Overview of the planned project

The “Partner university of elite sport” project was initiated in 1999 with the aim of creating conditions that would enable elite sports students to practice their sport at an elite level and to successfully complete their studies.

In 1999, three universities initially joined the agreement and committed themselves to enabling top student athletes to combine their studies and top-class sport. An evaluation of the project from 2005 (cf. Tabor & Schütte) has since shown an increasing number of participating universities (N = 64). As of 2023, over 110 universities with around 1,200 athletes are “partner universities of elite sport” (cf. adh, 2023). These universities are contractually obliged to offer various support measures to make it easier for student athletes to perform excellently in both systems. Following a legal review, the universities are largely free to decide which support measures they offer. Accordingly, each location has the right to design the project in accordance with the respective policy of the location.

As a rule, the project is not only designed and implemented by the respective universities, but also by participating, ideally networked partners within and outside the universities and universities of applied sciences. Common partners within the universities are the student unions and student advisory services, outside the universities are the nearby Olympic training centers as well as state and federal training centers and clubs where athletes train at the top level (see Halberschmidt & Strauß, 2020).

Athletes with squad status (Olympic, perspective, supplementary and NK1/2 squads) as well as players in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga are supported. For the athletes, balancing their studies and top-class sport is a very special challenge. In addition to time-related challenges, financial aspects also play a particularly important role. Studying in the special setting of the university with the inherent requirements, processes and special features of the system must be reconciled with the equally relatively rigid system of sport in such a way that excellent performance is achieved despite the financial and time burden (Halberschmidt & Strauß, 2019). Reconciling these two relatively independent systems and harmonizing them for students is the stated goal of the dual career in the university setting.

Since the Bologna reform at the latest, studies have been characterized by a highly formalized rhythm of performance parameters laid down in module descriptions with narrow time windows for the required performance. It is immediately obvious that this requires every elite athlete to strike a special, ultimately always fragile balance between his or her investments in elite sport and in their studies, given the overall tight time resources. In view of the significant changes in training and competition contexts in the field of elite sport and funding conditions in recent years on the one hand and in the field of higher education on the other (tiered study model, increased demand for study places, etc.), it is essential to (re)evaluate this dual career model in the university setting in terms of an analysis of strengths and weaknesses. This is particularly necessary in order to be able to draw on current and generalizable empirical results for evidence-based (sports) policy advice.

In addition, against the backdrop of the pandemic years (2020-2022), it seems sensible to examine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic not only on athletic performance, but also on academic performance. Due to the numerous disruptions caused by the pandemic, it can be assumed that there will be changes and disruptions in both athletic performance (no access to sports facilities, no joint training, possible illnesses and their (at worst long-term) consequences, no competitions) and student performance (cancellation of seminars and lectures, changes to course formats, altered examination conditions, etc.) with regard to dual careers in the university context. The uncertain schedules, unfamiliar training conditions, social isolation, worries (and possibly grief) for loved ones, adjustments to the training situation, fewer financial resources, restrictions on (inter)national travel, etc. are burdens that the top athletes now had to face (cf. Stambulova & Henriksen, 2024). Explicit analyses that focus on student elite athletes are lacking. There does not currently appear to be a national study on the impact of the pandemic specifically on dual careers in a university setting.

The last evaluation study on the dual career model of top student athletes dates back to 2005 (Tabor & Schütte, 2005) and works with data relating to the degree program structures of the diploma, master's degree, etc., which have since been replaced by the bachelor's and master's degree programs. The findings from this study must be considered outdated and no longer appropriate to the current situation.

With the organization of the FISU Word University Games 2025 in Germany, the focus of the international and national public will be on the performance of student athletes and it will be particularly important to identify success factors of the dual career and to promote a successful dual career in the university setting. However, the findings should not only serve the “further development of university sport and (the) strengthening of its role in the sports system” (adh, 2023, p. 2), but also in the long term.

The adh will play a central role in the planned project. In addition to shaping the content of the project, the adh's central contacts will make it possible to contact the universities, the elite sports officers working there and other partners as well as, of course, the central target group of the project - the student elite athletes pursuing a dual career. A very important aspect of the cooperation will be a project advisory board to be established, which will consist of key contact persons from the adh, the University of Münster and other important people involved. An athlete representative, a career advisor from an Olympic training center, the representative of the Olympic training center managers for the dual career area, a representative of the professional associations with expertise in the dual career area, the DOSB and possibly others will be requested.