INEFC (National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia) is a Higher Education Centre set up by the Government of Catalonia, whose mission is to provide training, specialisation and perfection for physical education and sports professionals, as well as to carry out scientific research and the publication of its projects and studies.

Originally founded in 1975, INEFC joined the Barcelona Olympics’ spirit and moved to its current headquarters in the Olympic ring area in 1992.

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To carry out its mission, the INEFC has two academic centres, one in Barcelona and one in Lleida, academically ascribed to the Universities of Barcelona and Lleida respectively. Both academic centres have a staff of more than one hundred fulltime professors with proven experience in the field of education and professional practice of the different areas of Physical Education and Sport.

 

Both INEFC centres are located in an excellent setting that favours learning and provide over 100,000 m² of facilities and cutting-edge installations that make them unique in their category.

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The INEFC has a wide range of diverse academic options, which in conjunction with more than thirty nine years of teaching and training experience, has made the INEFC an iconic institution in the area of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences.

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As refers to university education, the INEFC has fully adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Undergraduate degrees, master’s programmes and doctorates are offered according to the ECTS credit system, facilitating and fostering academic mobility of students and faculty throughout Europe.

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Currently, the INEFC has a total of 1,600 undergraduate and over 300 postgraduate students; moreover 500 people are taking part in the continuing education courses offered.

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The Degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, which combines knowledge of sports techniques with other subject matters, enables graduates to practice in the fields of Education, Sports Management, High Performance, Leisure, Wellness and Health, among others.

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The INEFC is the centre of Higher Education that offers the greatest number of Master’s programmes in Spain and also has the higher number of postgraduates in Spain.

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The INEFC offers university master’s degrees for professionals and researchers in the area of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences.

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Thanks to the adscription to the universities of Barcelona and Lleida and the collaboration with other institutions, the specialisation opportunities offered cover the main fields of professional activity. Furthermore, the master’s degrees in the area of research provide access to doctoral studies in either of the two academic centres (Barcelona and Lleida) of the INEFC.

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The INEFC through the research group in sporting games (2014SGR087) has conducted 32 competitive research projects based on cultural, relational and affective dimension of traditional games and sports.

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These projects have received grants from the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain; the Department of Culture of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the European Union (i.e., Culture 2000 program). The members of this group, that are also researchers of BRIDGE project,  have directed more than 10 doctoral theses on this subject and has published more than 60 articles, 10 books and 100 book chapters in Europe, Africa, America and Asia. They have also been part of the scientific committee around 100 international conferences on traditional games and sports (Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, México, France).