Faculty: Science and Engineering
Supervisors: Prof Peter Allen; Dr Ash Willmott; Louisa Haine
Location: Cambridge
Apply online by 16 March 2025The aim of this PhD project is to develop and assess a new evidence-based, sport-specific classification system in archery for athletes with a vision impairment (VI).
Participation in para-sports has grown at elite and grassroot levels; however, a challenge is to ensure equality, inclusion and fairness. Athletes must meet the minimum disability criteria within the Classification Code of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), to be eligible to compete.
Participation by athletes with a VI in para-sport, however, has increased slower it has than among physical and intellectual impairment athletes. Potential barriers explaining this are feelings of exclusion and lack of fairness, a consequence of an outdated classification system.
Recent updates to the IPC Athlete Classification Code requires any classification system to be sport-specific and evidence-based, and establish the impairment-performance relationship, rather than athletes being classified based on the grade of a medical condition. A recent joint IPC and International Blind Sports Federation position statement provides guidance on the main concerns in VI sport classification and the way these should be addressed.
This guidance now needs to be implemented for each of the VI Paralympic sports, including VI archery, especially as very little research investigating the interaction between visual function and archery performance in athletes with a VI exists. The current classification system for VI archery requires athletes to be assessed using only distance visual acuity (VA), yet evidence is needed to ensure this is the most appropriate measure whilst also considering other visual functions.
Through various experimental and observational research studies (e.g. literature review, survey/interviews, laboratory and/or field-based testing), this PhD project will aim to address the above issues in VI archery.
If you would like to discuss this research project please contact Prof Peter Allen: [email protected]
Apply online by 16 March 2025The successful applicant for this project will receive a Vice Chancellor’s PhD Scholarship which covers the tuition fees and provides a UKRI equivalent minimum annual stipend for three years. For 2024/5 this was £19,237 per year. The award is subject to the successful candidate meeting the scholarship terms and conditions. Please note that the University asserts the right to claim any intellectual property generated by research it funds.
Download the 2024/5 terms and conditions (2025/6 terms and conditions TBC)