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Australian Catholic University (ACU) is offering one full-time PhD scholarship package to undertake research on quantifying movements in basketball and the influence of physical qualities on movement quality.
The project will develop and refine tracking methodologies to better quantify movement direction and intensity in court-based team sports, with the aim of enhancing game analysis and informing evidence-based training practices.
The successful candidate will examine how athletes' physical characteristics influence their movement patterns in both training and competition. This collaborative project between ACU and Strongside Performance (Melbourne) will be based primarily at ACU's Melbourne campus and Strongside Performance Centre, with additional time spent at ACU Blacktown (NSW).
| Study mode | Full-time for up to 3.5 years |
|---|---|
| Location | Blacktown, Melbourne or Strathfield campus |
| Places available | One |
| Commencing | November 2025 |
| Principal Supervisor | Associate Professor Grant Duthie |
| Research group/s |
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences The School of Behavioural and Health Sciences at ACU offers a range of courses designed to improve health outcomes and enhance the performance of elite athletes. The School of Behavioural and Health Sciences conducts researching focusing on sport science, injury prevention, psychology, elite athlete preparation, and clinical applications of exercise in health, chronic disease, and rehabilitation. Our staff are involved in various, cross-disciplinary research projects that utilise our first-class facilities and extensive industry partner network. SPRINT Research Centre The Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (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 by translating our findings into practical applications that benefit athletes, sports organisations, and the wider community. |
| Industry partner/s |
Strongside Performance Strongside Performance is a premier high-performance coaching facility dedicated to enhancing the physical performance of basketball athletes. Leveraging over a decade of expertise with players across Olympic, professional, collegiate, semi-professional, and elite junior levels, Strongside has developed a cutting-edge, science-informed training system that eliminates guesswork and delivers results tailored to each athlete's unique profile. Their High-Performance Program employs specialised sports-science equipment to conduct comprehensive testing that reveals athletes' strengths, weaknesses, and movement tendencies; providing insight that directly informs customised programming and maximises training efficacy. Strongside Performance focuses on foundational athletic skills; jumping, sprinting, change-of-direction, landing mechanics and movement coordination; to foster long-term development while reducing injury risk. As an industry partner, Strongside brings a unique blend of performance science, deeply specialised coaching, and proven training methods, providing an ideal environment for a PhD candidate focused on quantifying and applying player movement data to real-world basketball performance. |
| Scholarship package |
The successful applicant will be awarded a scholarship package consisting of:
International candidates will also receive:
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. |
Applications close: Wednesday 1 October 2025, 11:59 pm AEST
In addition to the eligibility criteria, the successful applicant should have:
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:
When completing the PhD application form, please indicate that you are also applying for a stipend scholarship and include the name of this project "Integrating player tracking and performance testing to evaluate strength and power in elite basketball athletes".
Interested candidates should contact Associate Professor Grant Duthie before applying for the PhD program and scholarship.
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