What you'll investigate

The successful applicant(s) will work as part of a wider PhD cohort (three candidates) in partnership with Centaur Institute, a multidisciplinary healthcare centre. The project will investigate the optimisation of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction rehabilitation. Specific areas of interest may include one or more of the following:

• female-specific rehabilitation
• biomechanical and musculoskeletal modelling of rehabilitation exercises
• understanding concomitant injuries and surgical complexities on biomechanics, strength and function
• markerless motion capture

The PhD candidate will be integral to the project, working collaboratively with the research team, including Associate Professor Nirav Maniar, Professor David Opar and Dr Argell San Jose from the SPRINT Research Centre at ACU, and Professor Timothy Whitehead from the Centaur Institute.

Opportunities for methodological and theoretical mentoring and collaborative publishing will be facilitated.

Please note: The successful applicant will be required to assign their intellectual property (IP) to ACU as a condition of enrolment.

Scholarship package

The successful applicant will be awarded a scholarship package consisting of:

* International candidates only

Your research community

Principal supervisor

Associate Professor Nirav Maniar

Associate Professor Nirav Maniar uses computational modelling to determine tissue loading during exercises and high impact tasks to better understand injury.

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Faculty 

Faculty of Health Sciences

Research at the Faculty of Health Sciences is driven by a commitment to improving health outcomes and advancing evidence-based practice across diverse communities. With a strong interdisciplinary focus, our researchers collaborate across nursing, allied health, public health, and biomedical sciences to address pressing health challenges locally and globally.

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Affiliation

Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre

ACU's SPRINT Research Centre is dedicated to advancing the fields of sports performance, recovery, and injury prevention through innovative research and collaboration. Our mission is to optimise human performance. We strive to translate our findings into practical applications that benefit athletes, sports organisations, and the wider community, ensuring that our research leads to measurable improvements in health and performance.

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Industry partner

Centaur Institute

This PhD program is in partnership with Centaur Institute, a multidisciplinary sports medicine clinic. Centaur's innovative approach to musculoskeletal healthcare includes research-grade biomechanical and strength testing and a collaborative team of orthopaedic specialists, sports medicine experts, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, podiatrists, psychologists and strength and conditioning professionals.

Visit the clinic's website

How to apply

Applications close: Monday 9 November 2026, 11:59 pm AEDT

Step 1: Assess your eligibility

Eligibility

Before you apply, confirm you meet the following eligibility criteria:

• The eligibility criteria for the PhD program at ACU can be found in the Higher Degree Research Policy.
• The eligibility criteria for research scholarships can be found in the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.

Requirements

In addition to the eligibility criteria, the successful applicants should the following:

• experience in biomechanical data acquisition or modelling
• experience in coding (e.g., R or Python)
• experience with exercise prescription in clinical environments, particularly for knee injury rehabilitation
• experience with, or a possess strong interest in, working with female athletes

Conditions

By applying, you acknowledge and accept the following conditions:

• The scholarship package is subject to satisfactory progress and full-time study mode.
• The scholarship conditions align with the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.
• The successful applicant will be required to assign their intellectual property (IP) to ACU as a condition of enrolment.

Step 2: Express your interest

Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Associate Professor Nirav Maniar prior to applying for the PhD program and scholarship, to express their interest and discuss the project in detail.

Email: [email protected]

Step 3: Submit your application

To be considered for this scholarship, applicants must submit all documentation required for an application to the PhD program at ACU, as detailed in the How to Apply instructions, plus:

• A CV outlining relevant academic and practical experience; and
• A cover letter detailing demonstrated interest and/or experience in the program of research described.

When completing the PhD application form, please indicate that you are also applying for a stipend scholarship and include the name of this project: "Optimising ACL reconstruction rehabilitation".