TE Knowledge map

There is a rich, ongoing scientific activity – basic and practical research – at the University, which includes several topics, reflecting the Institutes and Departments of the University.

Economics and Social Science Institute

This Institute is conducting research on the several topics in sport-related economy and social sciences: Sport and economy, sport management, sport marketing, Sport and social changes, sport and sustainable development, The organization of sport between sate, market and civil society, Sport and social stratification, social inequality in sport, sport and social mobility, The practice of sport as revealing aspects of societies sport, way of life, style of life, quality of life, life-styles and aging, Sport and gender, Sport and deviant behavior, sport and discrimination, racism and xenophobia in sport, racism and xenophobia in Hungarian football, International sport politics, sport politics in the European Union, Sport policy and sport politics in Hungary, History of the Olympic Games, history of national and international sporting bodies, Sport and law, Sport and education, university sport from sociological perspective, Sport and communication, Sport and media, Sport and economy, sport management, sport marketing, Sport and social changes, sport and sustainable development, Movement and dance therapy.

Selected recent publications

  • Sterbenz T, Gulyás E, Kassay L.: Incentive System in Hungarian High Performance Sport. PHYSICAL CULTURE AND SPORT STUDIES AND RESEARCH 64:(1) pp. 53-63. 2014.
  • Sterbenz T, Gulyás E, Kovács E, Dóczi T, Gál A, Zilinyi Zs: Study on the introduction of FIBA Europe’s „Homegrown players” rule. University of Physical Education, Budapest, Hungary, Monograph, 2016.

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Department of Psychology and Sport Psychology

The Department of Psychology and Sport Psychology is involved in a wide range of research. The main fields of investigations are: anxiety, coping, resiliency, and their effects on sport performance. Complementing these topics together with the processes of emotion regulation, metacognitive abilities and thinking control form the basis of modern sport psychology preparation. They are investigating the motivational processes and motivational climate for a long time as fundamentals in long-term development of athletes in several sport branches. Another important aspect of their research interest is how the personality of an athlete responses to sport psychological counseling. This is in the focus of the interest, as they work with elite athletes.

They are also interested in self-conscious emotions, such as shame and pride that can have a strong effect on performance and well-being as well. There are two phenomena that are also connected with athletic performance and well-being, which are humor and self-handicapping. Expressing humor is essential in everyday life, as well as in sport, but different types of humor can lead to different outcomes, therefore coaches and teammates need to be aware of what to use and what to avoid. Self-handicapping involves choices and actions that impede the upcoming performance, so failure can be attributed to factors outside of the person. The focus is on how to prevent the occurrence of these types of behaviors. In collaboration with Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest they are also investigating the implicit motor learning in order to probe whether talented martial art athletes are fundamentally better at sequence learning, than their less talented counterparts and even than non-athletes.

Selected recent publications

  • Boda-Ujlaky, J., & Séra, L. (2016). The relationship between gelotophobia, shame, and humiliation. European Journal of Humour Research, 4(1), 93-101.
  • Kalmár, Zs., Nagykáldi, Cs., Balazsi, R., Munkácsi, I., Soós, I., Tóth, L., Hamar, P. (2014). Comparative analysis of the results of performance strategies tests between british and hungarian female gymnasts. Cognition, Brain, Behavior, 18(4), 335-347.
  • Kun, I., & Tóth, L. (2012). Measurement of cognitive ability and thinking level of 10- and 13- year-old football players with football-specific tasks. Biomedical Human Kinetics, 4(1), 49-53.
  • Proyer, R., Ruch, W., Ujlaky, J., Yeun, E. et al. (2009). Breaking ground in cross-cultural research on the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia): A multi-national study involving 73 countries. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 22(1-2), 253-279.
  • Révész, L., Biro, M., Csaki, I., Horvath, T., Patocs, A., Kállay, É., Balazsi, R., & Tóth, L. (2014). The hungarian adaptation of the perceived motivational climate in sport questionnaire-2 (h-pmcsq-2). Cognition, Brain, Behavior, 18(3), 175-190.
  • Sipos, K., Győry-Gritz, Zs., & Tóth, L. (2012). Lifestyle Defense Mechanisms (RED/NH), Self-Efficacy (SE) Measures and Physical Self-Concept of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale For Evening Course Students at the Semmelweis University. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 19(S1), S40-S41.
  • Török, L., Szabó, Zs. P., & Buda-Ujlaky, J. (2014). Self-esteem, self-conscious emotions, resilience, trait anxiety and their relation to self-handicapping tendencies. Review of Psychology, 21(2), 123-130.

Institute of Sports

The faculties of the Institute of Sport are actively involved in practical research on the sport field, such as football, handball, basketball, athletics, swimming and so on.

Topics include: Comparative analysis of the results of performance strategies tests in female gymnasts, improving flexibility and endurance of elderly women, physical activity and sedentary behavior, the Coach-Athlete relationship, and so on. The members of the Institute are publishing on several areas of practical aspects of sport research, as shown by the papers below:

Selected recent publications

  • Zalai D, Pánics G, Bobak P, Csáki I, Hamar P. Quality of functional movement patterns and injury examination in elite-level male professional football players. ACTA PHYSIOLOGICA HUNGARICA 102:(1) pp. 34-42. (2015). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/ APhysiol.101.2014.010
  • Csáki I, Géczi G, Kassay L, Déri D, Révész L, Zalai D, Bognár J: The new system of the talent development program in Hungarian soccer BIOMEDICAL HUMAN KINETICS 6:(1) pp. 74-83. (2014) DOI: 10.2478/bhk-2014-0014
  • Kopkáné Plachy Judit, Vécseyné Kovách Magdolna, Bognár József Improving flexibility and endurance of elderly women through a six-month training programme. HUMAN MOVEMENT 13:(1) pp. 22-27. (2012) DOI: 10.2478/v10038-011-0050-6
  • Soos I, Biddle S J H, Ling J, Hamar P, Iosif S, Boros-Balint I, Szabo P, Simonek J.: Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, use of electronic media, and snacking among youth: an international study. KINESIOLOGY 46:(2) pp. 155-163. (2014). UDC: 613.71:796.012.83-053.6
  • Tóth J ifj, Zalai D, Tóth J, Hamar P. The 3 vs 1 game build-up effectiveness examination in physical and technical tests of 11-year-old football players BIOMEDICAL HUMAN KINETICS 5: pp. 108-112. (2013) DOI: 10.2478/bhk-2013-0016.
  • Soós, István, Biddle Stuart, Boros-Bálint Julianna, Sándor Iosif, Szabó Péter, Hamar Pál, Simonek Jaromir. Prevalence of sedentary behaviour in young people in Romania and Slovakia EUROPEAN PHYSICAL EDUCATION REVIEW 18:(1) pp. 19-46. (2012). doi: 10.1177/1356336X11430659
  • Ottó Benczenleitner , József Bognár , László Révész , JuditPaksi, István Csáki , Gábor Géczi. Motivation and motivational climate among elite hammer throwers. BIOMEDICAL HUMAN KINETICS 5:(1) pp. 6-10. (2013) DOI: 10.2478/bhk-2013-0002
  • Kalmár Zs, Nagykáldi Cs, Balazsi R, Munkácsi I, Soós I, Tóth L, Hamar P. Comparative analysis of the results of performance strategies tests  between british and hungarian female gymnasts. COGNITION BRAIN BEHAVIOUR/COGNITIE CREIER COMPORTAMENT 18:(4) pp. 335-347. (2014).
  • Géczi, Gábor, Bognár József, Tóth László, Sipos Kornél, Balázs Fügedi. Anxiety and Coping of Hungarian National Ice Hockey Players. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCE AND COACHING 3:(2) pp. 277-285. (2008) doi: 10.1260/174795408785100716
  • Trzaskoma-Bicsérdy G, Bognár J, Révész L, Géczi G. The Coach-Athlete Relationship in Successful Hungarian Individual Sports. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCE AND COACHING 2:(4) pp. 485-495.  (2007) doi: 10.1260/174795407783359759
  • Nagy, N, Ökrös Cs, Sós Cs. Research on Relative Age in Hungarian Swimming PHYSICAL CULTURE AND SPORT STUDIES AND RESEARCH 68:(1) pp. 5-13. (2015) DOI: 10.1515/pcssr-2015-0023.

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Institute of Teacher Training

Since the establishment of the Institution there is an ongoing active research life at the Institution. Under the guidance of Prof. Pál Hamar the current investigation is focusing on: “Research on the situation of physical education in the 21st century’s Hungary”. The final goal of this project is that the results to be used for the National Core Curriculum in 2017. In this scientific topic “Curriculum theoretical examination about the situation of physical education during the introduction period of the everyday physical education” they have submitted a tender of OTKA in 2016. The Institute has been involved in a collaborative research with the University of Sunderland (UK) with the leadership of Dr. István Soós. The field of our common investigation is the relationship between the “homo sedens” (sitting) lifestyle and physical activity (Cross Cultural Extension of Project STIL – Sedentary Teenagers, Inactive Lifestyles).

Another part of the investigation of this Institute is to examine the attributes both the cognitive and social part of the personal development in the coach-athlete relationship, as a special pedagogical situation. In competitive sport, an important component of efficiency is the type of the relationship between the coach and athlete. What are the differences between relationships of coach-athlete and teacher-student, what is the role of the conscious pedagogic preparedness of the coach? A recent scientific research – together with the Sport Psychology Department – is the cognitive and behavioral problems’ treatment at the X, Y, Z and Alfa generations by sport.

Right now, the part of the research, the literature analysis is going on. In another scientific project Prof. János Gombocz would like to know if sport has a proved effect on moral development, does sport help in the third dimension of personal development, in the attainment of independent acts.

Selected recent publications

  • Hamar, P., Peters, D., Van Berlo, K. & Hardman, K. (2006): Physical Education in Hungarian Schools after the Political Transition of the 1990s. Kinesiology. International Journal of Fundamental and Applied Kinesiology, Vol. 38, Issue 1. 86-93.
  • Hamar, P. & Petrovic, L. (2008): Physical Education and Education through Sport in Hungary. In: Physical Education and Sport Education in European Union. Ed. by Gilles KLEIN and Ken HARDMAN. DOSSIERS EP.S, EDITIONS REVUE, Paris. pp. 172-187
  • Hamar, P., Biddle, S., Soós, I., Takács, B. & Huszár, Á. (2010): The prevalence of sedentary behaviours and physical activity in Hungarian youth. European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 20, No. 1. 85-90.
  • Hamar, P., Szilva, Zs., Soós, I. & Dancs, H. (2011): Body culture within the EU’s competence system. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, Vol. 6, No. 1. 146-152.
  • Bánhidi, M. & Hamar, P. (2014): Daily Physical Education From the Beginning to the Modern School System in Hungary. In: Physical Education and Health. Global Perspectives and Best Practice. Edited by Ming-Kai Chin and Christopher R. Edginton. Sagamore Publishing, Urbana (USA). pp. 205-217.

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Department of Health Sciences and Sport Medicine

The Institute is active involved in the assessment of cardiovascular effect of exercise and developing new equipment to measure “in motion” the vital parameters, with the leadership of Prof Miklós Tóth.

Selected recent publications

Prof. Akos Koller is engaged – among others – with the investigation of the vasomotor regulation of coronary, skeletal muscle and brain microvessels, and their adaptions to exercise and other conditions and also those associated with mild traumatic brain injury.

Selected publications

  • Koller A, Huang A, Sun D, Kaley G. Exercise training augments flow-dependent dilation in rat skeletal muscle arterioles. Role of endothelial nitric oxide and prostaglandins. Circ Res. 1995 Apr;76(4):544-50.PMID:7534658;
  • Sun D, Huang A, Koller A, Kaley G. Decreased arteriolar sensitivity to shear stress in adult rats is reversed by chronic exercise activity. Microcirculation. 2002 Apr;9(2):91-7.
  • Bugiardini R, Cenko E, Ricci B, Vasiljevic Z, Dorobantu M, Kedev S, Vavlukis M, Kalpak O, Puddu PE, Gustiene O, Trninic D, Knežević B, Miličić D, Gale CP, Manfrini O, Koller A, Badimon L. Comparison of Early Versus Delayed Oral β Blockers in Acute Coronary Syndromes and Effect on Outcomes. Am J Cardiol. 2016. Mar 1;117(5):760-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2015.11.059. Epub 2015 Dec 13. PubMed PMID: 26778165.
  • Pries AR, Badimon L, Bugiardini R, Camici PG, Dorobantu M, Duncker DJ, Escaned J, Koller A, Piek JJ, de Wit C. Coronary vascular regulation, remodelling, and collateralization: mechanisms and clinical implications on behalf of the working group on coronary pathophysiology and microcirculation. Eur Heart J. 2015 Dec 1;36(45):3134-46. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehv100. Epub 2015 Jun PubMed PMID: 26112888.
  • Springo Z, Tarantini S, Toth P, Tucsek Z, Koller A, Sonntag WE, Csiszar A, Ungvari Z. Aging Exacerbates Pressure-Induced Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress in Mouse Cerebral Arteries. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2015 Nov;70(11):1355-9. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glu244. Epub 2015 Jan 28. PubMed PMID: 25631392; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4612385.
  • Nemeth Z, Cziraki A, Szabados S, Horvath I, Koller A. Pericardial fluid of cardiac patients elicits arterial constriction: role of endothelin-1. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2015 Sep;93(9):779-85. doi: 10.1139/cjpp-2015-0030. Epub 2015 Apr 17. PubMed PMID: 26322806.
  • Cseplo P, Vámos Z, Torok O, Ivic I, Toth A, Buki A, Koller A.Hemolysed blood elicits – calcium antagonist and high CO2 reversible – constrictions via elevation of Ca2+ in isolated cerebral arteries. J Neurotrauma. 2016 Mar 28. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:27018759.
  • Cseplo P, Vámos Z, Torok O, Ivic I, Toth A, Buki A, Koller A. Hemolysed blood  elicits – calcium antagonist and high CO2 reversible – constrictions via elevation of Ca2+ in isolated cerebral arteries. J Neurotrauma. 2016 Mar 28. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27018759.

Research Center of Sport and Life Sciences

The research activity of Center headed by Prof. Zsolt Radák is covering the entire human life-span. Significant areas of the research are among others:

Muscular mechanisms and adaptation in physical exercise, Health sciences, especially physical activity and health, health promotion, sport performance, Neurodegenerative illnesses and Ageing and well-being through exercise. Specifically, Prof. Radák and Dr. Koltai are engaged animal models of exercise and investigating important molecular mechanisms associated with reactive oxygen metabolites that are playing role in the ad adaptation to physical activity.

Recent selected publications

  • Powers SK, Radak Z, Ji LL. Exercise-induced oxidative stress: past, present and future.J Physiol. 2016 Feb 19. doi: 10.1113/JP270646. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 26893258
  • Radak Z, Suzuki K, Higuchi M, Balogh L, Boldogh I, Koltai E.Physical exercise, reactive oxygen species and neuroprotection. Free Radic Biol Med. 2016 Jan 28. pii: S0891-5849(16)00038-1. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2016.01.024. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:26828019
  • Suwa M, Nakano H, Radak Z, Kumagai S. Effects of Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibition on Fiber-Type Composition, Mitochondrial Biogenesis, and SIRT1 Expression in Rat Skeletal Muscle. J Sports Sci Med. 2015 Aug 11;14(3):548-55. eCollection 2015 Sep. PMID: 26336341
  • Oláh G, Szczesny B, Brunyánszki A, López-García IA, Gerö D, Radák Z, Szabo C. Differentiation-Associated Downregulation of Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1 Expression in Myoblasts Serves to Increase Their Resistance to Oxidative Stress. PLoS One. 2015 Jul 28;10(7):e0134227. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134227. eCollection 2015. PMID: 26218895
  • Ziaaldini MM, Koltai E, Csende Z, Goto S, Boldogh I, Taylor AW, Radak Z. Exercise training increases anabolic and attenuates catabolic and apoptotic processes in aged skeletal muscle of male rats. Exp Gerontol. 2015 Jul;67:9-14. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2015.04.008. Epub 2015 Apr 21.PMID: 25910622

Prof. Csaba Nyakas is involved in several research topics:

Sport nutrition: research topics are: (1) nutritional status of elite young football players regarding energy balance and intake of micronutrients as well as nutritional supplementation (involved 1 PhD student and 1 TDM student), (2) comparing nutritional and cognitive performances in different sport branches.

Stabiolometric analysis in sport and health (for example at sharpshooters in collaboration with  Prof. Karoly Bretz). Physical fitness in elderlies, standardization of measurements (see added publication). Active and passive exercise in elderly ages. Among passive ones electromagnetic field stimulation and body vibration are selected. Complex movement analysis of walking as a tool of prediction for cognitive decline and dementia in the later ages. Translational animal studies to understand the neurobiology of brain aging.  The preventive effect and mechanism of action of movement exercise on aging related decline in learning and memory (see also added publication). Metabolic and central brain mechanism is the development of obesity based on animal studies. Nutritional and cognitive therapies of obesity.

Recent selected publications

  • Bretz É, Kóbor-Nyakas DÉ, Bretz KJ, Hrehuss N, Radák Z, Nyakas C. Correlations of psycho-physiological parameters influencing the physical fitness of aged women. Acta Physiol Hung. 2014 Dec;101(4):471-8. doi: 10.1556/APhysiol.101.2014.005. PMID: 25201709
  • Gódor-Kacsándi A, Felszeghy K, Ranky M, Luiten PG, Nyakas C. Developmental docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acid supplementation improves adult learning and increases resistance against excitotoxicity in the brain. Acta Physiol Hung. 2013 Jun;100(2):186-96. doi: 10.1556/APhysiol.100.2013.005. PMID:23524180
  • Marosi K, Bori Z, Hart N, Sárga L, Koltai E, Radák Z, Nyakas C. Long-term exercise treatment reduces oxidative stress in the hippocampus of aging rats. Neuroscience. 2012 Dec 13;226:21-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.09.001. Epub 2012 Sep 12. PMID:22982624
  • Marosi K, Felszeghy K, Mehra RD, Radák Z, Nyakas C. Are the neuroprotective effects of estradiol and physical exercise comparable during ageing in female rats? Biogerontology. 2012 Aug;13(4):413-27. doi: 10.1007/s10522-012-9386-3. Epub 2012 Jun 22. PMID:22722983

Department of Biomechanics

This Department is involved – among others – in the investigation of muscle contraction and joint functions in sportsmen. In addition the role of various fiber types is investigated. The Department has strong international connections.

Selected recent publications:

All in all, these scientific activities testify that an international level of research is going on at the University of Physical Education. These research activities are supported by national agencies and university grants.

Student scientists life

A very important aspect of our University is mentoring young scientists by including them in the various research activities.

The University has a Student Scientist Club (TDK) which was established in the 1950s. Each year the University organizes a Student Research Congress, where students give oral and poster presentations regarding their research work.

There is also a competition among them and the best presenting students have the opportunity to attend the National Student Scientific Research Congress. Our young students have been very successful receiving several Awards at these Congresses. In addition, in every two years an International Student Conference is organized, when internationally well-known scientists – young and seniors – are invited. The recent such a Congress was organized in 2016, in which close to a hundred participants were present.

The University has a School of Doctoral Studies, responsible for the education of number of PhD students. The students with their mentors are publishing their results in national and international journals.

The PhD and TDK students are supported to visit research institutions and laboratories of European, American and Asian universities.

The university has widespread scientific connections, which makes it possible for foreign students to do research in our laboratories. The professors and teachers of the University are actively involved in international conferences, publishing scientific papers, serving as Editors or Editorial Board Members of national and international journals, elevating the reputation of the University of Physical Education.

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