Since October 1, Prof. Filip Mess has become a Full Professor for Sport and Health Didactics. This 38-year-old studied for a teaching degree in sport and mathematics at the University of Konstanz. In 2007, he obtained his doctorate in Konstanz on the topic of "Potential physical-athletic activity in regard to the social integration of new employment" and was subsequently a scientific staff member at the university until 2012.
From 2012 to 2014, Prof. Mess was a professor in sport sciences at the southernmost university of Germany. In 2014, Mess, who was born in Königinhof in the Czech Republic, received his doctorate degree at the Karlsruher Institute for Technology. His cumulative work included a total of 17 publications on the topic of "Determinants, Methods and Effects of physical-athletic activity with a focus on the promotion of good health". From October 2014 to September 2015, he was a Full Professor for sport sciences and the promotion of health at the Pedagogical University of Schwäbisch Gmünd.
Prof. Mess: How important do you consider the reputation of the faculty for sport and health sciences at the TU Munich to be?
"This is very important for me. The university has an exceptional reputation, both nationally and internationally, so that it is naturally an honor to be appointed as a professor at such a university. At the same time, I find the location of Munich to be very attractive - when I consider the university and the city separately. Munich is a global city, especially also in the field of sports. The amount of high-class sport to be found here makes it especially exciting."
After about two weeks - what is your first impression of the faculty?
"First of all, I was happy to see the friendliness with which I was welcomed. My first impression is that I sense a great deal of momentum here. Not only a start, but a mutual goal to achieve something as a faculty - and to do so not only nationally. After all, with place two in the CHE ranking, we have a top spot among the sport faculties. I think we also want to develop this further and thereby become more conspicuous internationally. These are goals to which I can relate very easily."
What do you consider to be the particular strengths of the faculty?
"When we are fully staffed, we have 14 professorships and can thereby work together on the subject of sport with different professional focus. I have great hopes for this mutual, interdisciplinary work and also see this as a great chance. To cooperate at a short distance, to develop ideas together in order to perform research on physical and athletic activities."
Will you also concentrate your research in this field?
"Exactly. My field of research, if I may sum this up in one sentence, is the determinants and effects of physical-athletic activities with a focus on promoting health. That is to say, which factors influence the physical-athletic activity? And how must we then form programs so that as many as possible have access to these and keep this up for as long as possible? And this also in the setting of schools and businesses."
Do you already have ideas for any concrete projects?
"We have identified two, three or four research subjects. One of these involves the research of activities in a school setting. How much time do children actually move in the course of their physical education classes? Here, for example, the subjectively perceived exertion as compared with the objective methods of detection, for instance through the measurement using an accelerometer. A further important topic is movement, games and sport in the course of an all-day school."
What developments do you see here?
"Well, the increasing change to all-day schools seems to me to offer chances, but also involves risks. For instance, whether the all-day school represents a chance or a risk for sports and the sport clubs. We would like to intensively analyze this ambivalence. Theoretically, there are a great number of preliminary works in Germany, but nothing empirical. We do not actually know anything about the time of movement in the course of an all-day school. That is also the case in the field of lifestyle research."
Will this also be one of your topics?
"Absolutely. There are many interesting questions: What lifestyles develop in Germany for children and juveniles? What lifestyles are possibly even hazardous to one's health? For instance, being overweight and other types of illnesses. And what is especially favorable for one's health? And this not only with a viewpoint on the physical-athletic activities, but also taking into consideration eating habits and also media consumption."
Aside from the school there is also the other setting involving employment?
"That is the case. We want to and will also perform research in an occupational setting, that is with adults. How can one develop and then also evaluate health-promoting programs? That is a didactic question: What does one have to do with the workforce in terms of content and also methodically so that they can remain active for as long as possible? In order to maintain sustainability and to perhaps also get special target groups into such programs who are less health-conscious."
What does sport and movement mean to you yourself?
"For me it is an absolute balance for the sitting activity that we have here in our job and, at the same time, also a creative free space. For this reason, I love to run in natural forests. Here, I have a great number of ideas, since I can let my thoughts run free. It is not only a physical balance but it also promotes my creativity. I have to run a minimum of three times a week. However, not only for relaxation, but also to do a bit of a competitive sport. That is also with track training, interval runs and similar things."
Have you ever taken part in competitive sports?
"I used to play handball and tennis, and I am now a snowboarder. For family reasons, however, I stopped with this at some time since the weekends are then naturally reserved for the family. I have therefore left it with running and have occasionally participated in competitions and marathons, but more on a regional level."
Prof. Mess, many thanks for this discussion.
Interviewer: Fabian Kautz