Neil Fowler - Postgraduate Applications & Career Prospects

We're really looking for our postgraduate applicants to demonstrate some dedication. We expect you to have a good honors degree, of course, but it's something beyond that. You should have a real passion for your subject. Ideally, you've picked up some experience along the way as well, you've done things beyond just the formal curriculum of your degree, and you've sought to engage in the wider opportunities that your undergraduate experience has afforded to you.

We also have a wide range of practitioners come back to join us, so we really do encourage people who've been working in the world of sport and exercise, who've gained some practical experiences and who may have been away from education for some time.

One of the challenges in exercise and sport is we have such a dynamic employment market. We do not vocationally train, although we have programs with quite specific titles. The training that we give to our students is very generic. You will develop high level knowledge in your particular disciplines, but most importantly you will develop a skill set that allows you to apply that knowledge into a wide range of areas. We seek to give you a broad range of experience because we will go on and do many, many things. We have students working in high level sport, in coaching and sport science, working in the institutes of sport, both at home and abroad. They're also working in health domain, working in referral programs, working in both private and public sector organizations. It's too diverse to pin down.

My favorite thing about the department is the passion that our staff bring, and its diversity. Nobody ever gets bored in the department as there is so much going on. It's certainly an opportunity-rich environment, with many different people working in different areas. The passionate student will have the opportunity to get immersed in a wide range of different professional settings, and I think that really sets us aside from most other providers.