Masters programme in Sports Performance and Athlete Health (two year), 120 credits, 120 hp

Performance sport demands a fine balance between training and recovery, and the culture of constantly striving for high-level performance can encourage risk-taking so that athletes often find themselves on a knife edge between peak performance and states of injury, illness or underperformance. Evidence-informed practice in this field is developing at a rapid rate and it is now widely recognised that athletes’ health and wellbeing are critical for successful performance and longevity.

About the programme

The master programme (two years) in Sports Performance and Athlete Health is offered as a full-time programme delivered over two years, and is aimed at current or prospective sports scientists, researchers, coaches and medical personnel (such as doctors, physiotherapists and naprapaths) who are aspiring towards roles in performance sport. Students will acquire practical and theoretical knowledge to inform practice and pave the way for future research and development in performance sport. The programme focuses heavily on evidence-informed practice, aiming to encompass international perspectives, and insights from a range of practitioner roles. Courses cover topics such as performance development and optimisation, management of illness and injury, performance data analytics, coaching and leadership and scientific theory and methodology. Two independent projects are embedded in the programme; a shorter evidence-informed research and/or development project in year 1, and a more comprehensive research project in year 2.

The theoretical components will be delivered online with two compulsory campus meetings in Östersund and/or Stockholm during the period of study. The programme is run as a collaboration between the Department of Health Sciences (Sports Science) and the Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre at Mid Sweden University, and the Musculoskeletal and Sports Injury Epidemiology Centre at Sophiahemmet University in Stockholm.

The structure of the teaching

Two compulsory on-campus meeting during the period of study.

Entry requirements

General entry requirements

Title of qualification

Masterexamen,

Masterexamen med huvudområdet idrottsvetenskap
translated into
Degree of Master of Science (120 credits) with a major in Sports Science

After the programme

This programme aims to equip future practitioners (e.g. sports scientists, coaches and medical personnel) with the skills required to support athlete development in a sustainable manner. Graduates will also be well-equipped to proceed to future research studies in sports science and/or medicine. Although clinical contexts may arise during the education, please note that the programme is non-clinical in nature and thus does not lead to any licence to practice in specific clinical disciplines.