Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences

PGR Student Life

Our diverse and vibrant national and international Postgraduate Research (PGR) community is at the heart of our Department. We are truly committed to investing in the next generation of researchers, educators and leaders.

Being part of our Sports and Exercise Sciences community

We are known for our highly supportive and ambitious research culture, which strives to cultivate the environment needed for all PGR students to fulfil their potential as skilful, innovative and courageous thinkers. Supervisory teams take a personalised approach, working with their students to provide intellectual guidance, methodological training, and career development opportunities.

Alongside the wealth of support and opportunities provided by Durham University’s Graduate School and College system, PGR students in the Department of Sport & Exercise Sciences benefit from a variety of activities designed to foster personal growth, networked connections, fun and curiosity. These include:

Annual department PGR conference
Picturing Research event.
Student Voice committee
Termly PGR themed Pop-Up sessions in response to student requests (Example previous sessions: How to write; PGR careers beyond academia; the 3-minute thesis).
Weekly departmental seminar series.
Opportunities to teach and become certified as an Associate of AdvanceHE.
Pot-luck lunch picnics, Riverbank Walk and Talks, PGR Coffee, Green Lane Run Club, Student led socials.

Our PGR students have dedicated hotdesking office space in our department buildings alongside 24-hour access to bookable study space in the Bill Bryson Library.

PGR Department Activities

PGR Conference 2025

The PGR community posing for a photo

Pot Luck Picnic

PGR Community sitting on a picnic blanket sharing food

University PGR Culture and Community Day

A group of PGR student posing for a picture at the PGR culture event

Picturing Research 2025

Our new academic year began with a Postgraduate Picturing Research event. Our PhD and Masters by Research (MRes) students were tasked with creating an image to depict their research and providing a 50 word accompanying description. The contributions reflected the varied, impactful, international and discipline spanning nature of PGR research within the department.