Two years of achievement for Victoria University's Sport and Learning Precinct

On 24th June 2011 Victoria University (VU) celebrated the opening of its $68.5 million state-of-the-art Sport and Learning Precinct at its Footscray campus in Melbourne.

This cutting edge facility is the home of the new Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), which itself was established in February 2010, with a simple but focused vision of being a global leader in sports, exercise and active living research.

The facilities at ISEAL are highly impressive and would be coveted by any athlete, coach, researcher or sports bureaucrat.

They consist of a sport and learning precinct that houses 29 new laboratories which include motor learning and skilled performance labs, exercise physiology labs, motor control and bio feedback labs, sport and exercise biochemistry and molecular biology labs and finally biomechanics labs.

ISEAL is led by its two directors, Professor Hans Westerbeek (Professor in Sport Business) and Professor Mike McKenna (Professor in Exercise Physiology) with research being led by the latter. Within ISEAL research programmes of Sport, Exercise and Active Living are coordinated by Research Leading Professors David Bishop (sport), Glenn McConell (exercise science), and Remco Polman (active living).

This concentration of human and capital resources delivers a critical mass that allows the University to produce world leading research and teaching programs in sport, exercise science and active living, putting them in an enviable position to achieve their original vision of being a global leader in the industry.

ISEAL has been at the forefront of thinking about the whole life cycle of participation, active living and high performance and the role research has to play in the sports, exercise and active living landscape.

ISEAL understands the true value of partnerships and has established links with a wide range of national and international sports organisations, research facilities, governments and universities. These partners have been quick to realise the potential value that ISEAL can offer to them in respect of achieving their own targets.

An example of this is the recent partnership with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the world renowned Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). VU is the only Australian University with a formal partnership with these bodies.

The partnership includes research, joint projects, appointment of joint professorial and research staff and AIS use of VU sport science laboratories.

ISEAL's work includes basic research for organisations such as the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Association and applied and consulting research for government agencies, NGOs, international sporting bodies, national sporting bodies, professional sporting teams and non-profit organisations in the sport and health industries.

Therefore ISEAL aims to provide services and products to its customers based on a robust foundation of data, innovative thinking, high-quality analysis and collaborative relationships that deliver technological and ground breaking mutually advantageous outcomes.

Because this is a whole University ideology, ISEAL has an organisational structure that can permeate through multi faculty disciplines to deliver a research scope resulting in world class outcomes and offers a value position that is hard to replicate.

For more information on the work of ISEAL contact David Bishop, Research Leader at Institute of Sport, Exercise & Active Living (ISEAL) Victoria University on 03 9919 9471, E: David.Bishop@vu.edu, www.vu.edu.au/iseal

19th April 2011 - NEW ERA OF RESEARCH FOR AUSTRALIAN SPORT