Mark 18-20 September 2024 in your calendar and save the date! 🙌
The Summit is back and, like last time, will take place in Ghent, Belgium. 📌 Details about the program and the speakers are regularly updated, so keep an eye on this page and our social media channels!
Would you like to speak at our summit, give us a hand organization-wise, or be a sponsor at the event? Please let us know asap through our contact form.
The upcoming STRN Summit is focused on a variety of topics such as:
The latest scientific breakthroughs and how these could lead to actual products and services to be used in the field
Lessons learned from university-industry partnerships when it comes to innovations relevant for sports and the broader society
Needs and desires from real-life contexts such as team or individual sports, and how to set up innovation projects including the end-user early in the process
The event is relevant for:
Academics who want to explore partnerships with external stakeholders such as startups, companies, teams, federations, etc.
Research and Innovation managers looking for inspiration, talent and good practices from like-minded people and organizations
Practitioners looking forward to embracing the latest innovations early in the process
The STRN Summit also aims to collectively define and (partly) answer some of the big questions in the sports and health domain, such as:
How to evaluate the quality of technology?
How to facilitate the transfer of knowhow from academia to society?
How to set up successful partnerships with limited resources?
This year, we're paying special attention to the crossroads between the Sports and Health tech fields, meaning:
We’ll discuss how technology used in elite sport could benefit sport for all and healthy living conditions
How advancements in the health and medical domains may be of benefit in a sports, fitness or physical activity context (+ vice versa)
How different research, startup and funding ecosystems can be brought closer together for the benefit of sports and society
Summit 2024 will take place in the iconic Wintercircus: a former indoor circus that has recently been renovated and reopened to the public.
Built in 1885, the “New Circus” was built with the purpose of entertainment: several circus companies gave year-round performances in the building, even during winter.
In 1920 the building was heavily damaged due to a fire, and was reconstructed thereafter. After World War II the circus interior was altered for good, as car mechanic Ghislain Mahy bought and transformed the building into a car workshop.
The workshop continued its activities until 1978, after which the Wintercircus was used as a depot for vintage cars.
Fast forward to 2024: the building reopens again to the public after 5 year of intensive renovations.
Innovating start-ups and scale-ups will breathe new life into the former workshops and share their knowledge in the meeting rooms or the auditorium during lectures and presentations.
The underground level will house a concert hall seating 500 spectators. A perfectly grand and unique setting for the STRN Summit!
The Sports Tech Research Network is an initiative of the sports innovation consortium at Ghent University (Belgium) called Victoris, in collaboration with the non-profit organization SportaMundi.