Professor Ailsa Niven

Personal chair of Psychology of Physical Activity

Biography

Background

Ailsa holds a Personal Chair in the Psychology of Physical Activity, and is a BPS Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist who is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.   Ailsa's research and teaching focuses on the psychological determinants and consequences of physical activity and sedentary behaviour, with a current major focus on the implications of working from home on movement behaviour and mental health.  Ailsa contributes to teaching on the MSc Physical Activity for Health, BSc Applied Sport Science, and BMedSci (Physical Activity for Health).  Ailsa is an experienced University leader previously holding senior leadership roles.  Ailsa works part-time and enjoys spending time with her family, and keeping active.

Qualifications

Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy

PGCert in Academic Practice, Heriot Watt University

PGCert in Counselling Skills, University of Strathclyde

PhD Professional practice in sport psychology, Coventry University

MSc Sport and Exercise Sciences (Psychology), Liverpool John Moores University

MA (Hons) Psychology, University of Edinburgh

Responsibilities & affiliations

Co-Deputy Director of Research, Moray House School of Education and Sport

School REF team - lead on PCE

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

Prospective students with an interest in using psychology to understand the determinants and/or consequences of physical activity are welcome to reach out.  Projects aligning with current research activity on movement behaviour when working from home, and the benefits of physical activity during the menopause, are particularly welcomed!   

Current PhD students supervised

  • Jian Lei - The impact of temporary urban environment changes on physical activity

Past PhD students supervised

  • Dr Eva Coral-Almeida - Sedentary behaviour at work and musculoskeletal outcomes
  • Dr Niamh Hart - Yoga in schools for mental health benefits
  • Dr Linda Thompson - The couch to 5K programme for promoting physical activity
  • Dr Mary Allison - Realist evaluation of the Paths for All Stepcount Challenge
  • Dr Mhairi MacDonald- Walking for health in adolescent girls
  • Dr Nicky Laing- Why older adults start and continue to walk with walking groups
  • Dr Laird Yvonne- Social support for physical activity in adolescent girls

Research summary

Why are some people physically active, and some people are not?   Why are we spending more and more time being sedentary?  How does physical activity and sedentary behaviour impact our mental health?  These are the questions that I aim to address in my research activities, so that we can better support individuals to engage in behaviour that promotes optimal health and well-being. 

Current research interests

Current research projects focus on understanding more about sedentary behaviour when working at home.   COVID-19 has lead to a radical change in our working practices, with many individuals now spending at least some of their working week at home.   Initial evidence suggests this pivot to home working is leading to increases in sedentary behaviour.   We are interested in knowing more about this, and developing interventions to support workers to reduce their sedentary time.    We have collaborated with a range of partners, and now have a portfolio of research investigating this issue and have also developed a toolkit for workplaces to support more movement when working from home - see https://actify.org.uk/pahrcw@h

Project activity

RECENT GRANTS

  • 2024 CAHSS Challenge Investment Fund (~£10K) - How does working at home impact movement behaviour and experiences of stress (Co-I)
  • 2023 ESRC (SGSSS) (PhD studentship) (~£75K) - Menopause, physical activity and mental well-being (co-PI)) (collaborator SAMH)
  • 2023 Wellcome Trust ITPA Accelerator - (~£20K) - Are we working (too) comfortably: Scaling up an intervention toolkit to move more when working at home (Co-I)
  • 2022 ESRC Impact Accelerator Award (£80K) - Are we working (too) comfortably: Collaborating with The Scottish Government to develop an evidence-based toolkit to move more when working at home (PI)
  • 2022 Scottish Action for Mental Health (consultancy ~£13K) - Menopause, physical activity, and mental well-being
  • 2022 Wellcome Trust ITPA Springboard (£5K) - Developing an MS Teams app prompt to reduce desk time whilst working at home. 
  • 2021 MRC PHIND - £150K Are we sitting (too) comfortably?: Developing health-enhancing intervention strategies to reduce time spent sitting whilst working from home (PI)
  • 2021 Baily Thomas - £94K Developing and evaluating the feasibility of a theory-based intervention to increase walking in adults with intellectual disabilities (CI)
  • 2018 HSC R&D Division Cross-border Healthcare Intervention Trials in Ireland Network (CHITIN) (~£310K) - The feasibility of a walking intervention to increase activity and reduce sedentary behaviour in people with serious mental illness (CI)
  • 2018 ESRC IAA (£9K)- SHaRE – The Scottish walking for Health Research Exchange (PI)
  • 2017 SGSSS/ESRC PhD s’ship (~£61K)– Evaluating Paths for All’s Step Count Challenge (with Prof Ruth Jepson)
  • 2015 MRC PHIND - £150K: Developing a culturally adapted walking intervention for South East Asians Co-Investigator
  • 2015 Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government - £225K: Too much sitting in extended bouts in stroke survivors: A qualitative study to inform novel interventions.  Co-Investigator

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