Rob Copeland, Director of the AWRC

Rob is Professor of Physical Activity and Health at Sheffield Hallam University and a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. He moved to Sheffield in 1998 to undertake a Masters Degree at Sheffield University and has fallen in love with the city ever since. Rob completed his PhD in psychology at Sheffield Hallam University in 2006 and continues to be fascinated by how to change behaviour at an individual and population level.

Rob is the Director of the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University (about AWRC) and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) in Sheffield, a London 2012 Olympic legacy programme, which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation through sport, exercise and physical activity. One of the projects of the NCSEM is ‘Move More’ (www.movemoresheffield.com), which represents the city’s ambitious plan to transform Sheffield into the most active city in the UK through a whole systems approach. 

Rob has significant research, consultancy and service evaluation experience in clinical and non-clinical populations and has presented and published nationally and internationally on physical activity and behaviour. In other areas, Rob has worked as a psychologist within a wide range of professional sports including cycling, golf, football, tennis and snooker. Rob has also worked with chief executives and senior manager's applying sports psychology techniques to a business environment to improve performance under pressure.