Research and externally funded projects

EXcITE – The impact of exercise on neurocognition in cancer patients

Project leaders: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen & Dr Christina Brummer (Regensburg University Hospital)
Funding: Helga and Erwin Hartl University Foundation

This joint project brings together oncological care, sports medicine, functional genomics (mass spectrometry) and psychology, and investigates the exercise-induced activation of the endogenous endocannabinoid system as a potential mechanism for the short-term modulation of executive brain functions following acute physical exertion – an approach in the tertiary prevention of cancer that has scarcely been investigated to date.

A Healthy Back – From the Start – For Life (2023–2025)

Project leaders: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen & Prof. Dr Joachim Grifka
Funding: Gesund.Leben.Bayern. (Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care)

Back pain is common in adulthood. For this reason, it is important to begin training children in back-friendly behaviour from an early age. The aim of the project was to develop and evaluate a web-based programme for pre-pubertal training, designed to help children internalise behaviour patterns that are appropriate for their bodies. In this randomised controlled trial, a 12-week web-based preventive back health intervention was evaluated for 141 children aged between 6 and 11 years. The intervention group received exercise and back-friendly instructional videos, whilst the control group was provided only with instructional videos on general health promotion. The intervention led to a significant increase in knowledge about the back and in positive self-compassion; however, it did not result in significant differences between the groups in terms of posture, prevalence of back pain, core muscle endurance, functional mobility, self-concept, negative self-compassion or daily sitting time. These findings highlight the challenges involved in digital health promotion for younger children and suggest that future programmes could benefit from increased interactivity.

References:

• Weigel, S., Grifka, J. & Jansen, P. (2025). Evaluation of a web-based back prevention programme for primary school children: a randomised controlled trial. Scientific Reports, 15, 41176. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-27813-0
• Weigel, S., & Jansen, P. (2025). Exploring the links between bodily and psychological health dimensions in primary-aged school children. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research, 55, 646–658. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12662-025-01066-5

Spatially Enhanced Learning Linked to STEM (SellSTEM) (2021–2025)

Project leader: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen
Funding: EU – Marie Skłodowska Curie Innovative Training Network

Research has shown that people with good spatial abilities are more successful in STEM subjects, enjoy them more and are more likely to pursue further education or a career in STEM than people with poorer spatial abilities. Women are over-represented among those with weaker spatial abilities, meaning they face disadvantages when learning STEM subjects. Over a four-year period, as part of the SellSTEM project – comprising ten European universities and eight non-academic partners – 15 PhD students were recruited and innovative, practical approaches were developed to improve the spatial abilities of young people in Europe.
As part of the Regensburg project, potential gender-specific stereotypes among pre-school children regarding spatial abilities were investigated, as was the training of spatial abilities at this age. With regard to potential stereotypes, the picture is mixed. Training in spatial abilities also appears to have an effect only on specific tasks, namely on visual-spatial working memory. There is a greater need for research into spatial abilities in childhood.

References:

• Ebert, M., & Jansen, P. (under review). Working memory training and mental rotation in pre-school children.
• Ebert, M., Jost, L., & Jansen, P. (2025). No relationship between gender stereotypes and mental rotation in preschool girls. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1650979. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1650979
• Ebert, M., Jost, L., & Jansen, P. (2024). Gender stereotypes in preschoolers’ mental rotation.Frontiers in Psychology: Developmental Psychology, 15, 1284314. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1284314

INNACH – From internal sustainability to sustainable behaviour at universities (2022–2023)

Project leaders: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen together with Prof. Dr Lea Cassar, Prof. Dr Gunther Hirschfelder, Dr Carmen Jochem and Ann-Kathrin Rossner
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

The aim of this joint project was to plan a wide-ranging study to investigate the effects of a mindfulness intervention – in comparison with other interventions – on well-being and sustainable dietary behaviour among different student groups at the university. Initial preparatory work was carried out as part of this project.

Reference:

• Winkelmair, A., Schroter, F., & Jansen, P. (2025). Vegetarian and sustainable food consumption behaviour: Exploring the relationship between explicit and implicit attitudes towards vegetarian foods and dispositional mindfulness. Appetite, 206, 107847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107847
  

Factors influencing gender differences in mental rotation among primary school children

Project leaders: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen and Prof. Dr Claudia Quaiser-Pohl (University of Koblenz-Landau)
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)

The influence of spatial behaviour on the development of spatial knowledge – studies in virtual environments

Project leaders: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Training the spatial-cognitive abilities of children with spina bifida in virtual environments

Project leader: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Training spatial-cognitive skills in school-age children

Project leader: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen
Support: German Research Foundation (DFG)

Investigation of cortical plasticity following training in music, sport or dance in pre-school children

Project leaders: Prof. Dr Petra Jansen and Prof. Dr Martin Heil (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Hemisphere asymmetry in mental rotation: developmental psychological and differential aspects

Project leaders: Petra Jansen and Martin Heil (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf)
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)

• BayIntAn (Petra Jansen): Workshop on training visual-spatial skills, taking into account emotional, cognitive and motor aspects (2025).
• Eden Foundation (Petra Jansen): The role of mindfulness in the explicit and implicit evaluation of sustainable food consumption (2020–2024).
• BKK Pro-Vita: The impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on executive functions and emotional well-being in pre-school children (2019).
• Mobil-Oil Health Insurance: The impact of mindfulness on stress reduction in teacher training (2018–2019).
• BAYLAT – Start-up funding (Petra Jansen): Beneficial effects of physical activity and mindfulness-based programmes on the emotional, cognitive and physical development of children and adolescents (2018).
• Bavarian Karate Club & Donations (Katharina Dahmen-Zimmer & Petra Jansen): The impact of dance and karate training on cognition, emotion and motor skills in patients with Parkinson’s disease (2016–2017).
• Occupational Health and Welfare Insurance Association (Petra Jansen & Joachim Grifka): A brief guide to preventing musculoskeletal disorders (2015).
• Bavarian Karate Association (Petra Jansen & Katharina Dahmen-Zimmer): The effect of karate training on self-esteem and propensity for aggression in young people with behavioural problems; the effect of karate training on cognition in elderly people in care homes; The effect of karate training on stress reduction in adults (2011–2014).
• Signal Iduna Health Insurance (Petra Jansen & Joachim Grifka): ‘Back Fitness’ – Evaluation of a back training programme (2011).