Personal profile
Biography
Dr Nick Gibbs is a Lecturer in Criminology at Northumbria University. Having gained undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in Criminology at Birmingham City University, Nick completed his PhD in 2021 at Northumbria. This project focussed on the use and supply of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Nick developed this thesis into a solo-authored monograph, 'The Muscle Trade', which was published by Bristol University Press in November 2023.
Broadly, his work can be situated within the schools of ultra-realism and deviant leisure, and encompasses the intersecting topics of IPEDs, illicit markets, masculinity, harm reduction, and gym culture. Looking forward, Nick is developing his research to explore critical sports criminology more broadly and widening the lens of his current focus.
Though rooted in the discipline of Criminology, Nick previously worked at Leeds Trinity University as a University Teacher in Policing. Teaching on the West Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumbria Police Constable Degree Apprenticeships means that Nick is a well-rounded educator who now works across the subjects of Criminology, Sociology, and Policing.
Education/Academic qualification
Criminology, PhD
31 Jul 2021 → 1 Sept 2021
Award Date: 31 Jul 2021
30 Nov 2017 → 31 Dec 2099
Award Date: 30 Nov 2017
PhD
30 Nov 2017 → 31 Dec 2099
Award Date: 30 Nov 2017
Criminology, MA, Birmingham City University
31 Aug 2010 → 31 Aug 2022
Award Date: 14 Aug 2017
Criminology, BA (Hons)
10 Sept 2013 → 10 Jun 2015
Award Date: 20 Jun 2016
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 4 Quality Education
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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The IPEDs assemblage: Tracing the entanglements of biomedicine, technology, enhancement and anti-doping policies in sport and society
Piatkowski, T., Turnock, L., Gibbs, N. & Duff, C., 1 Jan 2026, In: Health (United Kingdom). 30, 1, p. 3-21 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)24 Downloads (Pure) -
Consuming 'God Juice': Using 'ethnopharmacological-connoisseurship' to situate trenbolone use and knowledge among image and performance enhancing drug communities
Piatkowski, T., Gibbs, N., Neumann, D. & Dunn, M., 1 Jan 2025, In: Drug and Alcohol Review. 44, 1, p. 298-309 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile12 Citations (Scopus) -
Online Ethnography
Gibbs, N. & Hall, A., 17 Mar 2025, De Gruyter Handbook of Digital Criminology. Kaufmann, M. & Lomell, H. M. (eds.). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter, p. 343-352 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
The school of hard knocks: Systemic violence and the motivation to harm in boys' youth academy football
Gibbs, N. & Briggs, D., 25 Aug 2025, In: Frontiers in Sociology. 10, 13 p., 1631118.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile7 Downloads (Pure) -
Tracing the Impact of Media, Cultural Narratives, and Social Perceptions on Australia's Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Communities
Piatkowski, T., Barratt, M. J., Coomber, R., Gibbs, N., Neumann, D. L. & Dunn, M., 1 Dec 2025, In: Contemporary Drug Problems. 52, 4, p. 508-523 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Citations (Scopus)17 Downloads (Pure)