Motherwell Football Club Scholarship

In partnership with Motherwell Football Club, a scholarship is available to part fund a full-time MScR project. This project, focused on load and physical development approaches in academy footballers, will answer real-world questions which the football club want to answer, with research looking to provide real-world answers to enhance process and delivery of sports science support.

About the Scholarship

In partnership with Motherwell Football Club, a Masters by Research (MScR) project in the Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh has been developed. Coordinated within the Academy of Sport and the Human Performance Science Research Group, this programme of work will provide the successful applicant with exposure to sports science support in a professional football academy and research opportunities at a world-leading university.

The focus of the project is to characterise loading of youth academy players, and consider stages by which appropriate development can be made up to First Team football. This will be framed from an interdisciplinary perspective, and consider broader sports science perspectives around player development.

The project will involve full-time in-person postgraduate research (PGR) study, with time dedicated each week to working in the boy’s academy at Motherwell FC as an Academy Sports Scientist (applicants must have the right to live in the United Kingdom). It is important to note that with PGR study, there are no taught elements, but the successful applicant will be supervised through the project. The supervisory team will consist of Dr Ali Pearson and Professor Tony Turner.

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We are offering one award per academic year, to the value of £5000 which will be deducted from the programme tuition fees. The successful applicant will be required to fund the remaining MScR tuition fee.


The scholarship is available to one successful applicant. The applicant will only be eligible for full-time study. Please note that the successful applicant will be required to commit to in-person study, and applications for distance learning will not be accepted. 


The successful candidate will be determined following review of application materials (CV and applicant task, for example a demonstration of understanding on certain practices in applied sport science settings e.g., what are the current priorities physical development of academy footballers and how would you assess or examine these priorities) and interview, which will be coordinated by staff at Motherwell Football Club and the Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh.

Criteria that the applicants will be assessed on include:

  • Academic ability (presented in standard application, references and interview).
  • Experience in professional settings (presented in standard application and references).
  • Suitability to meet the demands of the academic programme (presented in standard application, references and interview).
  • Commitment to managing a demanding programme of work ably and professionally (presented in references and interview).

Applicants for the project must possess at least a 2:1 undergraduate degree in a sport science related discipline. Part of the project is based at Motherwell Football Club; therefore, applicants must have the right to live in the United Kingdom.


Applicants should apply for the scholarship by 12.00pm (UK Time) on Monday 25th May 2026 via our online webform. Within the webform, you will be asked to submit a personal statement (of no more than 600 words) detailing your interest in the scholarship and how you feel you will benefit from and contribute to the research culture at the University of Edinburgh (and include task details).


As detailed in the “Criteria” section, in addition to the scholarship, applicants will be required to:

  1. Submit a CV and one-page document detailing what you view as research and practice priorities in physical development of footballers within academy football, and what project you would conduct to assess or examine these priorities. Applications should be sent to Dr Ali Pearson (alastair.pearson@ed.ac.uk) by 12.00pm (UK Time) on 25th May 2026.
  2. The successful applicant will be notified w/c 22nd June 2026, and will need to apply for the MScR Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences programme by 12.00pm (UK Time) on 17th July 2026. 

Please note that applicants are asked to list Dr Ali Pearson and Professor Tony Turner as their preferred supervisors when submitting their programme application. 


Please direct any questions or queries regarding the scholarship to Dr Ali Pearson (Teaching Fellow in Applied Sport Science, Institute for Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences).


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