Research Participation Opportunities

Find out why you should consider getting involved with research, and how you can advertise your opportunities too

There is a growing body of dance medicine and science-focused research that aims to improve our understanding of what it takes to produce healthy, high performing dancers. Remember that research cannot happen without participants, so as dancers, teachers, choreographers, and those actively working within the dance industry you have a very valuable role to play within the scientific research process.

Organisations such as The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) promote research excellence within the dance medicine and science community as well as producing resources to disseminate research recommendations within the wider dance community.

We know that many professional dance companies and vocational dance schools are frequently approached by researchers, undergraduate as well as postgraduate, to take part in their projects. In order to help prevent these dancers suffering from ‘research fatigue’, while encouraging participation in research, we have produced a checklist (below) for schools and companies to help you decide on the quality of research opportunities presented to you and prioritise those you take part in. These points could also apply to individuals in deciding whether to participate in research or not.

 

White female dancer with long red hair running on a treadmill wearing face-mask to measure cardiovascular fitness. White male physiologist looking over to observe stats on the machine. In a white laboratory setting with a window in the background

Research participation checklist

  • Is the research at postgraduate level, with the intention for it to be published?
  • Is the research applied research that will have a practical bearing on dancers’ health, wellbeing, performance capabilities or education, on an individual level, organisational level or for the dance world at large?
  • Is the researcher planning to or have they sought input from dance professionals in choosing what to research and/or designing the research?
  • Is the researcher offering to provide feedback during and/or following the research that will be useful to the dancers and their work/training?
  • Have you or the researcher sought advice from One Dance UK’s HDP to ensure that this research project complements or adds to the research knowledge base and is not unnecessarily duplicating work already done?

If you can answer yes to these points it is likely to be worth your while taking part in a research project that may benefit dancers, company and the dance world at large.

Current opportunities

Listed below are research projects being conducted by One Dance UK members, which are currently seeking participants. If you are interested in taking part, please do get in touch with the researchers directly, or if you have any questions or concerns, contact the Healthier Dancer Programme: hdp@onedanceuk.org.

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES 

Project summary:

My name is Maria Kolitsida and as part of my PhD project, I am exploring dance students’ understanding and experiences of self-harm, as well as investigating different factors that may relate to self-harm in private school dance students in the United Kingdom.

The University of Birmingham in collaboration with One Dance UK and the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS) are conducting research to support dance teachers in private dance schools to respond to safeguarding concerns around self-harm in their students.

Our research has already highlighted that dance teachers are seeing an increase in the number of students who self-harm and need additional guidance and education for responding to self-harm in private dance education.

Thus, this two-fold research project aims to:

  1. Understand more about self-harm in dance students (i.e., what proportion of students self-harm and how/why they may self-harm).
  2. Investigate the best way of providing education to dance teachers about self-harm by pilot testing an educational workshop on self-harm for private dance schools.

Research Setting:

If you decide to take part in the study, you will be asked to sign a consent form. Before attending the workshop, you will then be asked to fill in a short questionnaire asking you about your pre-existing understanding of self-harm. This should take less than 5 minutes to complete.

After attending the workshop, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire, asking you to rate your knowledge and understanding of self-harm following your workshop attendance. You will also be asked to rate your experience of attending the workshop. Finally, you will be asked to give some basic details about yourself like your age, gender, and your role in private dance education. This should take less than 10 minutes to complete.

Should you wish to, you are free to refrain from answering any of the questions in the questionnaires. All questionnaire responses will be kept in either a locked cupboard at the University of Birmingham or on the University’s secure network drives until the analysis is completed and only the research team will have access to them.

Dance teachers and support staff in private dance schools will have the opportunity to take part in a workshop on self-harm. They can provide feedback on the workshop through a short survey to help us understand how to best provide educational resources on self-harm for those in private dance education. For more information or to take part in the workshop, please contact Maria Kolitsida at MXK029@bham.ac.uk 

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

This research will be confidential. No one outside the workshop will know that you have taken part in this research. No one outside the research team will be able to link any of your data back to you. To protect your identity, where direct quotes of what you have mentioned in your responses are included in publications or presentations of the research, these will not contain any information that could identify you or anyone else. Any identifiable information of yourself or those you mention will be removed from the questionnaire responses when these are stored electronically on the University’s secure network drives. All data will be handled in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2018).


Inclusion Criteria: 
Any private dance school staff between the ages of 18-65 who have taken part in the self-harm psychoeducation.

Benefits to the participant:

By sharing your experiences of the workshop with us you will help us better understand the effects of providing psychoeducational workshops on self-harm for dance school staff. This should help inform our understanding of the types of education that dance school staff benefit from the most around self-harm, and mental health more broadly. There is no risk to your taking part in the study, outside those you would experience in everyday life. Nonetheless, there is a risk that you may find answering questions on self-harm, upsetting. If this occurs, you do not need to answer the question. You may also choose to pause or completely stop your participation at any point. Any decision you make will be respected and resources are available at the end of this information sheet if you need additional support.

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Maria Kolitsida

Email: MXK029@student.bham.ac.uk 

Project summary:

My name is Maria Kolitsida and as part of my PhD project, I am exploring dance students’ understanding and experiences of self-harm, as well as investigating different factors that may relate to self-harm in private school dance students in the United Kingdom.

The University of Birmingham in collaboration with One Dance UK and the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science (NIDMS) are conducting research to support dance teachers in private dance schools to respond to safeguarding concerns around self-harm in their students.

Our research has already highlighted that dance teachers are seeing an increase in the number of students who self-harm and need additional guidance and education for responding to self-harm in private dance education.

Thus, this two-fold research project aims to:

  1. Understand more about self-harm in dance students (i.e., what proportion of students self-harm and how/why they may self-harm).
  2. Investigate the best way of providing education to dance teachers about self-harm by pilot testing an educational workshop on self-harm for private dance schools.

Research Setting:

If you decide to take part in the study, you will be asked to sign a consent form. After consenting to take part, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire. The first section will ask you to provide some basic information about yourself (e.g., gender, age) and some details about your dance participation (e.g., which dance styles you take class in, how long you have been dancing). Then you will be asked to answer some questions regarding your thoughts and experiences of self-harm and disordered eating. You will also be asked to complete questions about how you regulate your emotions, cope with stress or problems and the type of support you receive from your social relationships. The final section of the questionnaire will also ask you about your experiences of perfectionism in dance.

The entire questionnaire should take 20-30 minutes to complete. Should you wish to, you are free to refrain from answering any of the questions in the questionnaire. All questionnaire responses will be kept in either a locked cupboard at the University of Birmingham or on the University’s secure network drives until the analysis is completed and only the research team will have access to them.

Dance students will complete a confidential survey on their thoughts and/or experiences of self-harm, disordered eating and dance education. They do not need to have personal experience of self-harm to take part. Dance students can access and complete the survey here: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/bham/self-harm-in-dance-students 

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

This research will be confidential. No one outside the research team will know that you have taken part in this research and will be able to link any of your data back to you. To protect your identity, where direct quotes of what you have mentioned are included in publications or presentations of the research, these will not contain any information that could identify you or anyone that you have mentioned. Any identifiable information of yourself or those you mention will be removed from the questionnaire responses when these are stored electronically on the University’s secure network drives. All data will be handled in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2018). This project has been granted ethical approval by the STEM Research Ethics Committee at the University of Birmingham.

Inclusion Criteria: 
Any dance school students between the ages of 16-24 who are currently enrolled in a private dance school in the United Kingdom, regardless of whether or not they have experience of self-harm. A private dance school is a dance school that is not associated with any company, receives no government funding, and students typically pay tuition for the teaching they receive.

Benefits to the participant:

Participants will be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win 2x£50, 2x£25, £5x10 gift cards (you will need to provide your email address to be entered into this). By completing this questionnaire, you will also help us better understand self-harm and which factors may put students in private dance schools at risk of self-harm. There is no risk to your taking part in the study, outside those you would experience in everyday life. Nonetheless, there is a risk that you may find answering some of the questions upsetting. If this occurs, you do not need to answer the question. You may also choose to pause or completely stop your participation at any point. Any decision you make will be respected and resources are available at the end of this information sheet if you need additional support.

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Maria Kolitsida

Email: MXK029@student.bham.ac.uk 

Project summary:

'The project aims to create a nationwide long-term study (a cohort study) that regularly measures the physical and mental wellbeing of people working in the cultural and creative sectors. Starting in January 2025 and continuing beyond 2025, the study will collect ongoing data (6 monthly intervals) to better understand how this sectors health is affected over time. The goal is to eventually link this data with other health information (pending necessary approvals) to gain deeper insights. Participants can also choose to be contacted for future research, making it easier to conduct additional studies in this sector. The research team are based at the University of Bradford who in 2025 is the City of Culture. The study will involve regular surveys to assess wellbeing, relationships, and career dynamics among participants, with the data being analysed to identify any connections between these factors.

 

Research Setting:

The survey is online and can be accessed via this link https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=0aJeJGVDJkeAWmMeuT2Tqoxx5Pg2MKNBiBaAlcx7LFdUQ0tCRk9RRVQ3QTVHV1VLUDhHUVJJM1dGRi4u&route=shorturl

We have a website which can be accessed via this link: https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/daU1xeKAI0rWg

The survey takes approximately 15 minutes and will be repeated every 6 months. The current wave is due to end on the 2nd Feb 2025.

Start data of project: 1/6/2025         

End date of project: 12/31/2027      

Start date of current data collection: 1/6/2025             

End date of current data collection: 2/2/2025

 

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

Ethical approval has been granted by the Chair of the Humanities, Social and Health Sciences Research Ethics Panel at the University of Bradford on 13/11/24. Reference E1271.

 

Inclusion Criteria: 
The target population includes individuals aged 16+ who:

Work in any capacity in the cultural, creative, or arts sectors.

Can complete online surveys in English.

Exclusion Criteria: 

Due to funding constraints, the study will exclude non-English speakers, as we are unable to translate the questionnaires.

 

Benefits to the participant:

There may not be benefits to individual participants personally but the information you provide will help us to gain valuable knowledge and insight about the cultural/creative sector wellbeing and to inform the best strategies to improve this. Taking part may also provide some experience for participating in research.

 

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Dr Lisa Edwards, University of Bradford

Email: l.edwards@bradford.ac.uk

Project summary:

The purpose of the study is to see whether there is a relationship between psychological emotional wellbeing and dance injury. The study will examine the specific variables of athletic identity, eating behaviour and passion in injured and non-injured training dancers. The main research question is concerned with the psychological differences between injured and non-injured dancers. However, the study will also explore a secondary research question of the correlation and interdependence between the three variables. The theoretical concept underpinning the project rationale is the ‘Integrated Model of Response to Sport Injury’ produced by Wiese-Bjornstal et al., (1998), from which the three variables of athletic identity, eating behaviour and passion were chosen and based off.                        

Start date of research: 11/15/2024 

End date of research: 5/21/2025     

Start date of data collection: 1/20/2025    

End date of data collection: 2/28/2025      

 

Research Setting:

One online questionnaire that takes approximately 5 minutes to complete        

 

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

All information gathered will be anonymised and confidential, complying with data protection. No names of participants or names of training location will be asked for in the survey, so I will be unable to trace back who a participant’s answers may be. Ethical approval has been signed off by the project supervisor, Edel Quin.      

 

Inclusion Criteria: 

The inclusion criteria requires dancers are currently over the age of 18, in vocational or undergraduate dance training in the UK, in any dance style.   

Exclusion Criteria: 

Participants under the age of 18 and those who have completed professional work are excluded from this study. The questionnaire will also not be sent to international institutions and universities.            

 

Benefits to the participant:

There is no immediate or direct benefit to research participants. However, if there is found to be a link between injury in training dancers and a more negative psychological state, this will highlight a need for more support to be put in place at vocational, undergraduate training institutions.            

 

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Maia Drake, University of Chichester             

Email: mdrake1@stu.chi.ac.uk       

 

Project summary:

Exploring the perceptions and experiences of dancers towards healthcare and injuries in the United States and United Kingdom to inform educational workshops on injuries and their risks.                

Start date of research: 1/1/2025     

End date of research: 1/8/2025       

 

Research Setting:

Online Survey Questionnaire - https://forms.office.com/e/4ftJymQYsd     

Confidentiality and ethical approval:

All information which is collected from you during the research will be kept anonymously and kept strictly confidential. Data will be used for research purposes only and any information about you will have your name removed so that you cannot be identified by it. The Trinity Laban Research Ethics Committee has thoroughly reviewed and approved the study. 

 

Inclusion Criteria: 

Dancers of any training stage (recreational to professional and retired), age 18 years or older, from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the United States of America.         

Exclusion Criteria: 

Anyone who does not self-identify as a dancer, is under 18 years of age, and does not live in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the United States of America.         

 

Benefits to the participant:

This information will add to an important and under-researched topic. The findings will be used to further develop and refine a curriculum on injuries and their risks to deliver to dancers. In the future, this can be developed to also be delivered to healthcare practitioners and improve their knowledge of dance-related injuries.           

 

Contact details for the researcher:

Name: Juan Ventura  Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

Email: Juan.V23.463@edu.trinitylaban.ac.uk

 

Project summary
This research aims to explore how higher education dance students understand and experience self-compassion in their dance training. As a participant, you will take part in a one-time online interview, providing you with the opportunity to discuss your thoughts, perspectives, and experiences related to self-compassion in your dance practice.
Self-compassion is an under-explored area in the field of Dance. Therefore, this research aims to contribute to knowledge about this topic area in Dance.
Project dates
2/10/2025 - 12/1/2025
Data collection dates
2/10/2025 - 12/1/2025
Research Setting 
One online interview which would take approximately one hour.
Confidentiality and ethical approval:
This research study gained ethical approval from the University of Birmingham Ethics Committee. Information gathered from participants will be anonymised, kept with the strictest confidentiality, and only used for the purposes for the research study.
Inclusion Criteria: 
We are recruiting UK-based higher education dance students aged between 18 – 30. You must be enrolled onto a full-time undergraduate dance course, and be injury-free currently, or have a mild injury that does not interfere with your ability to train, rehearse, and/or perform.
Exclusion criteria:
Dance students who are currently injured and who are unable to train or perform.
Benefits to the participant:
Your participation will provide valuable insights into the role of self-compassion in this dance training setting. This information will help to shape and inform future psychological support resources and educational materials on self-compassion in dance. Additionally, each participant will receive a £20 Amazon gift voucher as a thank you for their involvement in the research.
Contact details for the researcher:
Emma Morgan
Email: exm026@student.bham.ac.uk
Phone number: 07941546080