August 2023

For the first time, a project concerning dual-career athletes has been initiated in the Republic of Kosovo. The project, titled “Dual-career athletes in the Republic of Kosovo and their motivation towards sport and education” is under the leadership of Dr. Sc. Masar Gjaka, 2019 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship winner, who holds the position of Dean at the Faculty of Sports Science and Movement at the University for Business and Technology in Pristina. Thanks to the outstanding collaboration with researchers and experts from five different countries within the European Union, during the period of 2018-2019 Dr. Gjaka cooperated as a researcher for the co-construction of the online educational programme for parents of dual career athletes of the ERASMUS+Sport EMPATIA project (https://edu.empatiasport.eu/eng/).

The “Dual-career athletes in the Republic of Kosovo and their motivation towards sport and education” project holds significant pertinence in its capacity to provide substantial support to dual-career athletes in the future, especially the Republic of Kosovo. The acquisition of knowledge, unique experience, establishment of a network, and comprehension of the significance of dual-career support have collectively instigated the inception of this mission.

The successful realization of this project owed its feasibility to the endorsement of the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports. The Ministry recognized the project as important and aligned with their goals. It is important to note that this project serves as an initial step toward the accomplishment of more extensive initiatives on national, regional, and even international scales. It’s notable that the execution of this project stems from the close cooperation with the European Athlete Students organization, which has made invaluable contributions to the execution and the achievement of outcomes of the ongoing “Dual-career athletes in the Republic of Kosovo and their motivation towards sport and education” project. In particular, dr. Gjaka (UBT) and dr. Elena Conde (UCAM) are acting as Members of the EAS Scientific Committee, chaired by Prof. Antonio Tessitore (UNIMED) and supervised by the ExCom Member Prof. Antonio Figueiredo (Coimbra University).

Dr. Gjaka will have further opportunities to establish Dual Career cooperation during his Fulbright Scholarship visit at the Department of Applied Physiology, Health, and Clinical Sciences of the University of North Carolina Charlotte (USA).

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EAS wishes all the Bengt Nybelius Scholarship Winners to be inspired for advancing the European Dual Career and is looking forward to meet the 2023 winner on October 2-4 during the Annual Conference in Gaeta https://sites.google.com/unicas.it/easconference2023/home.