One of the great benefits that I have experienced as a PhD student at Loughborough is that I can mostly organise my work time myself. That means, if you have a time-consuming hobby, you may be able to arrange your work around that hobby as long as you put the hours in at the end of the day.
Some of my crazier summer days kick off with a round of golf at sunrise from 6:00-10:00am, followed by work until 6:00pm, which still leaves me some hours of daylight to spend in the sand on the beach volleyball courts. And that’s the other great advantage of Loughborough University: if you’re into any sport at all, you will most likely be able to pursue that on-campus, or worst case, in town within five-to-ten-minutes cycling from the campus.
I also really enjoy the community that we have in the Sports Technology Institute. I sit in a large open-plan office with a dozen other researchers such as students, PhD students, as well as research associates. It’s a great atmosphere to share knowledge and to network inside and outside your area of expertise. And of course, you make good friends here!