The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) awards its Science Price for outstanding sports science qualification papers. With this award, the DOSB continues the tradition of the Carl Diem Plaque, which was awarded from 1953 to 2005. The main aim is to stimulate research that addresses current issues in organised sport. Sports science papers which have been recognised as doctoral or post-doctoral theses may be submitted in German or English.
Decisive criteria for selection are scientific quality, originality, and social relevance. The Science Price is awarded in the categories “Gold”, “Silver” and “Bronze”. The award is accompanied by a €12,000 price money. The “Silver” category is awarded €2,500. The awards are due to be presented by DOSB President Alfons Hörmann on 23 April 2021 at the Haus des Deutschen Sports in Frankfurt am Main.
“Naturally, I was very pleased when I received the call from the DOSB and was told that I had won the Science Award in Silver,” says Dr. Baumert. “It's very nice to have my work recognised in this way - especially as I also invested a fair amount of time in the application.”
“The DOSB is one of the most important sports organisations in Germany, which is why this award is quite outstanding for Philipp Baumert and we are very happy for him,” adds Prof. Dr. Henning Wackerhage, head of the Associate Professorship of Exercise Biology.
From 2015 to 2019, Dr. Baumert dedicated his dissertation to studying individual muscular adaptation reactions following intense athletic exertion. In doing so, he applied an interdisciplinary approach and systematically analysed individual differences on a genetic, cellular, physiological as well as biomechanical level. Based on his results, he was able to demonstrate how genetic differences in muscle connective tissue influence the risk of muscle damage or even muscle injury during strenuous physical activity. Furthermore, Dr. Baumert found out that stem cells within the muscle connective tissue are a decisive factor for muscle regeneration.
In February 2019, the PhD sports scientist was awarded a one-year fellowship by the TUM University Foundation (TUFF) and moved from Liverpool John Moores University to the Associate Professorship of Exercise Biology. The TUFF Fellowship enables TUM to support young researchers who have completed their doctorate with the realisation of innovative research projects.
He was also able to successfully apply for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship from the “EuroTech Universities Alliance” in July 2019. It enables outstanding young researchers to sharpen their scientific profile by participating in cross-border tandem projects involving at least two top European universities belonging to the “EuroTech Universities Alliance”. In addition to the Associate Professorship of Exercise Biology at TUM, Dr. Baumert is also collaborating with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability at the Technical University of Denmark (Prof. Lars Keld Nielsen).
The fellowship is co-funded by the European Union's “Marie Skłodowska-Curie Measures” and is part of the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (Horizon 2020).
On the basis of the TUFF Fellowship as well as the postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Baumert can advance the “Muscleflux” project in the field of hypertrophied muscle metabolism using interdisciplinary research methods. This is done, for example, with a flux analysis, i.e., the simultaneous tracking of several metabolites. In the long term, this research should contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of diseases such as diabetes mellitus, which cause long-term consequential damage to the skeletal muscles. This should lead to better treatment in the future.
“I am currently preparing cell cultures for this purpose in the laboratory, which I would then like to bring to Denmark as samples and analyse there at the Technical University of Denmark,” explains Dr. Baumert.
“This is ambitious research with a high degree of practical relevance,” says Prof. Wackerhage about the project. “We know from cancer research that the cancer cell uses sugar to build up biomass. The Nobel Prize winner Otto Heinrich Warburg was the first to characterise the altered metabolism of cancer cells in the 1920s. In the course of his research, Philipp Baumert is now testing the hypothesis that a hypertrophied muscle also absorbs more sugar. Therefore, the results can become enormously relevant with respect to our health and especially the field of prevention in the long term.”
To the press information of the DOSB Science Prize
To the homepage of the Associate Professorship of Exercise Biology
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Henning Wackerhage
Associate Professorship of Exercise Biology
Georg-Brauchle Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24480
e-mail: Henning.Wackerhage(at)tum.de
Dr. Philipp Baumert
Associate Professorship of Exercise Biology
Georg-Brauchle Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24400
e-mail: Philipp.Baumert(at)tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photo: private