News from the Institute

We had a special visit to the movement lab at the beginning of April: As part of an ERASMUS+ project, a group of Year 10 students from the Kopernikus Gymnasium in Rheine visited us together with students from their Finnish partner school “Sotunkin Lukio” in Vantaa, near Helsinki.
After a short introduction to the work of the research field of movement science, the pupils were allowed to get active themselves. Led by Christiane Bohn and Tabea Christ, they tried out various movement and balance experiments in small groups, where they were able to get to know and try out our modern measuring equipment such as force plates and the Qualisys motion capture system.
Under the motto of the exchange “Sport connects”, the visit offered the two classes lively access to scientific issues relating to motor skills and motion analysis and also promoted exchange between the young people from both countries.
 

Prof. Michael Brach, Ellen Bentlage, Zhao Liu and Sabine Steidel from the Movement Science department, as well as Prof. Claudia Voelcker-Rehage, Piesie Akwasi Gyimah Asuako and Vera Belkin from the Neuromotor Behaviour and Exercise department attended the self-organised PhysAgeNet final event at the Karadinez Technical University in Trabzon, Türkiye. 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 – are we closing the gaps”. Further information can be accessed here:
www.physagenet.eu
https://www.egrapa.org
https://www.ktu.edu.tr/en

 

What began as a private WhatsApp group culminated in the first big sports science alumni party last Saturday (17 May). The 500 tickets for the party in the new B-Side at Münster's central harbour were quickly sold out. ‘Finally another IfL party,’ said a delighted former student, who said he had been waiting 30 years for this. In addition to the reunion with old fellow students and lecturers, the ‘Reisegruppe Hardrock’ attracted guests with live music and a DJ team from Antenne Münster. The special edition of the traditional IfS jumpers/shirts sold like hot cakes. However, the celebrations also felt particularly good that evening because all proceeds were donated to various social sports projects, such as the skiing trip with children suffering from cancer and the sports sponsors.

On April 28 and 29, the symposium "Study and Elite Sports" took place in Bochum, organized by the General German University Sports Association (adh).

On Thursday, April 10, 2025, 120 graduates and their companions were invited to the castle's auditorium for a festive graduation celebration. The event was moderated by AOR Dr. Barbara Halberschmidt and Dominik Krüßmann, while Andreas Sornig – Head of Sports at the Münster District Government – ​​delivered the keynote speech.

Junior Prof. Helga Leineweber gave a lecture last Wednesday (9 April 2025) as part of the interim evaluation of the Junior Professorship for Education and Culture in Sport. Numerous colleagues from the institute attended this lecture in the Open Lab!

As part of Girls' Day 2025, we welcomed 12 curious and motivated young participants to explore the world of sports science at the University of Münster. Throughout the day, through a combination of presentations, hands-on activities and live demonstrations the participants gained valuable insights into the various research groups - movement science, sport psychology and neuromotor behavior and exercise, studying human movement. They also received a tour of our sports facilities and together we ate lunch at the university cafeteria. It was a great day full of discovery, inspiration, and new perspectives!

We are celebrating 100 years - with our own anniversary collection! 
From 1 April to 11 April 2025 only, you can order locally printed, high-quality T-shirts, hoodies and jute bags at fair prices from the student council's online shop. The surplus will go to the Münster-based Sportpaten project. 

All important information can be found in the online shop and on the Instragram page of the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences.
 

In their sports studies, prospective teachers learn how to introduce children and young people to fitness and health topics in their later school life and convey the joy of exercise. In addition to sports science and pedagogical content, they acquire subject-specific didactic knowledge necessary to organize school sports effectively and meaningfully. How do they assess the importance of sports and exercise? Five sports students answer five questions.

On February 18, a five-day "Fall Prediction" workshop at the Institute of Sports Science in Münster, Germany successfully concluded. Five professors from Incheon National University (INU) – Mr. Nyeonju Kang, Mr. Kyoungkyu Jeon, Mr. Jupil Ko, Mr. Moon-Hyon Hwang, and Mr. Namwoong Kim – as well as institute members Dr. Rosemary Dubbeldam, Mr. YuYuan Lee, and Mr. Zhao Liu participated.

The purpose of this workshop was to pool the participants' expertise, compare the backgrounds of falls in Korea and Germany, discuss the most advanced solutions for fall prediction, and identify potential innovations. This will form the basis for even closer collaboration between the participating institutions.

Prof. Heiko Wagner, Prof. Michael Brach, and Prof. Tim Hahn provided significant support for the project. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all participants and look forward to continuing this successful collaboration.

The Tech-Werkstatt Leistungssport, organized by the Institute of Sports Science and project partners, was a great success. Scientists and science enthusiasts from all over Germany were able to exchange ideas with each other and with numerous industry partners at the lunch-to-lunch event. The technology exhibition offered the opportunity to get to know the companies and their products better. In presentations, panel discussions and various workshops the potential applications of new technologies in competitive sport were reflected in greater depth through and by our guest speakers.

The Institute of Sport Science has once again secured its position as one of the leading institutions in Germany. 44th worldwide and 4th in Germany in the Shanghai Ranking 2024 (ARWU) of "Faculty of Sports Science" category. This award marks the third consecutive year that the institute has defended this impressive position and underscores its continued excellence in research, teaching, and innovation in the field of sport science.

Prof. Dr. Bernd Strauß was a guest on the podcast "New Ideas and Wisdom for Young (Academic) Students." The goal of the podcast is to gain insights into the perspectives of experienced and successful researchers (in sports psychology) and, where appropriate, to learn from them.

This year's citizen science project “Beweg dich schlau - Sportwissenschaft in der Schule” was a success. As part of our cooperation with the Hüberts'schen School in Hopsten, a 9th grade visited us in the movement lab to carry out an exemplary analysis of the standing long jump using the Qualisys program. Subject of the study was the influence of using the arms to create momentum on the jumping distance. The pupils tested both conditions and then evaluated first results together with the students. In this way, they were able to get to know the roles of both the test subjects and the scientists. The project was carried out by prospective PE teachers as part of the Development and Health project seminar and supervised by Tabea Christ.

The „Tech-Werkstatt Leistungssport“ , which is organised by the Institute of Sports Science, is getting closer. The programme can be accessed here: Programme Registration is possible under the following link:Registration

Congratulations to our former colleague Dr Mona Ahmed, who defended her doctoral thesis entitled ‘Information and Communication Technologies in Healthcare of Older People with Chronic Diseases: A Comprehensive Approach to Involving All Stakeholders in the Development Process and Understanding Their Needs’ which was presented to the promotion committee Prof. Michael Brach, Dr Nereide A Curreri and Prof. Heiko Wagner and invited guests on 30 January 2025.

The project has achieved its objectives. The online platform and the digital training methods were tested and successfully implemented as requested. The developed products can be accessed and used free of charge here: integralabplus.com
 

 
At the 2nd asp theme day ‘Hate Speech in Social Media’ at the DSHS Cologne, Dr Marion Golenia Department of Physical Education and Teaching Research and Junior Professor Dr Helga Leineweber Department of Education and Culture presented findings from the ComeSport project to experts and interested parties from the fields of sports psychology, psychotherapy and psychiatry, boarding school education and sports science. The focus was on the effects of social media consumption on the body image of adolescents and young adults.
Further contributions were made by former tennis pro Dustin Brown, who reported on his experiences with hate comments on social media platforms in an interview with Marion Sulprizio. Wiebke Dierkes and Juliane Coßmann also presented a workshop concept on dealing with social media for young athletes.

 

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Ross Julian from the Department of Neuromotor Behavior and Exercise has been appointed as the new Degree Programme Coordinator for the Bachelor of Science in Human Movement in Sport and Exercise and the Master's Programme Sports, Exercise and Human Performance, effective at the beginning of this year.
Ross has been an integral part of the study programmes since 2017 and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this role. His passion for the field and commitment to enhancing the student experience will undoubtedly contribute to both programmes' further growth and development.
Please join us in congratulating Ross on his new position. We are excited to see how his leadership will positively impact our academic community.

Cand. Phil. Yoonkyu Song, PhD student at the Institute of Sport Science in the Department of Education and Culture in Sport, represented the Willibald Gebhardt Institute (WGI) at the First International Olympic Research Conference in India/ Ahmadabad.
The megacity is a promising candidate to host the 2036 Olympic Games.
In one of his two lectures, Yoonkyu presented the WGI's work on Olympic education and history. The other lecture was about his dissertation on sports development in divided nations using the example of Germany and Korea.
We are thankful to Yoonkyu Song for his commitment to the WGI and sports education in Münster.

On Thursday, 10 April 2025 from 6 p.m. we invite you to the graduation ceremony of the Institute of Sports Science in the auditorium of the castle of the University of Münster. After a festive event, there will be a champagne reception in the foyer with the opportunity to exchange ideas and meet former fellow students and lecturers. 
The official invitation can be found at: https://indd.adobe.com/view/9cf13519-3b49-4c0c-b8fe-0c9ac66a5288 
Registration is possible until 31 March 2025 at: https://indico.uni-muenster.de/event/3116/

The pre-tests, which took place over 2 weeks with 43 test subjects, have now been successfully completed. All participants in the study are now in the 8-week digital intervention phase, in which they complete training videos twice a week and watch a health education workshop once a week. Further information on the AgeWell project can be found here: https://agewelleurope.eu
 

The PhysAgeNet and EGRAPA Conference ‘Evidence Based Physical Activity in Old Age - are we closing the gaps?’ will take place in Trabzon from 7th to 9th May 2025. Interested people can take part online free of charge. Further information can be found in the flyer. We appreciate your interest!
 

Registration is now possible via the following link: Registration
Further information will be continuously updated on the registration page.

Dr. Valeria Eckardt will be recognized with the third place of the 'DOSB-Wissenschaftspreises 2023/2024' in Frankfurt am Main on 31 January 2025 for her dissertation entitled 'Better together? Exploring parental experiences in youth soccer from an interpersonal approach'. In addition to her, five other academics will also be honoured. DOSB President Thomas Weikert will present the awards. We congratulate her on this outstanding achievement!

The Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences is once again organizing a tech-fair in 2025 with the cooperation of its various partners. Interested people should save the date 06. - 07. March 2025. More information can be found in the flyer.

The Institute of Sport Science wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2025!

We are looking forward to an exciting year 2025 with special events such as the 100th anniversary of the Institute of Sport Science.

In 2024, the quantitative study of the Move For Health project on the potential of sport and exercise for healthy growing from 2023 was continued. The data collection was funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The study is part of the Move For Health campaign of the German Sports Youth. On December 3rd, initial results of the nationwide representative survey were presented to the German Sports Youth. Further publications are currently being prepared. From the University of Münster, Dr. Lena Henning and Eva Göttlich are involved in the project.
 

As part of the seminar "Methods of psychomotor diagnostics", third semester students in special education teaching (Lehramt für sonderpädagogische Förderung) conducted motor assessments at the Eylardus School, a state-recognised special needs school for children, focusing on social and emotional development. The project was conducted together with the KreisSportBund Grafschaft Bentheim e.V. Currently, the children’s motor performance is being analyzed and the results will be reported back to the school shortly.
 

On December 4, a practice-oriented workshop on third-party funding took place at the Institute of Sports Science. As part of the institute's internal junior researcher funding initiative (NFI), 15 doctoral students gained valuable insights into research funding. Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Verlage from SAFIR provided the participants with specific skills in the areas of funding opportunities, application and research. The workshop provided an opportunity to learn important strategies for academic career development. Special thanks to SAFIR for the informative and inspiring exchange for our doctoral students.

The climbing project of the Institute of Sports Science, the University Hospital Münster and the Children's Cancer Aid Münster e.V. was honored as a special project for children and young people at the award ceremony for the Citizens' Prize of the City of Münster. The special feature: Children and young people between the ages of 8 and 18 decide on the funding of the individual projects in the newly founded funding forum of the city of Münster. The climbing project was the only project to receive the maximum amount of funding.

Last week, Barbara Halberschmidt and Laura van de Loo's MA “Dual Career” seminar was able to take a look behind the scenes at SC Preußen. Sören Weinfurtner gave the course the opportunity to view various premises and watch the U19 team in training. One day later, the group returned to Berg Fidel to accept an invitation from the Uni Baskets. There, the group watched an exciting game against the Kirchheim Knights.
We say THANK YOU to everyone involved!

The University of Münster's sports mentoring project was highlighted as a forward-looking educational model at the OECD Global Forum on the Future of Education and Skills 2030 (10 to 13 October) in Japan. Dr Marie Ghanbari, initiator of the project from the Sports Psychology department, contributed her expertise in a separate article on empathy training, as reported by the Westfälische Nachrichten newspaper, among others.
 

The Erasmus project “PA4Age” was successfully completed with an international conference in Treviso, Italy on November 7, 2024. The project partners were able to present the developed learning platform and app on the topic of motivation and active ageing to numerous interested professionals from the sports and health sector as well as older adults.
 

Bernd Strauß and Heiko Wagner have been elected Vice Dean and Dean of Studies for a further two years in the Fachbereichsrat. At the meeting (13 November 2024) of the Executive Board, Heiko Wagner was elected Managing Director and Bernd Strauß Deputy Managing Director for a further year. 
We congratulate them and wish them all the best for their further term of office.

In the BMBF project ComeSport, the Education and Culture in Sport and Education and Teaching in Sport departments are developing training courses for teachers on the subject of social media and body image in physical education. A meeting with other project partners has now taken place at Leipzig University. The first training sessions have already been tested.

In the new book ‘Psychology of Crises in Sport’ by Bernd Strauss, Stephanie Buenemann, Charlotte Behlau, Maike Tietjens and Katherine Tamminen, readers learn about the theoretical and empirical background of concepts related to crises. They then learn how apply this knowledge and these methods to prevent and cope crises. Well-known examples and case studies are used throughout the book to provide a comprehensive understanding of crises. 

(Strauss, B., Buenemann, S., Behlau, C., Tietjens, M., & Tamminen, K. (Eds). (2024). Psychology of crises in sport. Springer)

Fascinating! Christiane Bohn and Heiko Wagner show us how complex our body sensation is. Using innovative measurement methods such as “ComputerMyoGraphy” developed by Heiko Wagner, they investigate whether our movements really happen the way we perceive them. The example of the talented B-girl Jilou shows how important the connection between brain and body is.
Link to the report (3sat/German)
 

The University of Münster and SC Preußen Münster have signed a cooperation agreement to promote competitive and elite sport in soccer. The cooperation, 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 top-class sport. Among other things, the University and Preußen want to work together to optimize the conditions for footballers who study at the University of Münster and play top-class sport at the same time.

Important information for all those who are attending the swimming courses this semester and want to take the coursework and/or exam and have already attended the seminar!
Please write Maike an e-mail by this Friday (18.10.) that you are enrolled in the Learnweb course. In the course you will find a declaration of consent that you cannot use the showers and toilets of the Ostbad due to the legionella infestation. The declaration must be printed out and completed in its original form and handed in to Maike by October 27.
Without this declaration, you will neither be able to attend the AGs in the Ostbad nor take the exam if the infestation is still present at that time.
More detailed information can also be found in the Learnweb course.

On 10.10.24, sport psychology celebrated its 50th anniversary. The special event was celebrated with almost 100 international and national guests. Two keynote speakers, Prof. Rouwen Canal Bruland, University of Jena and Dr. Rebecca Rienhoff, Helmholtz Gymnasium Essen, Head of Sports - ZfsL Krefeld, Sports & Counselling in School Sports (NRW Sports Schools) - District Government Düsseldorf (Dec. 43/ Dec. 48) Sports Coordination Representative in the Speakers' Committee of NRW Sports Schools, paid tribute to the achievements of Prof. Willi Essing and Prof. Bernd Strauß, which can also be read here in the brochure.

The Institute of Sports Science started the WS 24/25 on 9.10.24 with an information session and a subsequent closed day on the topic of sustainability. The Sustainability Commission prepared a practical input on the topic with the speaker S. Ziegler and then all employees of the Institute continued to work in small working groups on developing sustainability strategies for the Institute and implementing these in research and teaching.

The FISU World University Games 2025 will be coming to the Rhine-Ruhr region from 16 to 27 July 2025. And you can be there as a volunteer. The official registration phase has been extended until 15 October 2024. Apply as a volunteer now!

According to the organisers, working as a volunteer at a multi-sport event of this magnitude ‘offers students a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience that will benefit them both in their studies and in their future careers. During their assignment, they will also receive access to competitions, food and drink, a public transport ticket, a volunteer certificate and official event clothing.’

All information about the volunteer programme and registration can be found on the website: https://rhineruhr2025.com/volunteer

 

Teaching for the winter semester 2024/25 starts on 07 October. 
Just like last summer semester, teaching starts at 08:00!
We wish everyone a great semester an a pleasant start.

At the 3rd Cologne Day of School Sport, Dr Marion Golenia (Dept. of Physical Education and Teaching Research) and Junior Professor Dr Helga Leineweber (Dept. of Education and Culture in Sport) held a theoretical and practical workshop for PE teachers in which they presented current scientific findings on the connection between body images in social media and body images among children and young people. Following on from this, they tested and discussed ways of addressing the topic in PE lessons together with the teachers. The content and materials developed as part of the BMBF-funded ComeSport project were thus subjected to an initial ‘rigorous test’. Further ideas and materials for sports lessons on this complex topic are now being successively developed and trialled.
 

At this year's Research Day of the Centre for Educational Research in Sport on 11.09.24, Brigitta Höger (Pädagogische Hochschule Oberösterreich) presented her exciting research on the perspectives of young people on sport-related social media offerings. In addition, Marion Golenia and Kathrin Aschebrock (AB Bildung und Unterricht im Sport) from the project Quality at the all day education presented current results on participation opportunities in primary schools, comparing the children's perspective with that of adults (teachers and OGS staff).

From 17-18 September, the international ‘Workshop on Systematic Observation in Educational Research’, organised by Dr Kathrin Kohake, took place for the 8th time at the University of Münster. At the annual network meeting of European users of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, current study results from various educational contexts were presented and discussed. The programme was framed by two renowned keynote speeches: Dr Bridget Hamre from the USA and Prof Dr Charalambos Charalambous from Cyprus. The event was sponsored by the DFG, the University of Münster's Internationalisation Fund and the Unfallkasse.

Dr Barbara Halberschmidt gave a presentation on psychological factors in dealing with injuries at this year's Dreiländerkongress DACH in Hamburg.

From 16th to 18th September 2024, the hybrid COST Action PhysAgeNet training school “Artificial Intelligence meets Physical Activity” will take place in Ankara at the NÖRÖM Center (Neuroscience And Neurotechnology Center Of Excellence). We invite all interested people to join online without any costs. You can find the programme and zoom link here.  

As part of “AgeWell Europe”, the members of the Erasmus project met in Athlone from August 30 to 31, 2024. Led by the “EduFit” team from Ireland, the project partners from Italy, Slovenia and Germany focused on the successful implementation of sports and fitness courses with older adults and the effects of ageing on sport and exercise.
 

On August 7, our guest researcher Prof. Demet Iangil from the University of Health Sciences in Istanbul presented her expertise on movement-based, individualized fall prevention programmes for older adults in a LabTalk. We hope that we will be working together on this topic in the future. Zhao Liu, who is in the final stages of his Master's degree in Sports Science at the University of Göttingen, took the opportunity to visit our department as well. Thank you both for visiting us!
 

PhD students at the Institute of Sport Science once again had the opportunity to take part in a two-day writing workshop to work on their dissertations in an undisturbed atmosphere. A total of 10 doctoral students from various fields of work went to the Willi-Michels-Bildungsstätte in Hattingen from August 5-6, accompanied by two postdocs. The feedback was very positive - the doctoral students particularly appreciated the structured writing times and the interdisciplinary exchange. The next writing workshop is planned for spring 2025.

This year's Prüfungsshow took place on July 24th, 2024 under the motto "Very big cinema" in front of a sold-out house in the HH. Almost 100 participants once again showed their best choreographies and were celebrated by the 800 spectators.

The “Quality in all-day education” (QIG) project, which was conducted by the department of Physical Education and Teaching Reseach in collaboration with the Reinhard Mohn Foundation (RMS) has now been successfully completed. Under the direction of Dr. Marion Golenia and Kathrin Aschebrock, a modular online questionnaire instrument was developed and tested. The tool helps all-day schools to optimize the quality of their work in the areas of learning time, participation and room design.

The Sports Psychology Department was represented at the European Congress of Sports Psychology in Innsbruck from 15 to 19 July 2014 with numerous presentations, symposia and poster contributions. Under the congress motto "Performance under pressure in sports, military/police, performing arts, medicine, business and daily life", 1000 sports psychologists from all over the world came together.

Michael Brach, AB Movement Science, was appointed to the Ulysseus Steering Committee, which provides strategic advice to the Rectorate and the project management. The vision of the European University Network Ulysseus is to develop an excellent European university based on the European values of social cohesion and respect for human rights. The alliance firmly believes that European universities should be open to the world, institutions of solidarity beyond European borders.

 

Another successful aptitude test took place at the Institute of Sports Science on 3 July. We are looking forward to welcoming great new students who will start studying sport here on campus in the winter semester 24/25. A great day in which the entire Institute was involved. Thanks to everyone involved!

As part of Prof. Nils Neuber's project seminar "School sport and democracy", students carried out practical research projects in schools and sport clubs. Over the course of several weeks, they worked on topics such as participation in performance assessment, children's rights in school sport, federalism in the education system and democratic education throughout the day. They have now presented their results in a poster session and discussed them with external guests.

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).