A grant of €2,499,318 has been awarded to Professor Russ Jago from the School of Policy Studies and Bristol Medical School for a project that will work with pupils, schools, and families to co-design and evaluate a new flexible physical activity program for primary school children.

Professor Jago said: “Physical activity is important for children’s health and happiness. Current approaches to increase children’s physical activity have not been very effective. Physical activity declines across childhood with the end of primary school a critical period of change. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges. There is an urgent need to help more children be active

“In our new approach, schools will select core and peripheral components to create a school-specific portfolio that meets their local needs. We will assess the flexible programs using a new evaluation framework that we will also create during the project, and work with a wide range of stakeholders to disseminate findings.”

Professor Jago was one of three researchers from the University of Bristol to have been awarded European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grants totalling around €8 million. Professor Philip Taylor, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, said: “Congratulations to Helen, Rich, Russ and their colleagues on being awarded these prestigious grants. I look forward to following the progress of the three projects.”

ERC Advanced Grants are designed to support excellent scientists and scholars in any field at the career stage when they are already established research leaders, with a recognised track record of research achievements. The funding announced yesterday is worth in total €624 million and will go to 253 leading researchers across Europe.