SPLISS and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel have approved an international joint research group programme (IJRG) between with Victoria University, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Sheffield Hallam University and Utrecht University.
SPLISS has the ambition to establish an international center of excellence that shares knowledge on innovative high performance sport policy research with different stakeholder groups (academics & sport scientists, sport managers, policy makers, governing bodies). To achieve this, three research lines will be developed further.
Firstly, a more efficient measurement tool designed to service the needs of elite sports and their stakeholders will be developed to monitor the efficiency and performance of their policies. This can be applied to more nations (SPLISS 3.0) and be used to attract external funding. Secondly, the project will develop a theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanisms through which elite sport can (or cannot) be linked to outcomes at individual (e.g., personal development of talented people) and societal level (e.g., social cohesion/capital, emotional capital). In line with the SPLISS group’s expertise our challenge lies in the measurement of actual impacts of elite sport outcomes in relation to the inputs and throughputs. Thirdly, we will apply the theories and methodologies developed by SPLISS more broadly to other contexts, notably disability sport (Para-SPLISS) and developing sport systems (SPLISS-DSS).