Associations, Federations and Special Interest Groups

The European College of Sports and Exercise Physicians is a medical speciality society comprised of physician members within the European community. The mission of the College is toadvance the competency of sports physicians and the best possible care,for their athletes and the citizens of Europe, by providing continuing education, publishing research; to collaborate with other sports medicine organizations  and serving as a source of information to the public.

The Sports Physioterapy Group of Interest is an advisory body of the Portuguese Association of Physiotherapists and a founding member of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy. Aims to represent and promote the physical therapy in sport, to meet the needs of its members, the sporting population, the profession and the general population through clinical practice at the level of sport, research, education and professional development.

The International Sports Engineering Association is well into its second decade of existence. During the early years, the field of sports engineering worked hard to define itself as a recognized academic discipline as well as professional field in the sports industry. Today, the field is largely recognized as a distinct discipline of engineering as evidenced by annual international conferences, numerous regional and technical specific conferences, and four distinct journals. The International Sports Engineering Association serves the rapidly growing community of sports engineering academics and practitioners by promoting the field of sports engineering through information sharing between members, the publication of the journal Sports Engineering, the production of the biannual conference, The Engineering of Sport, and support of the biannual conference the Asia-Pacific Conference on Sports Technology. We invite you to contribute your work to our journal and conferences. The ISEA maintains two databases as a service to its membership. The first is our member database, and the second is a searchable research database of sports engineering publications. Both of these databases are very useful for research and product innovation initiatives.

The European College of Sport Science is an international non-profit organization founded in Nice, France in 1995. Its purpose is the promotion of science and research, with special attention to the interdisciplinary fields of sport science and sports medicine. The ECSS associates scientists committed to the ECSS mission by individual membership. By organizing annual scientific congresses the ECSS provides a networking platform to share your knowledge.

The International Society of Biomechanics (ISB) was founded at Penn State University on August 30, 1973 to promote the study of all areas of biomechanics at the international level. The ISB promotes and supports international contacts amongst scientists, the dissemination of knowledge, and the activities of national organizations in the field of biomechanics. The ISB has a broad view of the science and application of biomechanics, believing that biomechanics has a major role in the study of all biological systems, from the level of the whole organism down to molecular size scales. Therefore, the Society's membership includes scientists from a large variety of disciplines including anatomy, physiology, engineering (biomedical, mechanical, mechatronics, etc.), orthopedics, rehabilitation medicine, sports science, sports medicine, ergonomics, electrophysiological kinesiology and others.

The main aim of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) is to promote scientific work in the field of sports psychology. In addition, the Managing Council of FEPSAC, consisting of members from nine different countries, has decided to publish position statements on topical and important questions. The recommendations in the position statements represent the opinion of FEPSAC and are based on scientific knowledge.

The European Society of Biomechanics (ESB) was founded at a meeting of 20 scientists from 11 countries in Brussels on May 21, 1976. The participants decided to create a new society, the European Society of Biomechanics. Biomechanics was defined as “The study of forces acting on and generated within a body and of the effects of these forces on the tissues, fluids or materials used for diagnosis, treatment or research purposes”. The primary goal of the ESB was formulated as “To encourage, foster, promote and develop research, progress and information concerning the science of Biomechanics”.

The Portuguese Sports Federation for Persons with Disabilities (FPDD) is a multisport Federation, endowed with Sports Public Utility, established as a nonprofit association that pursues nationally the development of cumulative practice of diverse sport practices for people with disabilities, in cooperation and respect for national associations per disability area affiliated to them.

The Portuguese Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine – Sociedade Portuguesa de Medicina Física e de Reabilitação (SPMFR) – was founded in 1953. The History of SPMFR equals the growth and the importance of physiatrists and of PRM in Portugal. At this moment, SPMFR plays a major role in the development of PRM in Portugal and on the care of the disabled.  Nowadays, SPMFR is one of the most recognized and prestigious medical societies in Portugal, mainly due to his efforts in working on all PRM challenges, creating theme groups of specialists and SPMFR Sections, reinforcement  scientific links to other Portuguese PRM Institutions and increasing the partnerships to International and National Scientific Societies.

The SPEF - Portuguese Society of Physical Education is the entity that, since 1983, is at the national level, the scientific community within the Physical Education and Sport area. Internationally the SPEF is a member of FIEP (Federation Internationel de Education Physique), the FETEF (Federação Europeia dos Titulados em Educação Física), the ICHPER (International Council For Health Physical Education Recreation) and founder of EUPEA member (European Physical Education Association). The SPEF's mission is the study and promotion of physical activity, objectified: to promote a scientific attitude, in consideration of the problems and intervention concerning bodily activities of any kind; to stimulate the interaction between different areas of experts, by organizing scientific sessions, forms of exchange and collaboration; and fostering the creation of research projects, preferably interdisciplinary features, aimed at deepening the knowledge and looking for proposed solutions to the problems that affect the correct development of the areas of application of Physical Education. Physical Education and Sport today are increasingly important in the national context, reflecting a sharp increase in scientific research, which poses as essential the benefits of physical activity, both at the school system level, as sports or social level.

The International Association of Computer Science in Sport (IACSS), and the predessesor (the WorkingGroup COSISP), have been founded to improve the international cooperation in the field of Computer Science in Sport. Obviously, the internationalization of this discipline is of great importance for the exchange of views, the discussion and presentation of current research results as well as the realization of joint research projects.