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Department of Sociology
Cricket field with views of Durham Cathedral and castle behind

Durham University PhD Studentship on Contextual Safeguarding in Sports

 

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT SAFEGUARDING IS ABOUT CREATING SAFETY AROUND YOUNG PEOPLE NOT SOLELY RESPONDINGTO HARM THEY EXPERIENCE?

DO YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN HOW TO CREATE SAFETY IN LOCAL SPORTING CONTEXTS?

DO YOU HOLD A MASTERS DEGREE?

 

IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO THESE THREE QUESTIONS WE COULD HAVE THE PERFECT POST GRADUATE OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU.  

 

The Department of Sociology at Durham University are inviting applications from individuals to undertake a fully funded 3-year PhD on the topic of Contextual Safeguarding in Sports. This PhD studentship is funded by Durham University’s strategic research fund and is delivered in collaboration with the Premier League and British Judo.

The successful candidate will undertake a PhD program based within the Sociology department’s Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding under the academic supervision of Prof. Carlene Firmin, (Sociology Department) in collaborative co-supervision with colleagues in the Durham Education School and the Department of Psychology.

Funding: Subject to eligibility, the scholarship covers UK Home tuition fees and a grant towards living expenses of £20,780 per annum, for three years of a PhD.

Hours: Full time

Starts: 1st Oct 2025

 

The Project

The last 15 years has seen increased public and political concern about the welfare of young people. Various public national inquiries have evidenced harms young people experience from peers and adults in school or college, in public spaces such as shopping centres and on transport, online, and in sports and youth club settings. This growing concern has been accompanied by a recognition that traditional safeguarding systems (largely designed to protect younger children in family homes) are ill-equipped to meet the needs of young people during adolescence, partcularly those who come to harm in community and public (including sports), school, or peer contexts.

In response various communities, practitioners, policymakers and scholars have started to reimagine what safeguarding could look like; working with young people, and their families, to identity ways for systems to increase safety in a range of contexts beyond the family home. While Contextual Safeguarding is referenced in the safeguarding strategies of various sporting organisations and in sports-facing training programmes, very little is understood about the practical difference that this should make to young people. In particular, far more work is needed to communicate the difference between Contextual Safeguarding and more general safeguarding approaches to sports; and what the former may offer to creating safety for young people in a range of settings where parental influence is limited, or different to that which they may have in their homes or even in education.

This project will consider what this means within sporting settings, with a particular focus on football and judo clubs, and the relationship between clubs, local safeguarding structures and national bodies. Building on the Towards Safety project, this successful applicant will collaborate with clubs and national bodies to theorise key pillars of Contextual Safeguarding that are unique to sports settings compared to other youth-facing organisations, and identify key levers for translating these pillars into practices that work for young people, coaches and wider club staff and volunteers. Both the Premier League and British Judo are collaborating with Durham on this project, and will facilitate access to clubs. Commenting in support of this project, British Judo have stated:

‘As a team we are often asked what ‘safeguarding’ means and, for us, it simply means, keeping people safe whilst they partake in judo. We feel at British Judo we are doing a good job, and want to continue to lead the way with the pioneers of this space- we believe the Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding would be exactly that- leading the way. We would endeavour to support research and PhD studentships, by offering our context as an NGB and clubs. We see this work could assist other NGBs, Clubs and decision makers through the British Sport system to provide the environments we aspire to create for participation in physical activity’ (Andrew Bowly, Head of Inclusion, Safeguarding and Wellbeing, British Judo)

The successful applicant will be supervised to develop a research project within this context, identifying the most suitable methodologies to evidence opportunities for sector-specific approaches to safeguarding young people in sports; in terms of safety when travelling to and from clubs, within clubs and in their relationships with peers and staff. Such a unique project might suit someone from a varied academic background; for example this may equally appeal to someone with a sociology, psychology, youth work sports science or education background. We are excited to see how applicants use the knowledge and skills developed through their undergraduate and masters degrees in concert with their experience or enthusiasm for sports to turn this opportunity into a ground-breaking project.

Eligibility

The ideal candidate must have:

  • Honours degree, potentially in one of the following subjects (but not necessarily) sociology, sports science, youth and community work, criminology, psychology, education, criminology (min 2.1)
  • A Masters degree
  • An interest in childhood and youth welfare, trauma-informed practices, violence reduction, safeguarding, or adolescent well-being

It is also desirable that they have current or recent experience of participating in local sports clubs, either as a young person, or as a member of staff or volunteer.

How to apply

Applications should be made via the Durham University online application system: https://www.dur.ac.uk/study/pg/apply/  quoting program code L3A001 – PhD Sociology and Social Policy.

Please state on your application under the section on Finance and Funding which scholarship you are applying for – please state ‘Contextual Safeguarding in Sports’.

Selection will be based on application documents and interview.

Supporting Documents:

  • A personal statement (no more than two pages)
  • A 3-page (maximum) proposal for a study on safeguarding in sports. This should include (i) A short section on why you are interested in conducting research in this area, (ii) A longer research proposal (i.e. what do you think we need to undrstand to improve safeguarding in hospitality?). This part of the proposal should include a brief review of relevant literature, a rationale for why this work is needed, aims, proposed study design, and expected outcomes. You may include figures, diagrams, or tables to illustrate any aspects of study if you feel it is helpful.
  • An example of previously written work (e.g. Dissertation / Written coursework, Published Paper, Report).
  • Two letters of references – at least one from an academic source
  • CV (no more than 2 pages).
  • For candidates where English is not their first language, we require English Language Evidence – please refer to following web page for details of accepted evidence https://www.dur.ac.uk/learningandteaching.handbook/1/3/3/3/

Enquiries regarding the application process should be forwarded to sociology.pgradmin@durham.ac.uk . Applicants are encouraged to contact us should they wish to speak to Prof. Carlene Firmin in more detail about the scope of this opportunity, and to be put in touch with a supervisor who may be able to assist them in drafting their application.

Closing Date: Friday 4th July 2025

Interview Date: Friday 18th July 2025