Welcome to the Adapted Physical Activity Research Unit (APARU)!

Mixed dance class in gym hall with three students in wheelchairs led by lecturer standing in front of the group

Our Mission:

Physical activity is a human right. APARU advances this principle through rigorous, interdisciplinary research that transforms policy and practice.

Working alongside underserved communities, practitioners, and partners across multiple sectors, we challenge and help dismantle barriers to participation, amplify marginalised voices, and spark systemic change that enables all individuals to move, play, and thrive on their own terms. Our research embraces physical culture with a social justice lens—exploring joy through movement, advancing culturally competent practices, and challenging inequities that limit participation for those most affected. In doing so, we aim to reimagine what participatory research can look like.

Creating Change Through Research:

Our research delivers impact across communities, policy, and practice:

Community Impact: We've worked with Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities, disabled people's organisations, and military veteran groups to co-create inclusive research programmes that reflect their priorities and lived experiences. Our participatory approaches ensure that research benefits flow directly to communities most affected by inequalities.

Policy Influence: Our research on ethnic categorisation, disability inclusion, and health inequalities shapes policy debates and informs commissioning decisions at local, national, and international levels.

Practice Transformation: Through partnerships with practitioners and physical activity providers, we're embedding culturally competent and disability-confident approaches across sport and physical activity settings.

Academic Excellence: With 50+ peer-reviewed publications, 4 edited books with Routledge, and over £100,000 in research income, we're contributing to theoretical advancement while maintaining our commitment to socially engaged scholarship. Our successful supervision of over 10 doctoral students has developed the next generation of researchers committed to equity and social justice.

International Reach: Our collaborative networks span Japan, Canada, USA, and Ireland, fostering global dialogue on adapted physical activity, disability studies, and inclusive sport cultures.

Get Involved! Join Us in Shaping a More Inclusive Future for Physical Activity

We welcome collaboration from:

Researchers and Academics seeking interdisciplinary partnerships, PhD supervision, or collaborative grant applications in adapted physical activity, disability studies, or health inequalities

Practitioners and Policymakers working with disabled communities, marginalised populations, or adapted sport programmes who want to strengthen practice through research partnership

Community Organisations and Lived Experience Partners interested in participatory research that centres your voices, addresses your priorities, and creates meaningful change

Students (prospective PhD or MRes) passionate about social justice, inclusive physical activity, and community-engaged research

 

Whether you're a member of an underserved community, researcher, practitioner, policymaker, or simply interested in the socio-cultural dimensions of physical activity, we invite you to contact us to explore collaboration opportunities.

 

Membership

Membership:

Prof. Győző Molnár
Dr Emma V. Richardson
Helen Black (PhD Student)
Mathius Sendawula (PhD Student)
Chunhong Zhou (PhD Student)
Francesca Musgrave (PhD Student)

Associate Membership

Prof. Nobuko Tanaka-Hibino
Toin University, Japan

Prof. Nancy Spencer
University of Alberta, Canada

Prof. Justin Haegele
Old Dominion University, USA

Dr Tom Fabian
University College Dublin, Ireland

Completed Projects

Whose Knowledge Counts in Adapted Physical Activity Research?

Cultural Praxis in Critical Disability Studies: Doing socially just work for inclusive physical activity.

Ethnic Categorisation of Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Communities.

Current Projects

The Impact of the Invictus Games on Injured and Ill Armed Forces Members and their Families.

Seeking Equitable Access to Sport and Physical Activity among Diabetic Communities.

Outputs / Publications

Hertting, K. & Molnár, G. (in press). From Abuse to Unity: National Belonging, and the 2018 Durmaz Affair in Swedish Football. International Review for the Sociology of Sport.

Thomas, G., Guinan, J., Lord. R. & Molnár, G. (in press). Aspiring Against the Odds: Women Strength and Conditioning Coaches in a Gendered Landscape. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. (DOI: )

Spencer, N.L.I. & Molnár, G. (in press).Ontological, epistemological, axiological considerations when using qualitative methods for researching disability in physical education. In A. J. Maher, J. Haegele., & J. Coates (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Qualitative Methods for Researching Disability in Physical Education. Routledge

Richardson, E. V., Wilson, C. T., Black, H., & Foster, R. (in press). “What’s best for you?”: using cripistemologies as a grounding for participatory research with communities that are non-Verbal.  In A. J. Maher, J. Haegele., & J. Coates (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Qualitative Methods for Researching Disability in Physical Education. Routledge

Akimoto, S., Richardson, E., and Nagata, S. (2025) “It’s a Story of Another World”: Perceptions of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games Among Japanese Athletes with Psychiatric Impairments. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 42(3), p. 294-318

Zhou, C., Bairner, A., & Molnár, G. (2025). Organizational and personal barriers to physical activity: an intersectional analysis of divorced single mothers in China’s IT and Internet industries. Sport, Education and Society, 30(9), 1196–1209. 

Burgess, B., Vinson, D., Richardson, E., & Molnár, G. (2025). Utilising the ecological–intersectional model to identify the factors that impact LGBTQ+ coaches’ experiences in sport. Sport, Education and Society,

Bracken, S., Hopkins, A, Kennett, A., Lawrence, H., Richardson, E. V, Wedgebury, K., & Wilcon, C. T. (2025). Empowering disabled learners’ voices and agency through Universal Design for Learning. In, S. Taylor & S. Bracken (Eds.), Learner Voices, Perspectives and Positionings: Providing Agency to Empower Learning. Routledge.

Mycock, G., Foye, U., Edwards, C., & Molnár, G. (2025). Men’s Formal Help-Seeking for Eating and/or Body Image Psychopathology: A Systematic Review of Barriers and Facilitators. The Journal of Men’s Studies,

Richardson, E. V., & Motl, R. W. (2025). A Phenomenological Understanding of Aging “Well” With Multiple Sclerosis. The Gerontologist, 65(6), gnaf072.

Spencer, N. L. I. & Molnár, G. (2024). Adapted Physical Activity. In Routledge Encyclopaedia of Sport Studies. Routledge.

Burgess, B., Molnár, G., Vinson, D., & Richardson, E. V. (2024). The realities of utilising participatory research and creative methods to explore the experiences of non-heterosexual coaches. Sports Coaching Review.

Edwards, C., Mahoney, B., Richardson, E. V., & Lowe, B. (2024). “Staying isolated indoors means that nobody sees me”: Ontological (in)security and living with significant appearance concerns before, during, and ‘since’ COVID-19. International Journal of Qualitative Studies and Health and Well-being.

Davis, G., Bentley, J., Molnár, G. & Gaskin, K. (2024). Places of Farewell: a scoping review exploring factors influencing the choice of place of death for children when death is expected. Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing.

Edwards, C., Molnár, G., & Tod, D. (2024). Searching for meaning: British men's stories of long-term androgenic-anabolic steroid use. Performance Enhancement & Health, 12(3), 100287.

 

Get in touch

For more information on our research or opportunities please get in touch with Professor Győző Molnár or Dr Emma Richardson