The Team

Prof. Dr. Ansgar Thiel (born 1963) began his academic career as a research assistant at the Institute of Sports Science at Bielefeld University. He had previously studied sports science, psychology and psychogerontology at the Universities of Tübingen and Erlangen-Nuremberg. He completed his doctorate in 1996 and his habilitation in 2000. After a professorship in sports sociology at Chemnitz University of Technology, Ansgar Thiel took up a professorship in sports science with a focus on social and health science issues at the University of Tübingen in 2004. He was Director of the Institute of Sport Science there for twelve years, has been Spokesperson of the Interfaculty Research Institute for Sport and Physical Activity Tübingen since 2019 and has been full-time Dean of the University's Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences since 2022. Ansgar Thiel was appointed Rector of the German Sport University Cologne since May 20, 2024.

Marion Steffen (born 1976) studied law and political science in Münster and Montreal and completed the MBA Science Management in Osnabrück. At the University of Bielefeld, she was involved in the implementation of the Bologna Process as legal advisor. At the University of Applied Sciences Aachen, she was responsible for the department of studies, teaching and research and worked as a representative of the provost for four years. From 2013 to 2020, Marion Steffen headed the administration of the Cologne University of Music and Dance (HfMT Cologne) as Provost and represented the art and music universities, among other things, in the working group on digitalisation of the university provosts in North Rhine-Westphalia. Since August 2020 she has been Provost of the German Sport University Cologne.

Prof. Dr. Bettina Rulofs (born 1971) has been Professor of Diversity Research at the Institute of Sociology and Gender Research at the German Sport University Cologne since 2021, where she also completed her studies and doctorate. Her work focuses on diversity, gender and inequality research and, based on this, research into discrimination and violence in sport. In 2018, she was awarded the “Sport and Science” prize by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. She was a visiting professor at the University of Vienna, substitute professor at the University of Paderborn and Professor of Sports Sociology at the University of Wuppertal, where she was also head of the Sports Examination Board and the Bachelor's degree program in Sports Science.

Prof. Dr. Tobias Vogt (born 1983) has headed the Institute of Professional Sport Education and Sport Qualifications at the German Sport University Cologne since 2022; he has been a junior professor there since 2016 and was also an adjunct professor at Waseda University, Japan, between 2019 and 2021. He studied sports science and, after research stays at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, and the University of Loughborough, England, completed his doctorate at the German Sport University Cologne in 2013, followed by his habilitation at the University of Paderborn in 2020. He has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the European College of Sport Science since 2021.

Prof. Dr. med. Wilhelm Bloch (born 1959) studied medicine from 1980 to 1986 and physics from 1988 to 1991 at the University of Mainz. He completed his doctorate and habilitation in anatomy and cell biology at the University of Cologne. He worked at the Institute I for Anatomy at the University of Cologne from 1991 to 2003 before joining the Institute for Circulatory Research and Sports Medicine at the German Sport University in 2004 as University Professor for Molecular and Cellular Sports Medicine. He is still a member of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Cologne.  From 2007 to 2020, Prof. Bloch was a member of the Scientific Council of the German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention (DGSP). From 2011 to 2018, he was Chairman of the Science Council and Vice President of the DGSP for Research and Teaching. He has been Chairman of “Exercise is Medicine” Germany since 2020. He has been a member of the University Council of the School of Sports Medicine since 2017 and was its Deputy Chairman from 2022 to May 2024.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Abel (born 1968) has worked at the Institute of Movement and Neuroscience at the German Sport University Cologne since 2003 and has been Professor of Paralympic Sport since 2014. He is deputy head of the institute and focuses his research and teaching on sports for people with disabilities, with a particular interest in performance physiology. He is a member of the Steering Board of the European Research Group in Disability Sport (ERGiDS), which was founded on his initiative in 2011. He sits on the Medical Commission of the German Disabled Sports Association (Deutscher Behindertensportverband e.V.) as an advisor. From 2020 to 2024, he was already a member of the Rectorate as Vice-Rector for Communication, Digitalization and Diversity.