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Eleven laboratories.
Two campuses. Year-one access.

Modern sport science is instrumented. The Bachelor in Sport & Exercise Sciences for Health and Performance gives students laboratory access from the first semester onward — not as an optional extension, but as the place where the teaching actually happens.

11
Specialised laboratories
6 + 5
Across Thessaloniki and Serres
2
Active research campuses
175,000
m² at the Thermi campus

01 / Why labs matter from year one

You can read the science.
You can't read your way into it.

The questions modern sport science answers — how does a tendon adapt to load? what does fatigue look like in a force-time curve? when has a patient regained functional movement? — are not questions you learn by reading about them. They are questions you learn by measuring them, with appropriate instruments, under appropriate supervision, in an appropriate space.

Across the two schools, eleven specialised laboratories support the curriculum from the first semester onward. Students move between lecture and laboratory in the same week, every week, for four years. Observation, then instrumentation, then interpretation — that is the actual learning sequence of the programme, and it requires laboratories built to teach it.

The pages below describe what each laboratory does and who leads it. The full equipment inventories and current project lists live with the lab directors and are updated each academic year.

Student working in a sport science laboratory

02 / Two campuses, two networks of laboratories

Thessaloniki and Serres.
One programme, two operating sites.

Six laboratories at the Thermi campus in Thessaloniki — the leading school of the joint programme — and five at the campus in Serres. The two sites complement each other: Thessaloniki's laboratories are anchored by the scale of its dedicated sports campus, while Serres' laboratories carry distinctive research profiles in adapted physical education, neuromechanics and sport innovation.

Thermi campus, Thessaloniki
Thermi · Thessaloniki

School of Thessaloniki · Leading school · Founded 1982

Thermi campus.

The dedicated sports campus of the School of Physical Education and Sport Science at Thessaloniki — six specialised laboratories, two amphitheatres, modern indoor and outdoor sports facilities, a climbing wall, archery range, and a 175,000 m² site shared with no other AUTh school.

6
Laboratories
31
Teaching & research faculty
175,000
m² dedicated site
Serres campus, Agios Ioannis
Agios Ioannis · Serres

School of Serres · Founded 1985

Serres campus.

The only university school in the city of Serres — five laboratories anchored by distinctive research profiles in adapted physical education, neuromechanics, sport sociology and sport innovation. A consistent record in conferences, seminars and applied sport-science publications.

5
Laboratories
26
Teaching & research faculty
1985
Founded

03 / The eleven laboratories

Grouped by what they study,
not where they sit.

The eleven laboratories cluster into four research families. Each cluster supports a different dimension of the programme's curriculum — movement science underwrites the biomechanics and motor learning courses, health and medicine underwrites the clinical and physiological work, people and society underwrites the sociological and managerial dimensions, and innovation underwrites the entrepreneurial side of modern sport.

Cluster 01

Movement science.

How human movement is produced, controlled, measured and trained. Four laboratories support the foundational biomechanics and motor-learning content of the programme, across athletic, rehabilitation and lifespan contexts.

Laboratory of Biomechanics, Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki

Laboratory of Biomechanics.

Research on the mechanical foundations of human movement — kinematics, kinetics and applied biomechanical analysis across sport, rehabilitation and lifespan contexts. Supports the core biomechanics teaching of the programme.

Faculty lead Prof. Nikolaos Stergiou · Coordinator of CM07 Biomechanics & CM21 Advanced Biomechanics
Laboratory of Neuromechanics, Serres
Serres

Laboratory of Neuromechanics.

Studies neural control of human movement and the mechanical dimensions of motor performance — from healthy populations to clinical and aging contexts. One of the distinctive research strengths of the School of Serres.

Faculty lead Prof. Fotini Arabatzi · Coordinator of CMPB4 Optimizing Performance in Sport
Laboratory of Motor Behavior and Adapted Physical Activity, Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki

Motor Behavior & Adapted Physical Activity.

Behavioural and neurophysiological research on movement acquisition, control and rehabilitation across the lifespan — including specialised work on adapted physical activity for diverse populations.

Faculty lead Prof. Vassilia Hatzitaki · Coordinator of CM22 Advanced Motor Control & Motor Learning
Laboratory of Evaluation of Human Biological Performance, Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki

Evaluation of Human Biological Performance.

Focuses on the assessment of human performance and biological response to exercise — testing protocols, performance monitoring, and physiological evaluation across training and rehabilitation contexts.

Faculty lead Prof. Thomas Metaxas · Supports CM13 Exercise Physiology & performance courses
Cluster 02

Health and medicine.

Three laboratories support the programme's growing emphasis on exercise as medicine — clinical exercise physiology, rehabilitation, and adapted physical education across populations and health conditions.

Sport Medicine Laboratory, Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki

Sport Medicine Laboratory.

Clinical exercise interventions for cardiovascular, metabolic and chronic-disease populations — exercise testing, monitoring, and applied research across athletic and clinical groups.

Faculty lead Prof. Evangelia Kouidi · Coordinator of CM19 Sports & Exercise Medicine, CMPA5 Sports Cardiology
Laboratory of Adapted Physical Education, Serres
Serres

Adapted Physical Education.

Specialised work on inclusive sport and physical activity for individuals with diverse abilities — design, delivery and evaluation of adapted programmes across educational and applied settings.

Faculty lead Prof. Christina Evaggelinou · Supports adapted physical activity electives
Laboratory of Physiology and Sports Medicine, Serres
Serres

Physiology & Sports Medicine.

Research on physiological responses to exercise across strength, power and endurance contexts. Supports the exercise-physiology backbone of the programme at the Serres campus.

Faculty lead Prof. Ioannis Vrabas· Coordinator of CM13 Exercise Physiology
Cluster 03

People and society.

Sport is also a social phenomenon — historical, sociological, recreational, and managerial. Three laboratories anchor the programme's sociological and applied-management content across both campuses.

Sport Sociology, History & Olympic Education.

Research on the social, historical and educational dimensions of sport — Olympic education, civic dimensions of physical activity, and the sociology of athletic culture across periods and societies.

Faculty lead Prof. Vasileios Barkoukis · Supports sociology & Olympic education courses

Sport Tourism & Recreation.

Applied research on sport-related tourism, outdoor recreation, leisure-sport economics and the management of sport-tourism programmes — at both regional and international scales.

Faculty lead Prof. Konstantinos Alexandris · Coordinator of CM05 Sport Business, EM2 Sport for All Policy

Social Research on Physical Activity.

Studies the social determinants of physical activity, public engagement with sport, and the role of physical activity in community health and well-being across populations.

Faculty lead Prof. Symeon P. Vlachopoulos · Supports sport sociology & public health electives
Cluster 04

Innovation.

An unusual addition for a sport science school — and a distinctive feature of the Serres campus. The programme's commitment to entrepreneurial thinking, sport-tech ventures and applied innovation has its own laboratory dedicated to it.

Sport Entrepreneurship and Innovation Lab, Serres
Serres

Sport Entrepreneurship & Innovation Lab.

An applied laboratory dedicated to the intersection of sport science, technology and entrepreneurial practice — supporting sport-tech ventures, business-model development for athletic services, innovation in athlete-monitoring tools, and the commercialisation of sport-science research. Unusual for a public university sport-science programme, and a distinctive strength of the Serres campus.

04 / Campus infrastructure

175,000 m² of sport,
at one campus.

Beyond the eleven laboratories, the Thermi campus in Thessaloniki occupies 175,000 m² of dedicated land — modern football, tennis, basketball and athletics facilities, two indoor gymnasia, a climbing wall, an archery range and a recreation park. Students train, test and observe in the same place every day. The Serres campus complements this with its own indoor and outdoor facilities at a smaller scale.

Aerial view of the Thermi campus, Thessaloniki

Thermi campus · 175,000 m² dedicated to sport science

Indoor gymnasium, Thermi campus
basketball facilities, Thermi campus
Athletics track, Thermi campus
Indoor facilities, handball court
175,000
m² of dedicated land at Thermi
2
Amphitheatres & teaching halls
2
Indoor gymnasia for teaching & training
Outdoor
Athletics, football, tennis, basketball, archery, climbing, recreation park

Applications open · 2026 entry

See the labs in person.
Or take the next step from here.

Open days and on-campus visits are scheduled across the academic year. Or, if you've already made the decision, the admissions page lays out everything you need to apply for 2026 entry.

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