Dublin City University Business School and FIA announce global research scholarships

Dublin City University Business School and FIA announce global research scholarships

DCU and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), have announced the launch of six scholarships as part of the FIA’s United Against Online Abuse campaign.

The scholarships will invite researchers worldwide to collaborate against online hate speech in sport while earning a Master’s by Research degree.

The initiative will be formally presented to delegates at the FIA Conference in Cordoba this week and comes after the United Nations Day for Countering Hate Speech.

The scholarships are part of FIA University and are backed by the FIA Foundation in partnership with Dublin City University’s Business School.

The Business School is a centre for research in the field of online hate speech and is one of the lead partners on the Tackling Online Hate in Football project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Irish Research Council. This partnership with the FIA will expand DCU Business School’s research on hate speech and online abuse into other sports including motorsports. The research will be supervised by Dr Gary Sinclair and Professor Theo Lynn.

It will be a distance-learning programme spanning two years part-time and starting in January 2024. The FIA scholarship covers all academic fees and costs. The scholarship programme is part of the FIA’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) commitment.

The FIA’s Member Clubs in 146 countries and their local academic partners have an opportunity to have their students participate in the selection process for the scholarship.

The FIA invites researchers worldwide to collaborate with it against online abuse in sport, while earning a Masters by Research (MPhil in Business) from Dublin City University (DCU), covered by the FIA research scholarships.

FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, said:

“I am pleased to announce the launch of the global scholarship initiative which is aligned to our efforts to combat online abuse in sport. Together with the FIA University and the FIA Foundation and in partnership with Dublin City University, we are taking a knowledge-led approach to the campaign.

The research will enable us to build a greater understanding of the psychological effects of online abuse to inform our strategic approach to tackling the problem.

A central pillar of the FIA’s United Against Online Abuse campaign is a collaborative approach between national governments, regulatory institutions, and fellow sporting bodies – with the objective of building a “global coalition to stop hate speech in sport.

We are committed to a zero-tolerance approach to bring about meaningful change through collaborative action. Together we can make real change.”

Executive Dean of DCU Business School, Prof Dominic Elliott said:

“This is the first in a number of initiatives in the wider sports management area we will be announcing in the coming months. We are delighted to start our relationship with the FIA with these research scholarships and hope to work with the FIA and other stakeholders to address this very serious societal problem through research, education, and outreach.”

Associate Dean of Internationalisation of DCU Business School Dr Gary Sinclair said

‘We are very excited to develop this partnership with the FIA and expand our research in the area of online hate and sport. The fight against online abuse and hate speech in sport requires a strong relationship between academic and sporting organisations worldwide.

This new initiative with the FIA will extend the research we have started with international collaborators on hate speech in soccer to other sports and support a new generation of researchers from around the world into an area which requires urgent attention.”

Professor of Digital Business at DCU Business School, Prof Theo Lynn said

“As part of the FIA global scholarship initiative, we will be preparing a new generation of researchers in cutting-edge techniques in machine learning and deep learning, as well as qualitative methods, to identify, classify and derive insights from online abuse and hate speech in sports but also explore how stakeholders in sports should respond to combat online abuse.”

How to apply

Applications for the scholarships will open on July 1 and close on September 30, 2023.

For more information, please contact FIA University at scholarship@fia.com

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