Stephen Shannon

I am a Lecturer and Course Director at Ulster University (UU) in the School of Sport, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. As Course Director (2018-present) for the BSc in Sport, Physical Activity and Health, I have led on the delivery, recruitment and marketing, and financial sustainability of a course that was awarded 'Best Course Team' in the 2023 Ulster University Learning and Teaching Awards

2014: Awarded £83,000 from the Coca Cola Foundation for an evaluation of the Sport for LIFE programme on children’s well-being.
2016: Awarded £18,000 from Sport Northern Ireland for a review of mental health and wellbeing promotion within and through sport.
2017: Awarded £15,000 enabling grant from the Public Health Agency for the promotion of resilience, well-being and help-seeking through sport (i.e., State of Mind psychoeducational intervention).
2018: Awarded £32,500 grant from Sport Northern Ireland for delivering and assessment of female leadership programmes in sport.
2018: Awarded £1,000 from Sported for an evaluation of a female development programme.
2019: Awarded £15,000 from UEFA for studying the effect of transitional phases on elite footballers’ mental health.
2019: Awarded £3,800 from Ulster University for a Civic Impact Fund of reducing mental health stigma in the community.
2022: Awarded 47,754 from The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) for a mental wellbeing capacity building programme.
2022: Awarded £40,100 from EANI Education Authority Northern Ireland for ‘The Daily Mile’: Children’s Health & Wellbeing in Northern Ireland
Under review: £1,621,924, Medical Research Council, UKRI;
£2,007,682.60, Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Unsuccessful: Grant (PI) for £150,000 for development of a resistance exercise measure (World Cancer Research Fund). Grant (PI) for £50,000 for a longitudinal study on student mental health (SMARTEN).

I coordinate, teach, and project supervise several undergraduate and postgraduate modules on behaviour change and mental health, underpinned by a student-centric and participatory learning philosophy. I was one of three staff shortlisted for UU’s Inspirational Educator Award in the 2022 LTA.

I have published 37 peer-reviewed articles (14 as first author, 11 second author), and have co-authored with international collaborators on an international consensus statement on mental health in sport, and several randomised controlled trials. Demonstrating impact, I contributed to two Northern Ireland policy documents on mental health and sport, provided evidence to a House of Lords Select Committee for Sport and Recreation, and contributed to a REF 2021 impact case study.
I have secured over £190,000 in grant income as a CI, with one under review costed at £2 million with Arts and Humanities Research Council. I have submitted three grant applications as PI, with one costed at £1.6 million under review with the Medical Research Council.

I have supervised six PhD students (one to completion, one submitted, four ongoing), whilst fulfilling internal faculty examiner duties for five PhD students. I currently externally examine at Deakin University, Australia