Doctoral study in Sport, Health and Physical Education
Why study with us?
Sport, Health, and Physical Education at the University of Auckland fosters cutting-edge scholarship that shapes the future of the field. Ranked 24th globally in the QS World University Rankings (2025), we are leaders in research and innovation across the Asia-Pacific region. We are also home to the prestigious Richard Tinning Research Unit.
As a doctoral student, you will receive financial support for research expenses through Postgraduate Research Student Support (PReSS) funding, benefit from expert supervision, and gain access to a strong academic network of world-class researchers. Join us in an intellectually vibrant and supportive environment where your research will make a lasting impact.
Research opportunities
Research opportunities
The Sport, Health and Physical Education research cluster reflects a collective interest in critically examining the knowledge and practices that inform health education, physical education and sport studies. Our globally recognised work is characterised by a common interest in understanding human movement culture, the body and wellbeing as it emerges within contemporary society.
Our vision is to be a vibrant intellectual hub that collectively nurtures a scholarly community and culture that sustains high-quality, critically-oriented research and teaching, which is impactful for communities. We use a range of theoretical perspectives and research methodologies to better understand the interdependence of the embodied and moving individual, hauora (wellbeing), education, policy and society within a socio-critical and educative focus. The centre of this hub is the Richard Tinning Research Unit.
Our research and teaching in sport, health, and physical education are deeply informed by our unique setting in Aotearoa, New Zealand, particularly in Tāmaki-Makaurau Auckland and Tai Tokerau Northland, as well as in Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific region. These contexts enhance our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, inclusive, community-centred and culturally-responsive approaches, and our collective aims to create equitable and meaningful pathways in sport, health, and physical education that resonate with and serve our communities.
Our people
Pursue your topic with us and benefit from exceptional standards of support and supervision from nationally and internationally recognised researchers in the following broad research areas:
Health education
Louisa Allen, Hayley McGlashan Fainu, Katie Fitzpatrick, Roberto McLeay, Darren Powell, Analosa Veukiso-Ulugia, Jean Uasike Allen, Ying Wang
Physical education
Katie Fitzpatrick, Hayley McGlashan Fainu, Alan Ovens, Rod Philpot, Darren Powell
Sport
Blake Bennett, Toni Bruce, Margaret Henley, Rod Philpot, Darren Powell
Sport coaching
Past research topics
'A Fat Chance in Health: Examining the relationship between 'obesity' discourses, fatness, and conceptions of health' | Supervised by Dr Bruce Cohen and Associate Professor Darren Powell
'Anti(-)bodies for Physical Education: An embodied studying with 'ignorant schoolmasters’ | Supervised by Associate Professor Alan Ovens and Associate Professor Wayne Smith
'Asian Young People’s views on how Sexuality Education can Equip and Empower them to make Informed Sexual Choices' | Supervised by Professor Louisa Allen and Dr Anecita Lim
'Female Chinese and Māori Sport Participants’ Embodied Experiences of Risk, Pain and Injury' | Supervised by Professor Toni Bruce and Professor Richard Pringle
'Governing Olympic Education in Beijing Primary Schools' | Supervised by Associate Professor Alan Ovens and Associate Professor Darren Powell
'Nationalism and Multiple Ideals of Sporting Femininities: Media Representation of New Zealand and Taiwanese Sportswomen in Perceived Masculine Sports' | Supervised by Dr Margaret Henley and Professor Toni Bruce
'Perceived and Real Water Competency and Drowning Risk Among Adults in Open Water: A Wicked Problem' | Supervised by Associate Professor Alan Ovens, Associate Professor Dawn Garbett and Dr Kevin Moran
'Producing, Reinforcing, and Resisting the Health(y) Education Student: A Critical Ethnography of Health Education in South Auckland Schools' | Supervised by Professor Katie Fitzpatrick and Associate Professor Darren Powell
'Queer Youth and Schooling: A critical ethnography of how queer youth experience and navigate their intersectional and fluid identities at school' | Supervised by Professor Katie Fitzpatrick and Associate Professor Darren Powell
'Spacetimegenderings: How Trans Secondary Students Matter in Aotearoa New Zealand' | Supervised by Professor Louisa Allen and Professor Marek Tesar
'Theoretical Exploration and Empirical Study on Cooperative Learning Model - Applied in Physical Education Classes in Elementary and Secondary Schools' | Supervised by Dr Rod Philpot and Dr Penelope Watson
'Young women’s engagement with beauty norms in the media' | Supervised by Professor Toni Bruce and Professor Katie Fitzpatrick
Scholarships and awards
There are several scholarships you may be eligible for when you decide to pursue your doctoral studies in Sport, Health and Physical Education.