Physiotherapy PhD

Physiotherapy offers a multi-stranded research programme exploring the development and evaluation of rehabilitation strategies, the environments in which they can be used and the lived experience of patients across a broad spectrum of acute and long term conditions.  This includes the whole rehabilitation pathway and beyond, aiming to explore and promote the best in evidence-based practice. Physiotherapy at Brunel has a large team of academics who are actively involved in research across a wide range of clinical specialties. The academic team has internationally renowned expertise in cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal and neurological health and rehabilitation and in quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methodologies. We have an established national and international profile in terms of relationships with health, government, professional and research funding bodies to support collaborative research. The academic team has extensive clinical expertise and retains strong collaborative links with several key London hospitals and NHS trusts.

Find out about the exciting research we do in this area. Browse profiles of our experts, discover the research groups and their inspirational research activities you too could be part of. We’ve also made available extensive reading materials published by our academics and PhD students.  

Learn more about research in this area.

Applicants are welcome to contact us about their own specialist topics and projects.  However, we particularly welcome proposals on :

• Evaluating the effectiveness of contemporary and novel rehabilitation strategies for long term conditions.
• The refinement of contemporary rehabilitation, preventative and health promotion strategies used to enhance the wellbeing of people with stroke, cerebral palsy, cardiac disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain and people in critical care.
• The use of electronic and assistive technologies.
• Peoples’ experiences of physiotherapy and/or living with long term health conditions.
• The use of principles from sports psychology to help older adults overcome the fear of falling and improve mobility and to reduce gait deficits (such as freezing of gait) in people with Parkinson’s disease.
• The use of principles from sports psychology.
• Investigating participation and pedagogy to enhance the learning experience of student physiotherapists.

Our researchers create knowledge and advance understanding, and equip versatile doctoral researchers with the confidence to apply what they have learnt for the benefit of society. Find out more about working with the Supervisory Team.

You are welcome to approach your potential supervisor directly to discuss your research interests. Search for expert supervisors for your chosen field of research.

This course can be studied undefined undefined, starting in undefined.

Find out about what progress might look like at each stage of study here: Research degree progress structure.

Research support

Excellent research support and training

The Graduate School provides a range of personal, professional and career development opportunities. This includes workshops, online training, coaching and events, to enable you to enhance your professional profile, refine your skills, and plan your next career steps as part of the Researcher Development Programme. The researcher development programme (RDP) offers workshops and seminars in a range of areas including progression, research management, research dissemination, and careers and personal development. You will also be offered a number of online, self-study courses on BBL, including Research Integrity, Research Skills Toolkit, Research Methods in Literature Review and Principles of Research Methods.

Library services

Brunel's Library is open 24 hours a day, has 400,000 books and 250,000 ebooks, and an annual budget of almost £2m. Subject information Specialists train students in the latest technology, digital literacy, and digital dissemination of scholarly outputs. As well as the physical resources available in the Library, we also provide access to a wealth of electronic resources. These include databases, journals and e-books. Access to these resources has been bought by the Library through subscription and is limited to current staff and students.

Dedicated research support staff provide guidance and training on open access, research data management, copyright and other research integrity issues.

Find out more: Brunel Library

A training programme will be provided by the College to assist students with achieving targets.  The programme will include the underpinning principles such as philosophy of science, research integrity, ethics and specialist methodology.  Sessions in core, specialist and advanced research methods will prepare students for an independent research career.  The College research methods programme includes sessions from specialists with research expertise in qualitative, quantitative, reflexive, practitioner and insider research, and is aligned with the ESRC research methods expectations. 

You will receive tailored careers support during your PhD and for up to three years after you complete your research at Brunel. We encourage you to actively engage in career planning and managing your personal development right from the start of your research, even (or perhaps especially) if you don't yet have a career path in mind. Our careers provision includes online information and advice, one-to-one consultations and a range of events and workshops. The Professional Development Centre runs a varied programme of careers events throughout the academic year. These include industry insight sessions, recruitment fairs, employer pop-ups and skills workshops.

In addition, where available, you may be able to undertake some paid work as we recognise that teaching and learning support duties represent an important professional and career development opportunity.

Find out more.

A PhD in Physiotherapy will particularly suit physiotherapists who wish to contribute to the development of research knowledge in their specialist area or to academic training. Universities recruiting lecturers for Physiotherapy courses usually expect a PhD as well as a practice experience.