Since 2005, the Bavarian Culture Prize has been awarded by the regional utilities network operator “Bayernwerk” in cooperation with the Bavarian Ministry of Science and Art for outstanding achievements in art and science. This year, Dr. Vanessa Wergin, Research Associate at the Chair of Sport Psychology, receives the Bavarian Culture Prize in the “Universities” category.
Bavarian artists as well as graduates and doctoral candidates from Bavarian universities, universities of applied sciences and state art colleges are honoured for their significant artistic and scientific work. The Bavarian Ministry for Science and Art also awards a special prize. The aim of the Bavarian Culture Prize is to provide an incentive to maintain cultural diversity and at the same time to create a stage for art and science in the Bavarian regions.
In the “Universities” category, awards are given to the best doctoral theses at Bavarian universities. One doctoral student per university receives the Bavarian Culture Prize, regardless of faculty or discipline. This year, the Technical University of Munich chose Dr. Vanessa Wergin, who completed her dissertation on "Collective sport team collapse - a process model" with distinction at the end of 2019. She was supported by a doctoral scholarship from the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (Foundation of German Industry). The work was supervised and evaluated by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beckmann, head of the Chair of Sports Psychology, Prof. Dr. Clifford Mallett (University of Queensland) and Prof. Dr. Günter Amesberger (University of Salzburg).
The aim of the research project was to gain fundamental insights into processes and mechanisms of the largely unexplored phenomenon of collective team collapses. In the course of her doctorate, Ms. Wergin developed a process model of team collapse of sports teams through qualitative analyses, which describes various triggers of team collapses and explains their interrelationships and concatenations. The results of the work are intended to provide practitioners in dealing with sports teams in pressure situations with initial clues for possible approaches.
"The prize is of course a confirmation of my scientific work. However, I did not expect to win, so I was a little surprised myself," Dr. Wergin remarked gladly about the award. "The topic of collective team collapse has interested me tremendously right from the start. However, it was actually a largely unexplored phenomenon until then. In this respect, it was simultaneously a curse and a blessing, as it involves both basic and applied research and the topic as a whole is also very broadly based."
"For the Chair of Sport Psychology and the entire Department of Sports and Health Sciences, it is of course a great thing that Dr. Wergin's work is now the only one selected by the TU Munich," Prof. Beckmann also remarked with delight. "Her research is ground-breaking and innovative and is also relevant beyond sport for many areas in society. She has done pioneering work here, so to speak".
The award ceremony for this year's Bavarian Culture Prize will take place in digital form on Thursday, November 12, 2020, starting at 7 PM. From a studio in Ismaning, it will be broadcasted via livestream and additionally on local television stations.
To the homepage of the Bavarian Culture Prize
To the homepage of the Chair of Sport Psychology
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beckmann
Chair of Sport Psychology
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24541
e-mail: Juergen.Beckmann(at)tum.de
Dr. Vanessa Wergin
Chair of Sport Psychology
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24547
e-mail: Vanessa.Wergin(at)tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photos: Chair of Sport Psychology/Bavarian Culture Prize