Martyn Standage

Martyn Standage is Professor of Psychology, Health, and Applied Science in the Department for Health. He is also the Director of the University's Centre for Motivation and Health Behaviour Change. Martyn received his PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2003.

Professor Standage has authored more than 175 journal papers and book chapters. His research programme at Bath has been supported by grants totalling over £7.5 million from funders such as the Medical Research Council (MRC), Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), National Institutes for Health Research (NIHR), The British Academy, and The Leverhulme Trust.

The major focus of Prof Standage's work is to: (1) map the motivational determinants of adaptive and maintained engagement in health, exercise, sport, and education settings; and (2) utilise this information to inform the design, development, and evaluation of interventions targeted at enhancing effective functioning, health, performance, and wellbeing. Professor Standage recently extended his work to also entail a broader interdisciplinary perspective to physical activity, sedentary behaviours, and objective health outcomes (including, integrating motivational perspectives within models that specify multiple levels of influence and across 24-hour periods). In this regard, he led the UK contribution to the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle, and the Environment (ISCOLE), which encompasses data from 12 countries from all inhabited continents ranging widely in environmental and socio-cultural context. The primary aim of ISCOLE was to investigate the influence of behavioural settings and physical, social and policy environments on childhood obesity.

Martyn currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (2016-) and is a former Associate Editor for Motivation and Emotion (2010-2017). Prof Standage was a member of the Implementation and Surveillance expert working group for the Chief Medical Officer's UK physical activity guidelines (released September 2019). He is also a member of the Development Team for Public Health England's 'Moving Medicine' work that is conducted in liaison with the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine. Martyn is the Chief Scientific Officer for Active Healthy Kids England which produces a national 'report card' for the 'state of the nation' in regard to children's physical activity. Lastly, Prof. Standage is a member of the Peer-Review College of the ESRC and regularly sits on grant panels nationally and internationally.