Women’s sport and research brought together for new centre of excellence in UK first

Science, medicine and technology are being brought together to support women’s sport and exercise in an exciting new partnership between Manchester Metropolitan and the UK Sports Institute (UKSI) - the first of its kind.

The new Centre of Excellence for Women in Sport will support women’s sport and exercise throughout the UK, and across the world, bringing leaders in sport, academia and industry together.

This pioneering partnership is the first of its kind in the UK and will become a ‘go to’ global hub for research, education, and applied practice in female health and performance - helping to support both elite athletes and wider public health.

Through research, experts and athletes working at the cutting edge of sport and industry, the centre will provide high-quality, credible, hands-on research and practice-based evidence to support women in sport everywhere.

Kirsty Elliott-Sale, Professor of Female Endocrinology and Exercise Physiology at Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, said: “The new Centre of Excellence is designed to address the needs of female athletes and exercisers everywhere.

“As well as supporting the enhancement of elite athletes and ensuring that Great Britain remains at the forefront of female high-performance sport science and medicine, the centre will be a trustworthy source of educational resources for women in sport in all settings.”

Alongside the support for female athletes, the centre will aim to inform policy and practice in relation to the public health agenda and use education and the development of new resources to share the latest knowledge in the area of women’s sport and exercise health.

Dr Richard Burden, Co-Lead for Female Athlete Health at the UKSI, said: “The Centre of Excellence for Women in Sport embodies everything that our collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University seeks to achieve.

“At the UK Sports Institute we are committed to providing athletes with outstanding support that enables them to excel. This aligns perfectly with our vision for the Centre, which is for it to be the destination for high quality, trusted research and health and performance support for elite female athletes.”

The launch of the Centre follows the signing of a visionary partnership between Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport and UKSI in 2023, which aims to address the need for more robust, high-quality research to better inform the health and performance support of female athletes.

Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport is a sporting and health hub in the heart of Manchester. It provides support and research for elite sporting organisations and the University’s student athletes. The centre also works with health organisations and communities to support wider healthy living and ageing. 

The Centre of Excellence for Women in Sport will build on existing relationships the University has in supporting women in sport with major sporting institutions including Arsenal Women Football Club, Manchester United, Sale Sharks and Manchester Thunder.   

The UKSI provides support services to British Olympic and Paralympic sports, enabling sports and athletes to realise potential and to achieve excellence. The UKSI is the largest single provider of world-class science, medicine, technology, and engineering services within the sport sector to Olympic and Paralympic sports in the UK.

To find out more about the Centre of Excellence for Women in Sport visit the Centre’s webpage.