Since 2005, TUD Dresden University of Technology has been a "partner university of top-level sports". The basis for this is a cooperation agreement between TUD and the German University Sports Federation (ADH), the Olympic Center Saxony (formerly Olympic Center Chemnitz/Dresden until 2018) and the Dresden Students’ Union (Studentenwerk), which has now been amended and expanded.

© TUD / Angela Schuster-Jirka

This cooperation enables top athletes to combine their academic education at TUD with their commitment to competitive sports. Achieving outstanding academic performance is a feat that requires an extraordinary time commitment on the part of the athletes. At the same time, athletes compete in a life phase in which they also need to lay the foundations for their future professional career in sports. As part of the “partner university of top-level sports” agreement, specific structures and conditions have been created which help the athletes to compensate for any disadvantage they may face in pursuing both their studies and their sporting goals.

© Crispin-Iven Mokry

The Olympic Center Saxony has a particular interest in supporting the dual career pursuits of its athletes. TU Dresden is an important and reliable partner in providing this support. Many successful athletes have been able to take advantage of the cooperation agreement and complete their studies at the university in the best way possible. A paragon example is Tom Liebscher-Lucz. He studies transport engineering and won the gold medal in canoeing at both the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

© TUD / Angela Schuster-Jirka

Another shining example is Tina Punzel. She is pursuing a degree in economics at the same time as a competitive career in diving, where she won a bronze medal at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She has recently ended her competitive sports career and is now solely focusing on completing her studies.

In the last few years, both the legal framework and the sporting demands have changed. This is our motivation behind in both amending and expanding the agreement. In addition to us providing effective academic support to our top athletes in the form of study advice, examination dates, internships, etc., there is now one advisor available per faculty, so that our top athletes can better shoulder the double burden of studying and sport.

“For TU Dresden, the cooperation to support elite sports is very important,” emphasizes Jan Gerken, Chancellor of TU Dresden. “We see the considerable and occasionally double burden placed upon our athletes. Here, we as a university seek to find practical solutions. For example, with our sports scholarships, we have also been able to provide several years of financial support to relieve this burden.”

Christian Pöhler, Head of the Olympic Center Saxony, added: “Sporting success at this level is not determined by chance. It is the result of hard and extensive training. And this ideally culminates in competing worldwide to earn an Olympic medal. Today, the ability to combine competitive sports training and studying for a professional qualification is indispensable for a successful career. Working closely alongside our partner TU Dresden, we can lead elite athletes to a successful career start.”

In summary, Prof. Stefan Odenbach, member of the Dresden University Sports Center (DHSZ) Executive Board and academic mentor of top athletes at TU Dresden, explains: “We support professional athletes in successfully advancing their academic careers, so that they have something solid to fall back on after their athletic careers come to an end.”

Further information on supporting top athletes at TU Dresden with sports scholarships and dual careers is available here: https://tu-dresden.de/dhsz/die-einrichtung/leistungssport

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