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School of Optometry & Vision Science (Life Sciences), University of
Bradford, United Kingdom
Closing date: 5pm, Wednesday, 10th July, 2013 {with interviews to be held
on August 1st or 2nd, 2013}
The studentship value is set at RCUK rates, currently 13,726 UK-pounds per
annum, for three years (subject to satisfactory progress) + University of
Bradford PhD registration fees
Following the award in 2013 of a UK Research Council (BBSRC) grant entitled
"Linking Perception to Action in Sport: Does superior visual perception
explain why good players make it look easy?" we wish to appoint a
highly-motivated PhD student to our project team. There are many factors
which contribute to elite sporting performance. The aim of our project is
to examine the extent to which excellent vision contributes to elite
sporting performance. We will examine the link between vision and elite
performance by testing vision and ball catching performance in elite and
non-elite cricketers. We have links with the England and Wales Cricket
Board's (ECB) 'National Cricket Performance Centre' at Loughborough
University. Further details are contained in the project summary below.
The successful applicant could have an undergraduate training in a wide
variety of disciplines including Optometry, Psychology, Sports Science,
Biomechanics, Medical Engineering, Motor Control or in another, related
discipline. Please note that a first-class, upper second-class honours
degree or Masters degree is required. There is scope for flexibility in the
direction that the PhD research could take. For example, those with an
Optometry (or another vision-related) background may choose to concentrate
on the visual processing aspects while those with an interest or experience
in movement science (e.g. Sport Science, Medical Engineering) could
concentrate more on the kinematics of ball catching in elites versus
non-elites.
Applicants should submit:
. A covering letter outlining your interest in the proposed research and
your suitability to undertake it
. A University of Bradford MPhil/PhD application form at:
ly/
[Please click the "Online application" form link and then the "new user"
button].
. A curriculum vitae (2 pages max.)
. A transcript of marks from previous degree(s)
. Letters from 2 referees (these should be sent/e-mailed directly to the
address shown below)
The closing date is 5pm, Wednesday, 10th July, 2013.
Interviews for the post will be held on August 1st or 2nd, 2013 and it is
anticipated that the successful applicant will start in September/October,
2013.
Informal enquiries prior to application may be made to Dr. Brendan T.
Barrett (Principal Investigator, Reader in Vision Science) on
(44-(0)1274-235589, b.t.barrett@bradford.ac.uk, or to: Dr John G Buckley (Co-Investigator, Reader in Movement Biomechanics) at j.buckley@bradford.ac.uk
Please note that we do not have sufficient funding available to be able to
offer the studentship to non-UK/EU based students, so only students from the
UK/EU should apply.
============================
Project summary follows....
============================
It seems obvious that good vision is a pre-requisite for the exceptional
visuomotor skills needed in many sports. For example, to catch a cricket
ball requires anticipation of the speed and direction of travel of the ball.
But do elite cricketers have superior vision than sub-elites? Does having
'excellent' vision go hand-in-hand with elite sporting ability? And if
elites do have superior vision than non-elites, is this the cause or a
consequence of their exceptional ability? These are the questions that are
of interest to us in this research project.
From a review of 'popular' sports literature, it appears that two beliefs
are commonly held, first, that athletes have superior use of their vision
than non-athletes and second that vision therapy improves sporting
performance. Our research will establish whether elite sporting performance
is linked to visual abilities determined by brain functioning in
vision-specific brain areas, and, if the two are linked, to examine how they
are linked. Previous research in another elite population (pilots) shows
that some laboratory measures of vision are linked to flying performance
whereas clinical visual measures do not.
We will assess vision and visuo-motor skills in elite- and club-level
cricketers and in novices. We have selected cricket because of the
complexity of its visual demands. However, our results will generalise to
other sports, particularly those with a fast-moving ball (e.g. tennis). We
have established links with the England & Wales Cricket Board and with a
centre of cricketing excellence and both will provide access to elite
players for testing.
We will develop and run behavioural tests designed specifically to measure
visual brain function. Studies of brain imaging tell us about brain
functioning and connections between processing networks, but it is only
feasible to study a small number of elite athletes using this approach. Our
proposed behavioural studies thus offer a more practical approach to
studying visual and fine-motor control abilities in elite athletes.
We will measure visual abilities in situations that mimic the sporting
environment; for example, we will test the ability to see and discriminate
motion and depth, and test the ability to anticipate the future location of
a moving object. We will relate these vision measures to performance on a
cricket task (catching) and to a more general hand-eye co-ordination task
(pointing). We have infra-red motion-capture camera systems that allow limb
and body movements to be carefully measured and monitored when a real-world
task (e.g. catching a ball ejected from a machine) is undertaken. Thus, in
addition to measuring visuo-motor task success (e.g. proportion of balls
caught) we will establish the movement control parameters for individual
sportspeople as they perform these tasks.
To ensure that we fully reveal the extent of the links between visual
ability and the fine-motor control required in sport we will examine
individual differences in vision between good and poor ball catchers under
optimal visual conditions and when vision is degraded (e.g. low light
levels) because it is here where the impact of vision-related differences
may emerge or be exaggerated.
Although the focus here is to understand the link between visual and motor
abilities in high-performance sport our results will hold direct relevance
to everyday scenarios where visual perceptual skills limit motor control as
we interact with the environment around us. Thus we aim to identify the
nature of the relationship between visual and motor capabilities using elite
sport as a vehicle for understanding how perception and action are linked in
more everyday tasks.
Bradford, United Kingdom
Closing date: 5pm, Wednesday, 10th July, 2013 {with interviews to be held
on August 1st or 2nd, 2013}
The studentship value is set at RCUK rates, currently 13,726 UK-pounds per
annum, for three years (subject to satisfactory progress) + University of
Bradford PhD registration fees
Following the award in 2013 of a UK Research Council (BBSRC) grant entitled
"Linking Perception to Action in Sport: Does superior visual perception
explain why good players make it look easy?" we wish to appoint a
highly-motivated PhD student to our project team. There are many factors
which contribute to elite sporting performance. The aim of our project is
to examine the extent to which excellent vision contributes to elite
sporting performance. We will examine the link between vision and elite
performance by testing vision and ball catching performance in elite and
non-elite cricketers. We have links with the England and Wales Cricket
Board's (ECB) 'National Cricket Performance Centre' at Loughborough
University. Further details are contained in the project summary below.
The successful applicant could have an undergraduate training in a wide
variety of disciplines including Optometry, Psychology, Sports Science,
Biomechanics, Medical Engineering, Motor Control or in another, related
discipline. Please note that a first-class, upper second-class honours
degree or Masters degree is required. There is scope for flexibility in the
direction that the PhD research could take. For example, those with an
Optometry (or another vision-related) background may choose to concentrate
on the visual processing aspects while those with an interest or experience
in movement science (e.g. Sport Science, Medical Engineering) could
concentrate more on the kinematics of ball catching in elites versus
non-elites.
Applicants should submit:
. A covering letter outlining your interest in the proposed research and
your suitability to undertake it
. A University of Bradford MPhil/PhD application form at:
ly/
[Please click the "Online application" form link and then the "new user"
button].
. A curriculum vitae (2 pages max.)
. A transcript of marks from previous degree(s)
. Letters from 2 referees (these should be sent/e-mailed directly to the
address shown below)
The closing date is 5pm, Wednesday, 10th July, 2013.
Interviews for the post will be held on August 1st or 2nd, 2013 and it is
anticipated that the successful applicant will start in September/October,
2013.
Informal enquiries prior to application may be made to Dr. Brendan T.
Barrett (Principal Investigator, Reader in Vision Science) on
(44-(0)1274-235589, b.t.barrett@bradford.ac.uk, or to: Dr John G Buckley (Co-Investigator, Reader in Movement Biomechanics) at j.buckley@bradford.ac.uk
Please note that we do not have sufficient funding available to be able to
offer the studentship to non-UK/EU based students, so only students from the
UK/EU should apply.
============================
Project summary follows....
============================
It seems obvious that good vision is a pre-requisite for the exceptional
visuomotor skills needed in many sports. For example, to catch a cricket
ball requires anticipation of the speed and direction of travel of the ball.
But do elite cricketers have superior vision than sub-elites? Does having
'excellent' vision go hand-in-hand with elite sporting ability? And if
elites do have superior vision than non-elites, is this the cause or a
consequence of their exceptional ability? These are the questions that are
of interest to us in this research project.
From a review of 'popular' sports literature, it appears that two beliefs
are commonly held, first, that athletes have superior use of their vision
than non-athletes and second that vision therapy improves sporting
performance. Our research will establish whether elite sporting performance
is linked to visual abilities determined by brain functioning in
vision-specific brain areas, and, if the two are linked, to examine how they
are linked. Previous research in another elite population (pilots) shows
that some laboratory measures of vision are linked to flying performance
whereas clinical visual measures do not.
We will assess vision and visuo-motor skills in elite- and club-level
cricketers and in novices. We have selected cricket because of the
complexity of its visual demands. However, our results will generalise to
other sports, particularly those with a fast-moving ball (e.g. tennis). We
have established links with the England & Wales Cricket Board and with a
centre of cricketing excellence and both will provide access to elite
players for testing.
We will develop and run behavioural tests designed specifically to measure
visual brain function. Studies of brain imaging tell us about brain
functioning and connections between processing networks, but it is only
feasible to study a small number of elite athletes using this approach. Our
proposed behavioural studies thus offer a more practical approach to
studying visual and fine-motor control abilities in elite athletes.
We will measure visual abilities in situations that mimic the sporting
environment; for example, we will test the ability to see and discriminate
motion and depth, and test the ability to anticipate the future location of
a moving object. We will relate these vision measures to performance on a
cricket task (catching) and to a more general hand-eye co-ordination task
(pointing). We have infra-red motion-capture camera systems that allow limb
and body movements to be carefully measured and monitored when a real-world
task (e.g. catching a ball ejected from a machine) is undertaken. Thus, in
addition to measuring visuo-motor task success (e.g. proportion of balls
caught) we will establish the movement control parameters for individual
sportspeople as they perform these tasks.
To ensure that we fully reveal the extent of the links between visual
ability and the fine-motor control required in sport we will examine
individual differences in vision between good and poor ball catchers under
optimal visual conditions and when vision is degraded (e.g. low light
levels) because it is here where the impact of vision-related differences
may emerge or be exaggerated.
Although the focus here is to understand the link between visual and motor
abilities in high-performance sport our results will hold direct relevance
to everyday scenarios where visual perceptual skills limit motor control as
we interact with the environment around us. Thus we aim to identify the
nature of the relationship between visual and motor capabilities using elite
sport as a vehicle for understanding how perception and action are linked in
more everyday tasks.