Granted Seed Money Projects

Four seed money applications granted

The 2018-2019 call for seed money invited UU/UMCU researchers to apply for proposals regarding two different categories: projects that contribute to capacity building and/or to increasing academic visibility.

The 2018/2019 call for seed money Jury has granted four projects/consortia that applied for seed money. The Jury expects that the granted projects will strengthen Sport & Society as a whole – by innovative and interdisciplinary research, collaboration between faculties and new applications for bulky research grants.

The 2018-2019 call was open until July 1^st 2019 and was based on a ‘first come, first serve’ principle. Granted projects will be completed at December 31^st 2019.

Granted projects

1. Safe and sound: mobile device usage while running in traffic

• Research line: capacity building
• Faculties: Beta (Faculty of Science, Department of Computing and Information Sciences, Human-Centred Computing) and Faculty of Social Sciences (Experimental Psychology)
• Main applicants: Stella Donker (s.f.donker@uu.nl) and Paweł W. Woźniak (p.w.wozniak@uu.nl)
• Aim: “The primary goal of this project is to launch a new interdisciplinary research program on interacting with devices while moving for leisure. We will conduct preliminary studies, gather initial results and build low-fidelity prototypes that will enable the preparation of a larger funding proposal.”

1. A Global Study of Women in Football

• Research line: capacity building
• Faculty/partners: Law, Economics and Governance (Utrecht School of Governance, USBO), University of Minnesota, USA (Tucker Centre for Research on Girls and Women in Sport), Leeds Becket University, UK (Carnegie School of Sport).
• Main applicant: Donna de Haan (d.m.dehaan@hhs.nl)
• Aims: the Sport & Society seed money contributes to research activities regarding two projects that are part of an international research program which has been developed in consultation with Women in Football. This research program focusses on obstacles and facilitators of the football game for women involved at the levels of coaches, governance and leadership, officials, and players. The first project aims to uncover how elite women football coaches navigate issues including discrimination, marginalization, and injustices that limit their own career retention and progression over the course of their careers. The second project is about understanding and redefining the role of men in achieving gender equity in sport leadership in football, and aims to review the part both men and women can play and have played in bringing about gender equality in the sport governance setting. 

1. Evaluation of a hamstring rehabilitation protocol and return to play criteria in male amateur soccer players to reduce societal consequences

• Research line: capacity building
• Faculties/partners: Faculty of Medicine, UMC Utrecht (Sports Medicine), UMC Groningen (Human Movement Sciences), University of Twente (MIRA-Institute for biomedical technology and technical medicine Enschede), Amsterdam UMC (Faculty of Medicine, Sports Medicine), Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB)
• Main applicant: Stef van de Hoef (p.a.vandehoef@umcutrecht.nl)
• Aim: the Sport & Society seed money contributes to writing a research grant, which aims to “reduce the incidence and severity of hamstring re-injuries in male amateur soccer players to reduce the societal consequences of these injuries regarding soccer players.”

1. Outdoor play for all? A study of children’s experiences with outdoor play

• Research line: capacity building and academic visibility
• Faculties: Faculty of Geosciences (Human Geography and Spatial Planning)

• Main applicants: Kirsten Visser (k.visser@uu.nl) and Irina van Aalst (i.vanaalst@uu.nl)
• Aims: the Sport & Society seed money contributes to a research proposal (including the conduction of a pilot study) that investigates how “children move about and use public spaces in cities for outdoor play and to identify the factors that influence this play.” Instead from the perspective of parents, the study approaches children’s outdoor play from the perspective of the children themselves. The project aims to both build research capacity as well as achieving academic visibility around the topic of children’s outdoor play and specifically the added value of consulting children in this context.

Six Seed Money Applications Granted

The 2016 Call for Seed Money Jury, which consists of members of the Sport & Society Executive Team, has granted six consortia that applied for seed money. The Jury expects that the granted projects will strengthen Sport & Society as a whole – by innovative and interdisciplinary research, collaboration between faculties and new applications for bulky research grants.

The 2016 Sport & Society Seed Money Call had an emphasis on two themes: 1) Sport and inclusion: the meaning of sport for refugees and 2) Sport and security: integrity in sport organisations (II). Next to this there was an open competition call for innovative ideas with regards to research and education (III-VI).

The granted projects will be completed at October 31, 2017. 

I a. Sports dialogues: exploring the role of sports activities and sports facilities for refugee youth at a reception centre

• Research line: Sport & Inclusive Society
• Faculties: Fac. of Law, Economics and Governance, Dep. of School of Governance; Fac. of Geosciences, Dep. of Human Geography and Planning, Healthy Urban Living.
• Main applicant: Maikel Waardenburg MA, M.Waardenburg@uu.nl
• Aims: The aim of this project is to explore the meaning of sports activities and sports facilities for refugee youth for 1) their feeling at home at the reception centre, their feelings of belonging within the host country and 2) as a topic for discussing societal issues by actively using dialogues between refugee youth and (Dutch) students about the meaning of sports for social inclusion.

I b. Ice skating exergame played by refugees and Dutch children in school classes

• Research line: Sport & Inclusive Society
• Faculties: Fac. of Humanities, Dep. of Media and Performance Studies, Center for the Study of Digital Games and Play. Fac. of Law, Economics and Governance, Dep. of  School of Governance, Research program Managing Social Issues  (Sport Matters and Diversity Matters). Fac. of Geosciences, Research program Healthy Urban Living.
• Main applicant: dr. Teresa de la Hera, T.delahera@uu.nl
• Aims: The purpose of this project is to explore how exergames (digital games combining exercise with game play) and the playful interactions fostered during play can contribute to establish, reinforce or change the nature of social interactions among refugees and Dutch children in school classes. Exergame play enables multiple players to compete or cooperate on a team, thereby providing both a virtual and a real social interaction. Because exergame play allows youth to take their eyes off their peers and direct their attention toward a screen, game play may reduce body self-consciousness during physical activity.

Project I a and I b are part of an overarching research into the inclusion of refugees in Dutch Society and how interventions matter. Both projects will be linked by a project manager, who organizes a closing mini symposium which presents and links the empirical studies.

II. Negotiating integrity: A comparative study of the public discussion and internal management of referee incidents in professional and amateur football in the Netherlands

• Research line: Research into Security; theme: Integrity in sports organisations and sports bodies
• Faculties: Fac. of Humanities, Dep. Media and Culture Studies, Dep. of Philosophy & Religious Studies; Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, Dep. of School of Governance.
• Main applicant: prof. Eggo Müller, e.mueller@uu.nl
• Aims: Starting from the supposition that 'integrity' is constructed through cultural practices in particular institutional contexts, the aim of the project is to gain a better understanding of the unique attributes of integrity within sports and sports organisations, thereby enabling better tailored and more effective recommendations for practice. The main research question is: how does the discursive construction of integrity take place within the context of football in the Netherlands?

III. Physical activities and sports for preschoolers in the Netherlands (PAP-NL): a cohort design

• Research line: Sport & Healthy Society
• Faculties: Fac. of Social Sciences, Dep. of Education; Fac. of Geosciences, Dep. of Human Geography and Planning; Fac. of Law, Economics and Governance, Dep.  of School of Governance; Fac. of Humanities, Dep. of Languages,  Literature and Communication; and Fac. of Medicine, Dep. Of Rehabilitation, Nursing Science and Sports;
• Other involvements: ChildKnowledgeCenter Utrecht; Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, Dep. of Child Development and Exercise Center; and Fac. of Society & Law at HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.
• Main applicant: prof. dr. Kristine de Martelaer, k.demartelaer@uu.nl
• Aims: The main aim of this application is: to provide a multidisciplinary basis for a future cohort study focusing on effects of preschool physical activities and sports on children’s health, personal experiences, individual and social development. Within this main aim, sub-goals are: (1) to provide a baseline for a cohort study (by describing a group of pre-schoolers, their present physical activities and providers’ main goals and approach); (2) to explore adequate instruments and possible outcomes retrospectively in a pilot study; (3) to explore the existence of relevant longitudinal databases; (4) to find further collaboration with multiple disciplines; (5) to cooperate on grant(s) that enable the execution of a future cohort study.

IV. Combining GPS and accelerometers to assess where pre-schoolers are (in)active

• Research line: Sport & Healthy Society, other Utrecht University Strategic Themes of Sustainability (Healthy Urban Living) and Dynamics of Youth.
• Faculties: Fac. of Geoscience, Dep. of Human Geography and Spatial Planning (health geography); Faculty of Medicine, Julius Center (public health); Fac. of Social Sciences, Dep. of Child, Family & Education (pedagogy); Fac. of Medicine, Dep. of Rehabilitation, Nursing Science and Sports (sports medicine).
• Main applicant: dr. Carlijn Kamphuis, c.b.m.kamphuis@uu.nl
• Aims: The overall aims of this research are twofold. Firstly, we want to assess the feasibility and validity of simultaneously obtaining location data (by means of GPS) and activity data (by means of accelerometers) among preschool children from low and high socioeconomic backgrounds in real-life settings. Secondly, we want to gain insights in important locations for preschool children’s sport and physical activities.

V. Learning is Moving: towards an Education of Attention

• Research line: Sport & Inclusive Society
• Faculties: Fac. of Law, Economics and Governance, Dep. of School of Governance; Faculty  of Social and Behaviourial Sciences, Dep. of Education.
• Main applicant: dr. Jeroen Vermeulen, j.vermeulen@uu.nl
• Aims: The research has three aims. First, to develop a conceptual framework for teaching in higher education based on active movement and centered around the related idea of the ‘education of attention’. Second, to involve multiple stakeholders both within and outside higher education (esp. university) in developing such a framework. Third, to elaborate the framework into project proposals for the Utrecht Stimuleringsfonds Onderwijs (USO) and for the UU Strategic Theme Dynamics of Youth, notably the subtheme ‘Finding Your Way in a Dynamic World’.

VI. How active is the Dutch youth with chronic disease/disability and how accessible is our society to promote physical activity in youth with chronic disability/disease?

• Research line: Sport & Healthy Society
• Faculties: Medicine: Child Health & Development Center; Rehabilitation, Nursing Science and Sport; The Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Geosciences, Utrecht University of Applied Science: Chair in Lifestyle & Health.
• Main applicant: dr. Tim Takken, t.takken@umcutrecht.nl
• Aims: The aim of this project is to describe the level of physical activity in children and youth with chronic and/or mental disease/disability (~aged 4-18  years) in the Netherlands and to determine the relationship with national policy and environmental factors using existing population data from the last 5 years (2011-2015). This report card will be called the NL-Report Card.

Seven Seed Money Applications Granted

The 2015 Call for Seed Money Jury, which consists of members of the Sport & Society Executive Team, has granted seven consortia that applied for seed money. The Jury expects that the granted projects will strengthen Sport & Society as a whole – by innovative and interdisciplinary research, collaboration between faculties and new applications for bulky research grants.

The jury took into account that not all granted proposals are within one research line or one faculty. The granted projects will be completed at 31 December 2015. The following projects were granted in July 2015 (I-VI) and September 2015 (VII):

I . The Global Physical Activity Crisis among Children and Youth: how big is the problem in the Netherlands? 

• Research line: Sport & healthy society
• Faculties: Medicine: Child Health & Development Center; Rehabilitation, Nursing science and Sport; The Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care; Geosciences.
• Main applicant: dr. T. Takken, t.takken@umcutrecht.nl 
• Study: The expanding physical inactivity crisis among children and youth is a major global health problem. Physical activity and sedentary behavior habits are established during childhood. Stimulation of childhood physical activity is of eminent importance for the future health of our nation. The project will identify the current status of the physical inactivity crisis among youth in the Netherlands and will reveal starting points for future interventions by developing a Report Card. The ultimate goal of this project is to slow down the increasing physical inactivity trend among children and youth by getting more insight in the size and nature of the problem.

II. Towards new perspectives on the functions and importance of play, games and sports in the development of humans and animals. A multidisciplinary literature review. 

• Research line: This research proposal has implications for all three research lines
• Faculties: Veterinary Medicine; Medicine; Law, Economics and Governance
• Main applicant: prof. dr. L. Vanderschuren,  J.M.J.Vanderschuren@uu.nl
• Study: What are the social functions of play in the development of humans and animals? Can these functions contribute to their cooperative capacities? And what does this mean for playing sport and games by human beings? These are the core questions of this research regarding an interdisciplinary literature study to explore the frontiers of our understanding of play in humans and animals. Based on a review of theoretical and empirical studies, the researches intend to play with insights from different disciplines. 

​III. The impact of World Cup 2014 and Olympics 2016 on social in- and exclusion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Research line: Sport & inclusive society
• Faculties: Law, Economics and Governance, department Governance; Social and Behavioural Sciences, department Cultural Anthropology
• Main applicant: Dr. M. Koster, m.koster@uu.nl
• Study: The team will study the impact of the World Cup and the Olympics, organized in Rio de Janeiro in 2014 and 2016 respectively, on social in- and exclusion in the city. This research will address questions such as: Who are affected by the events and how? Who reaps the benefits of these events and whose lives are impeded by them? 
• Findings: Between 30 April and 18 June 2015 our research team (consisting of the applicants and 26 student researchers from the Utrecht University School of Governance) has carried out anthropological research in Rio de Janeiro, in collaboration with our Brazilian counterparts from the Universidade Federal Rural de Rio de Janeiro. The research has focused on the perspective of the population. On the 25th of November all researchers have presented their findings in a very successful international symposium in Utrecht, with guests and speakers from different universities, NGOs and government institutions. We have also published the research results in a book, with the title “Rio is not for amateurs”. In addition, we have launched a bilingual website that shows the process and outcomes of this project.

IV. Movement in learning

• Research line: Sport & inclusive society
• Faculties: Law, Economics and Governance; Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Main applicant: Dr. J. Vermeulen, j.vermeulen@uu.nl
• Study: Recent longitudinal research done at the Center for Human Movement Sciences (University of Groningen, Netherlands) indicate a positive relation between physical activity on the one hand and cognitive development and achievements at school. However, the dominant model of teaching in higher education, is characterized by frontal and uni-directional interaction, emphasis on academic competencies and lack of movement. This research explores the idea of movement in learning at university-level and to exchange and disseminate knowledge about the theme within Utrecht University and across universities. Moreover, the practical goal is to (re)develop courses (at Ba and/or Ma level) on the basis of this exploration. The study will explore and develop the theme ‘movement in learning’ from four different angles:  from a pedagogical, technological, movement science, and ecological perspective.

V. Using accelerometry, GPS and mobile technology to monitor and stimulate physical activity behavior in cancer survivors: inventory of applications 

• Research line: Sport & Healthy society
• Faculties: Medicine: Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, Child Health & Development Center, Department of Radiotherapy, RVE Oncology; Faculty of Geosciences, department of Human Geography and Planning.
• Main applicant: Dr. E. Monninkhof, e.monninkhof@umcutrecht.nl
• Study:   Exercise training after cancer treatment is beneficial in terms of improved quality of life, physical fitness, reduced cancer-related fatigue and anxiety and depression. Increasing evidence from observational studies also suggest positive effects of physical activity (PA) on recurrence and survival. Although the benefits of PA in cancer survivors are clear, a large part of cancer survivors is still inactive according to the public-health physical activity guidelines. This research aims to tackle this issue in a new and innovative way; i.e. combining patients’ individual PA data with information of their environment. The study will combine the expertises of exercise-oncology specialists with those of the geoscientists.
• Findings: This project has led to a new collaboration between the UMC Utrecht, Geosciences UU and the TU Eindhoven. First, we performed two literature reviews: 1) What kind of application clusters are available for physical activity encouragement in adults? and 2) Does the use of physical activity encouragement applications change the physical activity behaviour in (inactive) adults? Furthermore, an industrial design student of TU Eindhoven developed an intelligent bra for breast cancer patients which may contribute to the encouragement of physical ac­tivity and be of positive influence to their self-image. Last, in the UMBRELLA FIT study, a physical exercise study in breast cancer survivors, we included fitness tracker (Jawbone UP2) to the exercise intervention with the aim to reduce sedentary behaviour. After the intervention period, patients will be interviewed about the usefulness, applicability and functional design by researchers of the TU Eindhoven. The results will be translated into user requirements and a new prototypical version of the fitness tracker will be developed, tested (in patients) and adapted. Finally, this project will lead to a new prototype for breast cancer survivors. 

VI. Inventory of physical activities and sports for preschoolers in the Netherlands

• Research line: Sport & healthy society
• Faculties: Social and Behavioural Sciences, department of Child, Family & Education; Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation, Nursing Science and Sports; Geosciences,Departmentof Human Geography and Planning
• Main applicant: Dr. D.W. Smits, h.w.smits@uu.nl
• Study: In today’s society, children are less physically active and more overweight than in previous decades. To turn the tide, various initiatives have started to promote physical activities and sports, even among children younger than 6 years (preschoolers). However, regarding preschool physical activity, we lack important insights: how are activities organized, what are the facilitating factors, and is there any evidence-based practice? Quantitative and qualitative inventories are the first steps, which is the focus of the present project ‘Physical Activities and sports for Pre-schoolers in the Netherlands’ (acronym: PAP-NL). A future step would be to study how preschool physical activities are associated with health and outcomes and societal outcomes.
• Findings: Between September 2015 and January 2016, a total of 117 sports clubs (48% in the city of Utrecht, 52% in suburban area around Utrecht) completed an online inventory on sports activities for pre-schoolers. Of all the responding clubs, 62% did organise sports activities for pre-schoolers. Such activities were more reported by clubs in the suburban area (72%) than in the city (52%). The activities mostly offered were: gymnastics/dance (25%, mean starting-age 2.9 yrs); soccer (25%, mean starting-age 4.5 yrs); and martial arts, mostly judo (15%, mean starting-age 4.0 yrs). On average, activities were offered during 38 weeks per year, once a week, and 54 minutes per session. According to board-members of sports clubs, most important reasons for offering their sports activities to pre-schoolers were: 1) demand by parents; 2) sports requiring an early start; 3) children’s eagerness; 4) health and (motor) development of children; 5) membership recruitment; and 6) brothers/sisters are also member of a sports club. Further in-depth interviews with various stakeholders – also including parents – are currently being conducted.

VII. The preventive effect of an ankle brace on lateral ankle sprains in female amateur soccer players. A randomized Controlled Trial

• Research line: Sport & healthy society
• Main applicant: Bionka Huisstede, PhD, B.M.A.Huisstede@umcutrecht.nl.
• Study: The aim of this project is to start an RCT that will study the primary preventive effect of an ankle brace compared to no brace on the incidence of acute ankle sprains in female soccer players. Besides registration of the number of ankle injuries, the researchers will also study which factors contribute to compliance and determine the extent to which players use the brace as intended. The project will lead to a proposal for the ZonMW Call ‘Sportblessurepreventie’.

Questions

For questions about the call and the criteria you can contact Frank van Eekeren.