Luton seeks research Olympian for new post

It may come too late to help persuade the International Olympic Committee to let London host the 2012 games before it announces its verdict in July, but Luton University is tapping into Olympic fever by creating a full-time post in "Olympic studies".

Luton is advertising in The Times Higher for a doctoral research fellow in Olympic studies on a salary of up to £19,614 a year for 35 hours a week.

The candidate will be based at Luton Business School and will be expected to research the Olympic Games "as a social, political, economic and organisational phenomenon" and to examine the "social cultural and economic impact of the Olympic Games" and "Olympic-related tourism".

Peter Mason, head of tourism and leisure, said the position was part of a range of initiatives to link the university's sport, leisure and tourism work, funded with a "capability grant" for areas that missed out on grants under the research assessment exercise.

In the 2001 RAE, the university received a grade 4 for its tourism department and a 3b for sport.

The successful applicant will be involved in teaching undergraduate programmes in sport studies, sport management, sport tourism, travel and tourism and, from this September, a programme in football studies.

They will work under Vassil Girginov, a senior lecturer in leisure and sports studies, whose book The Olympic Games Explained has just been published.