a world-leading university.
The focus of the project is to characterise loading of youth academy players, and consider stages by which appropriate development can be made up to First Team football. This will be framed from an interdisciplinary perspective, and consider broader sports science perspectives around player development.
The project will involve full-time in-person postgraduate research (PGR) study, with time dedicated each week to working in the boy’s academy at Motherwell FC as an Academy Sports Scientist (applicants must have the right to live in the United Kingdom). It is important to note that with PGR study, there are no taught elements, but the successful applicant will be supervised through the project. The supervisory team will consist of Dr Ali Pearson and Professor Tony Turner.
Applicant profile
- Minimum 2:1 degree award in a sports science subject or related area
- Previous experience of working as a sports science practitioner, ideally within a professional football environment
- Holds (or working towards or is willing to gain) relevant sports science-related qualifications (, coaching badges) or accreditation(s) (, UKSCA)
- Academically minded, with awareness for research-related practice and process
- Understanding of key principles related to the project (critical areas include load and physical preparation, analysis of performance, interdisciplinarity in sports science)
- Awareness of contemporary literature and able to identify gaps within published work
- IT literate; able to use desktop packages (, Microsoft Office, iWork Suite) and proficient with data analysis tools (, SPSS, R, Jamovi)
- Experience with sports science hardware and software (, Catapult GPS, VALD systems (Nordbord, Forceframe, Force Plates), Microsoft Excel and PowerBI)
- High attention to detail
- Proactive in approach to work and learning
- Willing to work flexibly as required within the project
- Able to manage a large workload professionally
- Committed to developing and producing the best quality of work
- Able to work independently and as part of a team, and build relationships with key stakeholders (supervisors, relevant coaching staff, players)
- The successful applicant will be required to complete a PVG check