Active Ageing - Our Team

Michael Brach - Head of the Lab

Michael Brach was educated in sports science, mathematics and psychology. His research includes development, implementation and evaluation of ageing-related exercise and physical activity programmes in different settings. He teaches human movement science and athletics.

Michael received a doctoral degree from the faculty of natural sciences at the University of Potsdam (human movement science: EEG, mental training and exercise) and a postdoctoral degree (habilitation) from the faculty of humanities and social sciences at the KIT Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (evaluation research: exercise and physical activity programmes for the elderly). He is associate editor of EURAPA, the European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, and treasurer of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity (EGREPA). In his academic and project work, he benefits from several years of professional experience as a movement therapist in residential geriatric care.

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PhD Students

Ellen Bentlage received her Master’s degree in Sport and Movement Gerontology from the German Sport University in Cologne (DSHS). During working as a research assistant in the “Denksport” project at the DSHS, Ellen gathered a valuable experience in research areas related to dementia and MCI patients. Since 2020, she has been working as a research associate & a doctoral candidate at WWU in the department of Movement Science. Starting with the EU-funded health project “PROCare4Life”, her PhD work focuses on “Promoting Physical Activity to Older Adults through Information and Communication Technologies: Connecting user needs with technology requirements”
. In 2022, Ellen started working as a project manager in the Erasmus+ projects “PA4AGE” and “INTEGRA_LAB” and “AGE-WELL” Additionally, she is a grant holder manager in the Cost Action CA20104 “PHYSAGENET”.​

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Student assistants

Anna Wittig is completing her Bachelor’s degree at the WWU with a double major in Sports and English. She is focusing her studies on Kinesiology, which has further deepened her interest in the field of Active Aging. She joined the department in January 2023 and will be contributing to the Erasmus+ projects PA4Age and AgeWell Europe.

Vanessa Hübert has been working as a student assistant in the Institute of Movement Science since 2019. In the same year, she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in "Human Movement in Sports and Exercise" (University Münster), received asecond B. Sc. in "Home Economics & Nutrition Science" at Münster University of Applied Sciences in 2022 and is currently doing her Master in “Nutrition and Health”. She takes over administrative tasks in different Erasmus+ projects and works in the Cost Action CA20104 “PHYSAGENET”.

 

Nicola Berendes is completing her Bachelor's degree in “Human Movement in Sports and Exercise" at the University Münster. During her studies, she quickly realized that she was very interested in putting scientific theory into practice. Therefor she applied for the Erasmus+ project "INTEGRA-LAB+" in February 2023, to put research into practice and gather new experiences.