The 2012 intake of postgraduate scholars will cover fields including physiology; aquatic testing, training and research; and biomechanics, performance analysis and skill acquisition.

Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Chief Executive Officer, Simon Hollingsworth, said a vast number of Australian sports and athletes benefit from research conducted by the AIS.

‘It’s very exciting to welcome these new staff to the AIS as part of the broader ASC. Australian high performance sport is always searching for that winning edge and research is a critical component of this,’ said Hollingsworth.

‘The AIS employs some of the world’s best minds in sports medicine and sports science, and these postgraduate scholars will hopefully go on to become part of Australia’s next generation of leading sports scientists.’

One of the six incoming postgraduate scholars is Nicholas Smith, who has just completed his Honours degree in Applied Sciences at the Queensland University of Technology.

He has a strong sporting background, and along with being a qualified swimming coach, has previously worked in race analysis with Swimming Queensland and the Queensland Academy of Sport.

Smith said he is looking forward to joining the AIS Aquatic Testing, Training and Research team, which works with Australia’s best swimmers and coaches.

‘It’s fantastic to join such a well renowned organisation and particularly exciting to become part of the AIS in an Olympic and Paralympic year.’

Deputy Director of AIS Research and Applied Science, Dr Nick Brown, said the AIS has a proud tradition of developing postgraduate scholarship recruits into some of Australia’s leading sports science experts.