(Image Captions Left to right: Dr Lizzy Deery, Dr, Katie Liston, Dr Mary Margaret Meade, Dr Angela Carlin, Dr Carla McCabe, Prof Marie Murphy. With Tandy Haughey missing from the picture)
Ulster University is proud to be a founding member of míde, the first-of-its-kind all-island research consortium dedicated to addressing the gender gap in sport and health science.
This cross-university initiative is committed to advancing the health, wellbeing, participation, and performance of girls and women in sport and physical activity. The consortium officially launched on 31 January at the Women in Sport and Exercise Conference at Glasson Lake House, County Westmeath, bringing together over 180 academics, researchers, and key opinion leaders. Attendees engaged with insights from leading Irish and international experts, including keynote speakers Professor Elizabeth Pike, Professor Anthony Hackney, Dr Patricia Jackman, and Nora Stapleton, former Ireland international rugby player and Director at Sport Ireland.
Derived from the old Irish word míd, meaning middle or centre, míde brings together researchers from nine higher education institutions across the island of Ireland, with Ulster University playing a key role alongside Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Dublin City University (DCU), and Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in chairing the initiative.
Currently, only 6% of global research in sport and exercise science focuses on women and girls, highlighting a significant gender data gap. míde seeks to bridge this divide by taking a holistic approach to understanding the various factors that influence female participation in physical activity, sport, and exercise throughout life—particularly at key stages such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause.
Ulster University is committed to driving impactful research that fosters inclusivity, shapes policy, and enhances opportunities for women and girls in sport and exercise. Through míde, we look forward to leading transformative change in this crucial area of study.
Co-Chair of the group and Senior Lecturer at the School of Sport at Ulster University, Dr Katie Liston explained:
“Ulster University has a long history of championing the rights of women in sport and physical education, and members of our Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Institute are bringing their multidisciplinary expertise to míde. Together we will deepen north-south collaboration.”
Dr Brendan Egan, Head of School of Health and Human Performance at Dublin City University and Co-Chair of the consortium, commented:
“The ambition of míde is to conduct world-leading research that addresses the many knowledge gaps that exist in research, policy and practice due to the historical lack of representation of females in areas concerning health and performance. A core principle is to build a critical mass of expertise and experience to deliver high quality, multisite research that positions us as world-leading in this domain.”
Co-chair Dr Denise Martin, Lecturer and Researcher in Sports Performance Analysis from Atlantic Technological University remarks on the importance of impact in míde:
“We are very conscious of the link between research impact and how we disseminate and translate research to the people who matter – from policy makers to practitioners to women and girls interested in active, healthy lives. In ATU, along with other partners, we have started this work through the development of a research collective where stakeholders working with women in sport, exercise and physical activity are helping to shape research priorities on the island of Ireland."