Research
Our faculty ranks as one of the premiere faculties for research among its peers in Canada. We’re renowned for our world-class research, focused on a very broad spectrum of inquiry in the realms physicial activity, sport and leisure.
Researchers in PER conduct research in 12 areas:
- Active, healthy children
- Adapted physical activity
- Analysis of Human Movement
- Athlete Health
- Coach Education
- Exercise Physiology and Biochemistry
- Behavioural Medicine and Health Psychology
- Leadership and Instruction
- Recreation and Leisure Studies
- Socio-cultural Studies of Sport and Leisure
- Sport and Leisure Organisations
- Sport Psychology
Examples of our research include
- how the built environment impacts body mass index (BMI),
- what barriers and constraints to leisure there are for various populations
- how the media represents female athletes,
- the National Hockey League (NHL) and the business of hockey
- the coaching system in Canada
Our work has a profound impact on our community both locally and globally.
Other examples of our broad spectrum of research include
- a neuroscience professor who is looking at how exercise may slow the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal motor neuron disease;
- a leisure professor works extensively with Parks Canada looking how visitors to our national parks relate to them and the bonds they form with these places.
Our behavioural medicine team’s work in exercise motivation, in population health, and cancer and physical activity is shedding new light on the power of physical activity as an important intervention in preventing and controlling major diseases such as cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, so prevalent in our society today.
Our exercise physiologists are finding better ways of developing the female athlete; comparing the efficacy of different types of exercise, or working with first responders, such as firefighters.
Our professors in sport psychology, athlete health and sports medicine are in demand to work with high performance athletes in major sporting events, such as the Olympic Games.
We take a very broad-based approach to research. This multidisciplinary approach sparks collaborations between faculty members in a variety of areas, from biomechanics to neurophysiology, from leisure studies to sport management, among others.
Our researchers collaborate with faculty members across campus, and at universities around the world, in diverse fields such as
- Anthropology
- Computing Science
- History
- Medicine
- Nutritional Sciences
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Sociology
We constantly seek to challenge and expand the frontiers of our discipline.
Ours is a story of relevant, dynamic research that helps Canadians live healthier, happier lives.
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