The sport and exercise science degree here at Newcastle
University has its foundations in the science of physiology,
biomechanics, psychology and nutrition, applied to the context
of sport and exercise.
The knowledge gained can be applied to elite athletes
through to disease populations, with our teaching being informed
by current research in the field.
In the first year, we aim to provide students with the
scientific foundations of each of the four key disciplines.
This progresses into second year, where students
will apply their scientific knowledge and skills in each
discipline to sport and exercise.
The final year of study brings together the core disciplines
to focus on different populations, such as
elite athletes and those with specific diseases.
The capstone of the final year is a research project where
each student works with a research active supervisor in
their area of expertise.
Overall, the degree here at Newcastle aims to develop each
student's scientific skills and knowledge that can be applied
to a wider variety of sport and exercise related careers.
Students on our degree program can opt to go on a year-long
placement between year two and three, which is a great
option for a student to enhance their career prospects.
It is the student's responsibility to find and
secure a placement, but our staff will try to assist where
it is possible.
We've had and have students in different places
for a placement, such as the Welsh Rugby Union,
Scotland Biathlon, or Ealing Trail Finders Rugby Club,
but also in less sports related places such as John Lewis.
We do try to offer our students some work experience
opportunities throughout the year and have several
partnerships in place
we are working together with. Examples are Newcastle United
Foundation and the Newcastle Falcons, but also
work together with local university sport clubs.
The possibilities of careers in sports science are quite vast.
Most people link sports science with jobs like
personal trainer, P.E. teacher or exercise physiologists.
A large part of graduate destinations are within
these roles, indeed.
However, there are many, many more destinations
and prospects, such as sport nutritionist or psychologist.
But the relevance of sport and exercise science in public
health is becoming more and more acknowledged.
So jobs in clinical exercise prescription for injury and
rehabilitation or to treat chronic diseases will grow
bigger over the next years.
Researchers at Newcastle University are conducting some
really interesting, important research in sport
and exercise science.
Some of our research involves developing strategies to
optimise elite sports performance.
For example, we've recently conducted research with
Newcastle Falcons looking at optimizing play in monitoring.
We also work with local NHS hospitals to better understand
how diet and physical activity can help manage different long-term
health conditions.
For example, a major research strength is our work
looking at how nutrition and exercise can regulate some of
the complications associated with type one and
type two diabetes.
We also work alongside the Center for Cancer and the
Biomedical Research Center at Newcastle University to explore
the role that physical activity can play in maintaining quality
of life in patients diagnosed with cancer.
There are various ways where students can get
involved in research.
Our teacher is informed by the latest research findings,
and students learn through doing research themselves with
guidance from staff.
Students also have the opportunity to contribute to
research studies as part of their third
year dissertation project.
So when choosing a sport and exercise science degree,
Newcastle was the obvious choice. For me,
the relatively small cohort size was a huge plus,
as this allows all students to build a personal relationship
with the academic staff and the fellow students.
Additionally, the course is based within the
medical faculty, which allows for a strong, scientific
approach to the disciplines covered, as well as
giving us access to unique experiences access to unique experiences, such as
studying cadavers in the dissection labs, which is
invaluable to our learning during the first year
anatomy module, and was certainly an experience I
won't soon forget.
The course also benefits from a new purpose-built sport and
exercise science facility with state of the art, biomechanics,
physiology and nutrition labs, where we spend a lot of time
putting the theory we've learned into practice.
During my studies, I was even fortunate enough to be employed
as a lab technician assistant in these labs, which allowed me
to get deep knowledge of the industry standard equipment.
I can confidently say that the course content and additional
opportunities provided the perfect foundation for me to go
onto further study and subsequently into employment.