The pair have both been given the prestigious prize for their recent dissertations, beating off competition from 28 other pieces of work - comprised of 20 dissertations and eight theses - to secure the award, which carries a €12,000 (£9,400/$14,200) reward.

Alongside the other winners, Heinen and Senkel will receive their award at a ceremony at Orangerie in Erlangen on Friday (January 16).

Heinen, from the Univerisity of Hildenheim, wrote his thesis on Visuomotor contingencies in the selection, control and mastery of complex movement acts in sports, while Senkel's was titled: "Effectiveness chances of 'anti-doping law' - an interdisciplinary analysis of the requirements for anti-doping mechanisms and their implementation".

Second place went to Jochen Baumeister from the University of Paderborn, and the DOSB decided to award third place to two people - Elke Grimminger of the University of Hamburg and Emanuel Hübner from the University of Münster.

"All work submitted together provides an impressive showcase of Sport Science," said Professor Dietrich Kurz.

"They show their high level and a still growing diversity of topics and methods and what sport science currently has to offer."

All prize winners will receive their award at a ceremony on January 16, where DOSB President Alfons Hörmann will be present alongside Bavarian State Minister of the Interior of Building and Transport, Joachim Herrmann, and the Mayor of the City of Erlangen, Susanne Lender Cassens.

The award has been running for over 53 years and recognises outstanding academic work in German sport.

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