News from the Institute

We mourn the loss of Dr Walter Kurpiers (11.07.1934 - 26.06.2024), who passed away shortly before his 90th birthday. In "Donald", as he was known to students and colleagues alike, the Sports Institute has lost a much-loved and respected sports educator. Our thoughts are with his wife, his children and his entire family.

The Special Olympic NRW project seminar was successfully concluded with a poster session on 20.06.24 with guests from the Special Olympic team. The students investigated self-selected research questions during the NRW state games and mainly interviewed or observed people involved in the state games. They presented their research results on scientific posters and presented them during the event. Afterwards, students discussed their personal impressions and experiences with the guests in a plenary session.

Once again this year, the Roundnet Seminar is organising a Roundnet Tournament together with the Sportevenmanagement Seminar, including a raffle and a self-organised flea market.
The tournament will take place on 29 June 2024 on pitch 2 of the campus grounds.

 

Bernd Strauß and Maike Tietjens successfully presented several posters and two lectures at the NASPSPA in New Orleans, USA, on behalf of the entire sports psychology team.
They came back with exciting suggestions.

The UniMS Centre for Europe has appointed Michael Brach to the ‘EU Mentoring Network’. It aims to identify suitable young scientists, encourage them to apply for ERC starting grants and support them. The ‘Class of 2024’ covers a broad spectrum from chemistry to education. Soon to include sports science?

Dr. Maria Campos from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) came to visit the IfS to coincide with the Special Olympics State Games, most of which took place at the University Sports Campus. Maria Campos is one of this year's fellows of the Women in Research (WiRE) program of the University of Münster. Together with JProf. Dr. Helga Leineweber, Dep. Education and Culture, she is conducting the project "Fostering Physical Education 4 All Abilities". This transnational project aims at analyzing the self-efficacy of prospective physical education teachers in Portugal and Germany in order to develop professional skills in inclusive settings.

The roundtable of the University of Münster's project "Sportpaten" met at the Mathilde Anneke School on May 16, 2024, with OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher in attendance. The one-to-one sports sponsorship and sporting activity offers the opportunity to develop courage, opportunities for change and the skills to develop one's own cognitive, social-emotional resources.

A research day was held on Wednesday, 22 May, to mark the start of the Special Olympics NRW state games. The event, which was jointly organized by the Department of Education and Culture in Sport (Prof. Dr. Helga Leineweber) and the Department of Sport Psychology (Dr. Lena Henning) in cooperation with the Willibald Gebhardt Institute, aimed to bring together different stakeholders in the field of sport for people with intellectual or multiple disabilities. Scientists and students from Leipzig, Münster, Stuttgart and Graz not only gave presentations on current teaching concepts and research findings, but also discussed practical implications and further research and development needs with representatives from Special Olympics Germany and some state associations as well as athletes, coaches and supervisors. The event was supported by Unfallkasse NRW.
We would like to thank you for the exciting exchange and the stimulating discussions.

A research day was held on Wednesday, 22 May, to mark the start of the Special Olympics NRW state games. The event, which was jointly organized by the Department of Education and Culture in Sport (Prof. Dr. Helga Leineweber) and the Department of Sport Psychology (Dr. Lena Henning) in cooperation with the Willibald Gebhardt Institute, aimed to bring together different stakeholders in the field of sport for people with intellectual or multiple disabilities. Scientists and students from Leipzig, Münster, Stuttgart and Graz not only gave presentations on current teaching concepts and research findings, but also discussed practical implications and further research and development needs with representatives from Special Olympics Germany and some state associations as well as athletes, coaches and supervisors. The event was supported by Unfallkasse NRW.
We would like to thank you for the exciting exchange and the stimulating discussions.

This year, the German Sports Teachers' Association DSLV (NRW state association), in cooperation with Unfallkasse NRW, is once again awarding the prize for the best university thesis in the subject of sport. The prize is awarded to both Bachelor's and Master's theses and is endowed with a total of €3,000.
We encourage all students with outstanding theses in the above-mentioned subject area to take part. The prerequisite for application is a grade of 1.0 or 1.3 for the submitted thesis (please enclose proof). You can find more details in the announcement text or under this link.

The 37th annual conference of the sports education section of the German Association for Sports Science took place at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Essen under the title “Limits and dissolving boundaries in Sports Education”. A total of four days were spent discussing issues of social disadvantage, non-professional physical education, the digitalization of school sport and much more. The Institute was comprehensively represented with the departments of education and culture in sport, physical education and teaching research and sport psychology.

In order to promote competitive and top-class sport in boxing, the University of Münster and the Boxzentrum Münster e. V. signed a cooperation agreement. The collaboration, which has already existed for several years, is to be intensified in the coming years in order to systematically expand existing synergy effects between science and competitive and elite sports.

In the summer of 2022, the 35th annual conference of the Sport Pedagogy Section of the German Association for Sport Science took place at the Institute of Sport Science in Münster. The event addressed the question of the extent to which knowledge transfer is a central topic in sports education. Based on selected conference contributions, an anthology on this topic has now been published in the “Education and Sport” series by the Center for Educational Research in Sport (CeBiS). In a total of 17 contributions, the authors present the basics, topics and formats of sports education knowledge transfer.

For the winter semester 2024/25, Pro Talent scholarships will be awarded at our department for students from the first and higher semesters. The scholarships are paid out with 300 euros per month as part of ProTalent, the university's Deutschlandstipendium. You can apply from 10.06 to 01.07.2024 (cut-off date) here.

On Friday, 17 May, Dr. Rebecca Rienhoff and Michael Wolf from the Essener Verbundsystem des Leistungssports were guests in Dr. Barbara Halberschmidt's MA seminar "Sport Psychology in Schools". They presented the "Development of dual careers in the field of tension between sport <-> school? Professional potentials of selected fields of action of elite schools of sport/NRW sports schools using the example of the Essen network system". In an interactive exchange, the students were able to ask questions about this special promotion of dual careers in the school system and gain an insight into the day-to-day processes and possible career potential. In addition, the University of Münster was presented as a partner university of elite sport.

For the seventh time, the City Sports Association and the School Department of the City of Dortmund organized a symposium on the topic of 'education needs movement'. Around 280 professionals discussed the communal interaction in the educational triangle of daycare centers, schools and sports clubs in numerous workshops. Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber gave the keynote speech on the topic of “Anchoring the joy of movement and sport at an early age”. Nils Kaufmann led a workshop on promoting boys in sport.

PD Dr Dennis Dreiskämper, Department of Sport Psychology, has been awarded the "Jürgen Nitsch Prize for Theory Development in Sport Psychology" by the Sport Psychology Section of the German Psychological Society (DGPS). The "Jürgen Nitsch Prize" is awarded every two years by the Sport Psychology Section. The prize is intended in particular to recognise contributions to theoretical development in the field of sport psychology.

The Sports Psychology department was successfully represented at this year's conference of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Sportpsychologie (asp). The main conference took place from 9 to 11 May at the Business & Law School in Berlin. As usual, the conference was preceded by the junior researchers' conference and a post-doc workshop. The entire research area presented its own research at the poster exhibition, workshops and working groups, with the doctoral students from the research area receiving support from the Santander Mobility Fund.

On 25 April 2024, the IfS opened the newly equipped psychomotor room as part of a moving reception.
The visitors, who were made up of Münster daycare centres, head teachers and teachers from various schools, representatives of the accident insurance fund (Unfallkasse NRW) and the LWL Berufskolleg vocational college as well as the psychomotor skills association (Verein für Mototherapie und psychomotorische Entwicklungsförderung), had the opportunity to try out psychomotor skills materials for themselves and gain different movement and sensory experiences through creative use. At the same time, ideas for collaboration could be exchanged.
 

As part of the BMBF joint project ComeSport, the members of ComeNet 5 met at Paderborn University from 29 to 30 April 2024 to discuss the topic of "Body images and social media in school sport". The participants from the universities of Leipzig, Münster and Paderborn are jointly developing training courses for PE teachers on the ComeNet topic. At this project meeting, initial ideas for the individual training modules at the locations were presented and discussed.
The Institute of Sport Science was represented at this meeting by staff from the Education and Culture in Sport and Education and Teaching in Sport departments.

 

The Center for University Development (CHE for short) published the latest results on student-satisfaction at German universities. The sports science department performed particularly well.

As part of Girls Day, 15 girls aged between 13 and 15 were given an insight into scientific research at the IfS. The Movement Science, Neuromotor and Training and Sports Psychology departments prepared various test stations and experiments for the girls to try out, listen to and experience sports science in small groups. During the joint lunch break in the canteen, the participants were able to get a first impression of life as a sports student and ask any questions they had about the university, the various degree programmes or the facilities on a sports campus (why are there actually so many different halls?). They ended the day at the IfS with a discussion about the meaning of Girls' Day, which was led by the Equal Opportunities Commission.

120 Bachelor's and Master's graduates accepted the congratulations of the Dean of Studies, Prof. Dr Heiko Wagner, on graduation on 2 May 2024 in the auditorium of the castle, which was filled to capacity. The speech was held by Prof Dr Claudia Voelcker-Rehage. The best Bachelor's graduates, the 6 best Master's theses from the respective fields of work and the doctoral candidates of the last academic year were also honoured.

At the invitation of the German Sports Youth (dsj) and the DFL Foundation, a two-day symposium on the quality of physical activity, play and sports programs in daycare centers and all-day schools took place in Mannheim. Around 140 participants discussed the content and standards for high-quality physical activity and sports programs for children. Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber gave a presentation on the quality framework for all-day schooling and participation in all-day schooling.

Tell us what you think! We want feedback on your degree programme. All Bachelor's and Master's students in their 2nd to 7th semester received an email on 22 April 2024 with an invitation to take part in the student survey. Please take part in this survey until 05.05.2024. Your feedback on study-relevant topics forms the basis for future change and further development processes of the study programmes at the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Münster. Thank you for your feedback!

Prof. Michael Brach and Ellen Bentlage from the Movement Science department, as well as Prof. Claudia Voelcker-Rehage and Piesie Asuako Gyimah from the Neuromotor Behaviour and Exercise department attended the self-organised PhysAgeNet event at the Lithuanian Sport University. They contributed in various roles over four days to the workshops and the PhysAgeNet/EGRAPA scientific conference on the topic of “Evidence-based physical activity in old age”. Further information: here and here

On April 22, 2024, a symposium was held at the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia to present the results of completed pilot projects from the NRW Children's and Youth Sports Research Network, which were funded by the State Chancellery of NRW. The five presentations covered the topics of inclusion, all-day  and the monitoring of children's and youth sports. One of these pilot projects (SpoPsy4Health) was carried out by employees of the Institute of Sports Science in cooperation with Münster University Hospital. A short summary of the event can be found here.

Three female employees from the Institute of Sports Science have successfully completed the fourth cohort of the University of Münster's further qualification program "Women managing universities". The Prorector for Academic Career Development and Diversity, Prof. Dr. Maike Tietjens, awarded the certificates to the graduates at a ceremony on April 24, 2024. Dr. Ellen Bentlage ( Department of Human Movement Sciences), Kathrin Aschebrock and Dr. Stefanie Dahl (both Department of Physical Education and Teaching Research) received a scholarship from the University of Münster for the program.

The panel discussion as part of Dominik Krüßmann's seminar "Commercialisation and Professionalisation" was very well received. 125 participants on site and around 50 in the livestream produced by the media lab listened intently to Sebastian Kienle and David Schönherr as they talked about their lives as professional athletes, their sporting highs and lows and their marketing strategies.

Around 15 sports scientists met at the Department of Sport and Exercise Science at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg to establish a Democracy and Sport Network. For two days, the participants discussed previous work in this field and developed perspectives for future activities in research, teaching and transfer. The Institute of Sport Science was represented by Nils Kaufmann and Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber at the kick-off conference.

Congratulations to Ellen Bentlage on her "Dr. rer.nat."!

"Promoting Physical Activity among Older Adults through Information and Communication Technologies: The relation between user needs and technology requirements" is the title of the dissertation that Ellen Bentlage successfully defended on 12 April 2024.

Public panel discussion: Sebastian Kienle (Ironman World Champion 2014) and David Schönherr ( 3x winner Wings for Life Run Germany) discuss their life as a professional athlete, their sporting highs and lows, their marketing strategies and how they continuously expand them.
Time: Tue, 23.04.2024, 12-14 am.
Venue: Schloss Münster, Schlossplatz 2, lecture theatre S1 (ground floor)

As part of the introduction of the new study program teaching for special educational needs, a psychomotor room was set up in our university sports hall. It will be opened on 26th April 2024 in a festive ceremony with colleagues. In addition to a short keynote speech, invited guests will have the opportunity to discover and experience the psychomotor materials.
 

The cooperation project with the university hospital took place again in Kleinwalsertal in March. Students from Module 10 were involved in the project. The team, led by Eike Boll, offered ski courses at all skill levels for the 22 participating children and young people and their families and was also able to adequately resolve therapy-related restrictions. As a pilot project, two of the participating patients were tested in advance using the "Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC-2)" motor skills test. Initial results in the re-test showed strikingly positive results, particularly in the area of balance. The project is financially supported by Kinderkrebshilfe Münster e.V.

In exactly one week, on 8 April, teaching will start in the 2024 summer semester.
Unlike in previous years, this time teaching starts at 08:00!
We wish everyone a great semester and a pleasant start.

The Special Olympics National Games will take place in Münster from 22 May to 25 May 2024. The organisers are still looking for motivated helpers who can support them in exciting and varied activities.
Registration and further information can be found here.

Franziska Duensing-Knop wrote her dissertation on "Inclusion in physical education teacher training - an explorative study of university didactic concepts to promote an inclusive attitude" as part of the teacher training quality campaign. She has now successfully defended her doctoral thesis. The doctoral committee included Prof. Nils Neuber, Prof. Michael Pfitzner (University of Duisburg-Essen) and Junior Prof. Helga Leineweber. We would like to congratulate Dr. Duensing-Knop on her successful doctorate!

As a partner university of top level sports, the University of Münster sponsors a total of 73 top athletes, including twelve rugby players. One of the sponsored players is Noëlle Bouchette, who plays for both the NRW team and the Rugby Tourists and also studies biosciences at the University of Münster. Thanks to the "Partner University of Elite Sports" project, which is managed by Prof Bernd Strauß and Barbara Halberschmidt as university representatives and by Jan Müller and Tim Seulen from Münster University Sports, Noëlle can easily combine her studies and sport.

Following an invitation of the Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) and the Federal Youth Ministry (BMFSFJ), a threeday conference on all-day education took place in Berlin. Experts from politics, administration, science and the practice discussed the challenges of multi-professional collaboration in all-day schools. Prof. Bernhard Kalicki (DJI), Prof. Miriam Kehne (University of Paderborn), Prof. Jessica Süßenbach (University of Lüneburg) and Prof. Nils Neuber (University of Münster) presented perspectives on the development of all-day schools on behalf of sport. Julian Lagemann (German Sports Youth) moderated the workshop.

The first transnational meeting of the AgeWell Europe project took place in Münster on March 5 and 6. Together with partners from Ireland, Slovenia, and Italy, the Active Ageing Lab team developed the structure and content for the digital physical activity and health intervention and identified important steps for the further course of the project. Further information and impressions can found here

 

In March, the fourth symposium on "Promoting development in school sport - for everyone!?" was held at the Institute of Sports Science. In three lectures and a total of 12 workshops, around 240 participants discussed questions of mental, social and emotional support in physical education. The conference was organized by the Department of Physical Education and Teaching Research (Prof. Neuber) and the Developmental Diagnostics and Support working group (Prof. Tietjens). Partners included the NRW State Chancellery, the NRW Statutory accident insurance institution, the Münster District Government and the Willlibald Gebhardt Institute.

At the invitation of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Ministry of Health, the 2nd Federal Physical Activity Summit took place in Berlin. After a year of intensive, interdisciplinary work, five working groups had submitted their proposals for a sports development plan. Unfortunately, the federal government, the federal states and organized sport were unable to agree on a mutual final declaration. Nevertheless, the recommendations of the expert groups are helpful for the development of sport in general and children's and youth sport in particular. The working group 4 "Anchoring the joy of exercise and sport at an early age" was led by Prof. Miriam Kehne (Paderborn) and Prof. Nils Neuber (University of Münster).
 

Announcement Special Olympics Research Day on 22 May 2024 The fifth Special Olympics NRW State Games will take place in Münster in May 2024. On the occasion of this event, we would like to invite you to a scientific research day immediately beforehand. The aim of this day is to bring together and discuss the current state of knowledge on the topic of sport by and with people with intellectual and multiple disabilities from different perspectives and disciplines and to exchange ideas with each other. Further information can be found here.

The weekly event series "Olympia" in spring/summer 2024 will take place on Mondays from 16.00 to 18.00 (start: 08.04.2024 | end: 08.07.2024) in seminar room Ho101.
The event takes place hybrid. After registering, you will automatically receive a Zoom link by e-mail.

The German Track and Field Association (DLV) held its third Future Congress in cooperation with the Cologne Sports University. Under the title " Track and Field - Opportunities & Challenges", experts discussed the future of children's and youth track and field. Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber opened the conference with a lecture on the topic "Between school, all-day sports and clubs - perspectives for children's and youth sports".

As part of the "Subject Didactics" module in the M. Ed. program, a group of students spent a week working on the section "Perceiving the body, developing movement skills". They experimented with topics such as tension, posture, breathing, body center of gravity and balance and developed possible approaches for physical education in schools. The event took place at the KSB Emsland education center in Sögel. Karsten Hoppe, Dr. Kathrin Kohake and Prof. Nils Neuber led the seminar.

Last year, the first Germany-wide representative survey on the sport and exercise behaviour of children and young people in over ten years was conducted by researchers from the IfS together with the German Sports Youth, funded by the BMFSFJ, as part of the Move for Health project.
On 22/23 February, the results were presented to the political, scientific and practitioner public in Berlin as part of an expert hearing. The German Sports Youth has therefore sent out a press release and a brochure in which the most important facts, figures and results are presented in a way that the general public can understand.

Just like last year, a group of 9th grade students from Hopsten (Hüberts'sche School) visited the Movement Science department. As part of their school subject sport science, they carried out an analysis of their counter movement jump height and power in the OpenLab using the Qualisys system. The main goal of the visit was to introduce the students to sports science in a lab setting. 

The examination show on 7.2.24 was once again a complete success! 800 guests and 60 guests of honor were thrilled by the almost 70 athletes who performed their extraordinary choreographies once again. The program was extended by Victor Fiedler, winner of the dvs Science Slam and the team from the Wagner Lab, who showed the Motion Capture System to the enthusiastic audience! The video of the exam show is already available on YouTube.

 Dr. Charlotte Behlau was selected as the German representative of the psychological associations from science (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie e.V.; DGPs) and practice (Berufsverband Deutscher Psychologinnen und Psychologen; BDP) for participation in the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations (efpa).

On Thursday, January 18, 2024, the elementary school volleyball cup took place in the Berg Fidel sports hall. Around 200 children played volleyball in 24 teams according to simplified rules and were coached, among others, by bachelor's and master's student teachers. They had previously planned, carried out and evaluated introductory units at selected primary schools in Münster under the direction of Nils Kaufmann.

As part of the conference of the 16 state sports youth associations, Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber gave a presentation on "Establishing the joy of exercise and sport at an early age - perspectives for children's and youth sport". In his presentation, he reported on the recommendations of the Federal Ministry of the Interior's Working Group 4 on the Sport Development Plan. Together with Prof. Dr. Miriam Kehne (Paderborn), Prof. Neuber chaired the working group 4. The results of the consultations will be presented on March 12 at the Federal Government's 2nd Physical Activity Summit in Berlin.

The legal entitlement to all-day schooling from 2026 brings fundamental challenges for organized sport, but also offers opportunities and possibilities for the development of children's and youth sport. The annual conference of the sport youth NRW in January 2024 was precisely dedicated to these challenges and opportunities. For the Research Association for Child and Youth Sport NRW, Prof. Dr. Miriam Kehne (University of Paderborn) and Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber (University of Münster) provided scientific input on the topic of "Exercise, play and sport in all-day schools".

Maike Tietjens, Ulla Ellermann and Flora Thielbörger have published a new book entitled "Basiswissen Tanz", which explains the theoretical foundations of dance and provides examples for prospective dance teachers in (high) schools and other institutions. It also provides background knowledge from the fields of theater, sport and music for pedagogical training work.

As part of the Special Olympics NRW State Games from May 22 - 25, 2024 in Münster, SO NRW is looking for a committed and competent full-time intern.
The position is to be filled from 22.04.2024 and is limited until 31.05.2024. Further job advertisements can be found here.

The next graduation ceremony of the Sports Institute will take place on 03 May 2024. The student council is also organising a party in the evening in the Viva Campus Café.
Further information will follow.

PD Dr Dennis Dreiskämper has been appointed to the W2 professorship for sport psychology at the Institute of Sport and Sport Science at TU Dortmund University.
The Institute would like to congratulate Dennis on this honour.

From 15 January to 2 February, the sports library will have longer opening hours. Monday to Thursday you can visit the library from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. From 5 February, the opening hours of the lecture-free period will apply: Monday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Wir wünschen allen ein frohes Fest und einen guten Rutsch ins Jahr 2024!

Robert Stojan has been honored with the University of Münster's dissertation prize for his exceptional work on "Brain Functional Aspects of Cognitive Aging During Ecologically Valid Motor-Cognitive Behavior". This prestigious award is presented annually during the summa cum laude event, recognizing the best dissertations in each faculty. Here you will find a brief summary of this year's honored dissertations. Heartfelt congratulations on this achievement!

Ronja (Ru) Kim Haase was recently announced as the winner of the German Sports Teachers' Association NRW's sponsorship award for her master's thesis on "School sport in a cisnormative society - a qualitative study on the perspective of trans*, inter* and non-binary pupils". The award comes with a cash prize donated by the Unfallkasse NRW. The sponsorship award is issued each year by a jury for outstanding final thesis projects. The thesis was supervised by Dr Marion Golenia and Prof Nils Neuber. Our warmest congratulations!

We congratulate Hannah Pauly on receiving a doctoral scholarship from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. With a duration of 36 months, Hannah will receive both financial and non-material support for her doctorate. Hannah is conducting research together with her doctoral supervisors Prof. Bernd Strauss, Prof. Svenja A. Wolf (Florida State University) & PD. Dr Dennis Dreiskämper to expand the "Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes" with the help of "Effort".

The examination show for summer semester 2023 took place under the motto "1001 Examination Night - Arabic alf laila wa-laila". The show featured numerous top sporting performances by the students. As always, the media lab was on site with a camera and shows the best moments in a video that has now been published. 

The photo exhibition "Top talents in competitive sport" was opened in the NRW state parliament in Düsseldorf. Speakers at the opening included State Parliament President André Kuper and LSB President Stefan Klett. The portrayed young athletes also had their chance to speak in an interview. A very special thank you went to the photographer Andrea Bowinkelmann from LSB NRW, who took photos with the Department of Physical Education and Teaching Research on their field trip to Baltrum. Prof. Nils Neuber also attended the exhibition opening.

The cooperation between the Hungarian University of Sport Science (HUSS) in Budapest and the Institute of Sport Science at the University of Münster was deepened by a further visit by the Diploma Sports Teacher Axel Binnenbruck in autumn 2023, who was welcomed by the Vice-Rector for General Affairs, Dr. Csaba Ökrös.

On 7 February 2024, the legendary examination show at the Sports Institute will enter the next round under the motto "Simply the Best". To revive the 80s and create a glittering, colourful show, bring out your best outfits from the last 80s party. Everything is allowed, from leggings to VoKuHiLa.
Many talented students will show off what they have learnt in gymnastics/dance, gymnastics and acrobatics during their studies. Of course, there will also be outstanding guest performances, so you can expect a great, spectacular and varied show.
We look forward to seeing you!

AOR Dr Barbara Halberschmidt was appointed to the scientific advisory board of the "Safety in Sport" foundation (NRW). The foundation works to understand how, when and why sports accidents and injuries occur and how they can be prevented. To this end, they work together with associations, sports organisations, science and politics in projects. The results are passed on to athletes, trainers, coaches and sports clubs.

The cooperation project between the Institute of Sports Science and Münster University Hospital, led by Eike Boll, is being expanded to include climbing and bouldering. The aim is to introduce children and young people with cancer to new exercise options. Students from the Institute of Sports Science support this project by teaching safety techniques and accompanying all participants on their way to independent climbing.

On November 27, 2023, the University of Münster invites you to this year's Day of Teaching on the topic of "University Teaching in Times of Social Challenges".
Students will have the opportunity to actively exchange ideas on innovations in teaching and directly address suggestions for the further development of teaching.
The Sports Institute is also participating with two contributions. The complete program can be viewed on the University of Münster homepage.
All students, lecturers and staff are cordially invited to participate in the discussion and networking.

The contribution of sport to the fulfillment of the legal entitlement to an all-day school place was part of the agenda at a joint conference between the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) and the Conference of Sports Ministers (SMK) in Berlin. Stakeholders from politics, administration, associations and science met at the NRW state representation. Prof. Nils Neuber moderated a workshop on sport-related qualification in all-day education.

Last Thursday, the University Day 2023 successfully took place in Münster.
A total of 13,500 prospective students visited the university and took part in around 500 courses. At the Institute of Sports Science, 14 courses were open to students. The student council had an information stand and around 150 - hopefully - future students took part in the central information event at the BSH!

We bid farewell to Andreas Mühlbeier, a valued member of our Human Movement Science department, who left us on 1 November. Andreas started his PhD under Heiko Wagner in 2015 and has been with us since then as a PhD student and later as a PostDoc. During his time at the institute, Andreas focussed primarily on crash tests and their effects on the cervical spine, but contributed to numerous other projects. We will miss his commitment and presence. Andreas, we wish you all the best for your future career!

A specialist conference on mental, emotional and social support through sport will take place on March 15, 2024. Under the title “Promotion of development in school sport – for everyone?!” the question is examined as to whether school sports also reach children with special needs. At the same time, the new special education degree programme in Münster is being discussed. Further information will follow.

As part of the seminar "All-day school as an opportunity for school sport", a launch discussion will take place for the second time at the IfS on November 30 from 2pm to 4pm. In the context of the legal right to an all-day place, Prof. Dr. Anne-Christin Roth (German Sports Teachers' Association NRW), Prof. Dr. Miriam Kehne (Research Association for Child and Youth Sport NRW), Laura Hantke (Sports Youth NRW), Martin Wonik (State Sports Association NRW) and Martin Schönwandt (German School Sports Foundation) will discuss the opportunities and risks of child and youth sport in the context of all-day school development. The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber (IfS). Guests are more than welcome!

For the third time, members of the German Sports Youth Research Association and the Research Association for Child and Youth Sport NRW met with colleagues from the German Youth Institute (DJI) to discuss a child and youth sport study. The event was hosted by the German Sports Youth in Berlin. Stefanie Dahl, Dennis Dreiskämper and Lena Henning represented the IfS Münster.

Sport keeps you healthy - this truism is as banal as it is true. But how much exercise is necessary, especially for adolescents? The WHO recommends around one hour of exercise per day for children and young people. The study carried out as part of the "Move for Health" project under the direction of Dr. Dennis Dreiskämper provides worrying figures: The federally funded study found that fewer and fewer young people are doing regular sport in their free time.

As part of the BMBF joint project ComeSport, the kick-off meeting of ComeNet 5 on the topic of "Body images and social media in school sport" took place from 2 to 3 November in Münster. The meeting focussed on deepening the joint research work and preparing the upcoming work phases.
The universities of Leipzig, Münster and Paderborn are involved in the project. The Institute of Sport Science was represented by staff from the Education and Culture in Sport and Education and Teaching in Sport departments.

Around 40 people from sports administration, sports politics, sports clubs and academia discussed participation opportunities for people with disabilities in sport on November 2 as part of the "Inclusion in sport" trialogue. The event was organized by the Institute of Sports Science in cooperation with the Research Association for Child and Youth Sports NRW, the Münster City Sports Association and the Münster Sports Youth.

During a two-day expert discussion in Frankfurt, representatives of sports associations, sports practice, foundations, and academia explored the question of what role the topic of performance currently plays in children's and youth sports. The Institute of Sport Science was represented by staff from the departments of Education and Culture in Sport, Movement Sciences, and Physical Education and Teaching in Sport. The event was partly organized by the research network for children's and youth sports in North Rhine-Westphalia, whose office is located at the University of Münster.

On 20.10.23, Prof. Klaus Völker was awarded an honorary doctorate in a festive ceremony. The laudation by the Dean of Studies, Prof. Heiko Wagner, revealed that it is and was an inner passion for Prof. Völker as a medical doctor to point out the importance of physical activity for the healthy development of people. For more than 50 years, Prof. Völker has been researching and teaching on this topic and is still doing so as a senior professor at the IfS.
We heartily congratulate him on this well-deserved honour!

 

Just before the start of the new semester, Christiane Bohn and Tabea Christ from our department’s psychomotor learning and development lab, visited the 15th annual conference of the dvs-committee “Development of Sports Infrastructure” centered around the topic “Skating and wiseassing – scientific perspectives on skateboarding” in Dortmund.
 

Prof. Bernd Strauss, Prof. Maike Tietjens, Stephanie Bünemann, and Birte Brinkmöller presented their current research at this year's SCAPPS. In addition, many interesting discussions were held, and new project ideas were developed.

The dissertation of Stefanie Dahl deals with the topic of health and physical activity in the field of nursing care. In the thesis she presents a comprehensive evaluation of the successful EU project "Wellbeing and healthy choices for older adults and their carers" (WHOLE). She has now successfully defended her dissertation. The doctoral committee included Prof. Dr. Nils Neuber, Prof. Dr. Michael Brach and Dr. Marion Golenia. We congratulate her warmly!

At the 26th sport scientific university day held by the dvs (German society for sport science) in Bochum, Tabea Christ from the department movement science presented her poster on skateboard therapy for children with ADHD which is part of her PhD topic. For this, she was awarded the poster award in the category natural sciences. Congratulations on this success!
 

In 2024, the state games of the Special Olympics NRW will be held in Münster. On this occasion, the "Trialogue Inclusion in Sport" will take place on November 02, 2023 in Münster, where Ms. Wilkens (City of Münster), Dirk Henning (Stadtsportbund Münster) and Prof. Dr. Michael Pfitzner (University of Duisburg-Essen) will discuss the possibilities of participation for people with intellectual disabilities. Further information can be found here.

In the textbook series "Basic Knowledge of Learning in Sport" the third volume on subject didactics by Prof. Nils Neuber has been published. Thus, the subject didactics lecture in M.Ed. is completely covered. While the new volume under the title "Subject didactics sport - fundamentals and models" lays the general foundation, the other two volumes deal with the specific requirement and decision fields of subject didactic concepts.

The reform of the Federal Youth Games has triggered far-reaching discussions about the idea of performance in physical education and in children's sports. Professor Klaus Zierer and Professor Nils Neuber have now discussed in a guest article on the Robert Bosch Foundation's German School portal on what this debate might say about the culture of performance in the school context as a whole.

At this year's dvs General Assembly Bernd Strauß, Dennis Dreiskämper and Barbara Halberschmidt invited to the dvs Congress 2025 in Münster under the motto 'Diversity and Sustainability in Sports Science ?!'!

The congress will take place from 17 -19.9. 2025 at the castle and surrounding buildings. Sports scientists from all disciplines can participate in the congress.

On September 13 and 14, this year's second research meeting of the project team on "Subject-based Education in Sport", FaBiS for short, took place. The focus was on the joint research work, in which exercise processes in physical education were analyzed on the basis of instructional videos. In addition, initial preparations were made for a research proposal. Four universities are involved in the project: Ilka Lüsebrink (missing on the photo) from PH Freiburg, Vera Volkmann from the University of Hildesheim, Helga Leineweber from the University of Münster and Petra Wolters from the University of Vechta.

AOR Dr Barbara Halberschmidt attended the 8th school sports day of the dslv Lower Saxony at the University of Oldenburg on September 13th, 2023 and was able to network and make new contacts on site. Former IfS colleagues were also there (Prof. Büsch, Prof. Schorer, Drs. Pöppel and Rienhoff).

14 doctoral students were guests at the Willi-Michels educational center in Welper from September 5th to 7th to work on their dissertations in a focused manner. Besides writing, the conference concentrated on the exchange of information on questions concerning the career after the doctorate. The head of the Career Service from the University of Münster, Dr. Andreas Eimer, came to the event especially to hold an exciting workshop with the doctoral students. In addition to the writing time, there was plenty of opportunity for exchange among the doctoral students in more informal rounds, which everyone experienced as profitable. The writing workshop was led by Birte Brinkmöller, Dr. Kathrin Kohake and Dr. Robert Stojan on behalf of the Young Researchers Initiative. The next writing workshop is planned for February/March.
 

At the beginning of the new school year, the students of the 10th grade from Hopsten (Hüberts'sche Schule) visited our department of movement sciences and the OpenLab of the IFS. During their visit, they conducted an exemplary analysis of their running style while walking, jogging, and sprinting using the Qualisys program.

In the third week of August, the project seminar "Discovering Play and Utilizing the Play Spaces" took place at the NTB educational facility on the North Sea island of Baltrum. The 28 students discussed topics such as play and performance, play and structure or play and exploration. The excursion based on the concept of experiential learning took place for the 15th time already. It was led by Uta Kaundinya, Katharina Ludwig and Nils Neuber.

 

As part of the BMBF collaborative project ComeSport, the research areas Education and Culture in Sport and Education and Teaching in Sport have been granted a project on the digitization of PE teacher education. The project will be conducted in cooperation with the universities of Paderborn and Leipzig and will focus on the question of how sports teachers can address students' body images, which are influenced by social media.

In the August 11th episode of BBC's captivating "The Naked Scientists Podcast," an intriguing query emerges: " Why does my left brain control my right side?" 

Matthias Hendricks, Swantje Buse and Dr. Ross Julian (Department of Neuromotor Behaviour ans Exercise) visited the training camp of the junior squad of the German speed skaters in Inzell. The athlete monitoring system REGmon, which was used as part of the MonitorEis project, was presented on site. From now on, athletes can use REGmon to provide various information on their training load, well-being and health status on a daily basis in order to identify symptoms of fatigue as early as possible. Information that can then be used by trainers to customize the training. MonitorEis is a service research project funded by the Federal Institute for Sports Science, which is carried out in cooperation with the German Speed Skating and Shorttrack Association.

Jona Greve, Edda van Meurs and Bernd Strauss have addressed this question in their recently recently published study "Elite darts performance and the social influence of real crowds and simulated crowd noise" in Nature's prestigious journal “Scientific Reports”.

Physical Education is the stepchild of education policy. It only receives public attention when there are problems, such as the current change to the Bundesjugendspiele. Yet it has an important function for school and culture: motor skills, self-concept, health, integration, playfulness and much more can be promoted by well-done Physical Education. The renowned sports journalist Bianka Schreiber-Rietig has now pointed this out in a commentary worth reading and has also called for a new school sports study. For the article, she interviewed Prof. Nils Neuber, among others.

During a second workshop in Frankfurt, members of the research network of the German Sports Youth and of the research network for children's and youth sports in North Rhine-Westphalia intensified their cooperation with colleagues from the German Youth Institute (DJI). The goal of the cooperation is a collaborative study on children's and youth sports. The event was hosted by the German Sports Youth. Stefanie Dahl, Dennis Dreiskämper, Lena Henning and Nils Neuber participated for IfS Münster.

Prof. Dr. Michael Krüger, a member of the Council of the International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport (ISHPES), represented the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences of the University of Münster alongside Cand phil. Yoonkyu Song at the ISHPES International Congress held from July 12th to 14th, 2023 in Lausanne. The congress was dedicated to the topic of "biographies." Krüger gave a presentation on Ommo Grupe, the doyen of German sport science in the Federal Republic of Germany.