Organization

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The subsection "Institute" is intended to familiarize you with the organization and structure of the IfSS of the University of Kassel, introduce committees and refer to cooperation partners. You can also find a wide range of information on recurring events and conferences under the heading "Events".

The Institute for Sport and Sport Science (IfSS) is a scientific institution of the Faculty 05 Social Sciences at the University of Kassel. The institute was founded in 2001 and emerged from the "Department of Sport Science" at the University of Kassel.


The tasks of the IfSS include teaching, research, the promotion of young scientists and the transfer of knowledge. In addition to the sports science departments, the institute also includes the General University Sports (AHS) and the Transfer and Application Center for Sports in Kassel (task).


In order to accomplish these tasks, the Institute is divided into five working areas:

At a glance

Work areas

In this area of work, the focus is on sports education and sports didactics research questions, which essentially relate to the institutions of kindergarten, school, university, sports clubs and sports associations. The research methodology is based on empirical educational research. The research work can be assigned to the subject areas of evaluation research, development research and training and teaching research.

About the research area

In this field of work, human behavior and experience in sport (causes, conditions, goals) and social interactions are researched. Empirical research methods are used to record the psychosocial foundations of experience and action in the practical field of sport. The aim is, among other things, to predict and influence the future behavior of people in sport.

About the research area

The thematic specialization of the work area within training science is, on the one hand, the optimization of start performance in swimming using dynamic kinematic analysis methods and, on the other hand, fitness and coordination training including instability training. In the field of movement science, the focus is on movement priming and implicit learning.

About the work area

Work area 4 "Theory and practice of sports" focuses on the close link between theory and practice in subject-specific didactic training.

In addition to the interdisciplinary skills addressed in the current curricular requirements for the subject of sport, subject-specific didactic training is essentially based on the guiding principles and corresponding content areas.

About the work area

For the IfSS, the topic of transfer is of particular importance, as it sees itself as an application-oriented research unit that aims to provide sustainable answers to questions relating to sport and exercise from an interdisciplinary perspective. task is a cooperation between the city and the University of Kassel and pursues the goal of making findings from sports science usable for urban society with a special focus on sport and health-related topics in the region and, conversely, to investigate socially relevant issues from a sports science perspective.

To the task page

The IfSS has been located in its own institute building at the Damaschkestraße site since mid-2013. Most of the practical and theoretical training takes place at this location. The adjoining Aueparkhalle provides additional event and office space (including the general university sports department with secretariat) as well as laboratory and research facilities. The university has had its own boathouse on the Auedamm since 2016. The new task sports hall with additional office space (including a sports medicine examination center) was completed in 2020.


The IfSS has two committees, the Institute Directorate and the Institute Assembly, and there is also an advisory board for general university sport. Four professors (including one honorary professorship), 12 full-time employees (permanent and part-time positions), three administrative staff and two hall attendants make up the staff of the IfSS. In addition, there are up to 20 lecturers during the lecture period, mainly in the field of didactics. The IfSS has been cooperating with the Institute for Prevention and Sports Medicine Bad Wildungen, the Orthopaedic Clinic Kassel and the Red Cross Hospital Kassel for many years in sports medicine and sports biology training.


The range of courses, which is organized in training modules, includes three teacher training courses (elementary school teacher training, secondary school teacher training and grammar school teacher training). Sport can also be studied as a second subject in a BA and MA course in Vocational and Business Education. A sports aptitude test must be successfully completed before starting the course. There are currently over 750 teacher training students studying sport. Around 80 specialist and didactic courses are offered each semester.