MAIN THEMES AND CALL FOR PAPERS

Innovation is a key concept in the new globalized world and is one of the most important drivers of the new European Framework Programme (Horizon 2020). Innovation is perceived as the key to promote economic development, to create new jobs, to improve the quality of life of citizens, to support more transparent and effective forms of government and administration. According to the special report by the European Commission, “[t]he sport sector is making a positive contribution to the attainment of the goals of the Lisbon Strategy [...]

However, this contribution has so far not been made explicit”. The main goal of the Trentino 2013 Conference is to work on this relationship between sport and innovation and raise new proposals on how (university) sport can inspire new opportunities for research & innovation in different sectors, new courses and methodologies in education, new careers and employment opportunities.

The objective of the conference is to investigate from different angles how sport (and in particular sport within universities) can become:

• an important source of inspiration for new research projects
• a driver for innovative companies, products and services
• a stimulus for designing innovative curricula for students (employability)

We invite the submission of Extended Abstracts in the following areas (the list is not exhaustive):

RESEARCH

We invite researchers from any academic discipline to share with us the experience and outcomes of their most exciting projects inspired by sport.

• Research projects and outcomes inspired by sport (in any field of knowledge)
• Innovative products and services inspired by sport
• Collaborative research partnerships between universities, sporting organizations and the sport industry
• FieldLabs for sport innovation
• Funding bodies and fund raising for sport-related research projects
• Research networks connecting academia, sport industry and investors

EDUCATION

We look for cases where sport has inspired new courses, new teaching and evaluation methodologies, new activities in academia.

• Innovative Dual Career Programs: How to enable elite athletes to combine their sporting career with university studies?
• Education Support for high-performance Athletes and Athlete Talent Development programs
• Curricula for the next generation of professionals in the sport & innovation industry
• Support collaboration between University faculties to enable high-quality sport sciences education
• Academic Performance of Student-Athletes

MARKET & CAREERS

We encourage entrepreneurs and companies to show how the collaboration with universities and research centers through sport has led to innovation in their business domain, and what new jobs have been made possible because of the interaction between research and sport.

• Business of sport: the link between academia and the sport industry
• Business opportunities and entrepreneurship in Sport & Innovation
• Innovation, entrepreneurship and start up creation through university sport
• Regional Cluster of Innovation, investments and business development in the sport sector
• Case studies of successful sport-related start ups
• New job profiles and career paths
• Innovative initiatives from the world of business in order to offer a position to athletes during their career and educating them for a further career
• Innovative marketing & communication strategies for universities based on sport