About us…

Welcome to the website of the German Society for Physiotherapy Science (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Physiotherapiewissenschaft, DGPTW).

The DGPTW was founded in February 2016 in Frankfurt, Germany, as an independent scientific professional organisation. The society’s overarching aim is to promote the development and integration of science and research in physiotherapy, including the link between these and physiotherapy education and physiotherapeutic care. Through this, the DGPTW aims to promote the scientific development of the physiotherapy profession and to foster evidence-based practice in physiotherapy. The DGPTW further aims to stimulate the intra- and interdisciplinary scientific discourse as well as scientific theoretical and methodological pluralism.

The DGPTW’s primary objectives are to…

• provide support for research projects within the field of physiotherapy
• promote the quality of physiotherapy research
• promote the transfer of research findings into physiotherapy practice/care and education
• organise scientific conferences
• act as a competent contact for questions on scientific issues related to physiotherapy
• actively engage in the development and production of guidelines
• disseminate research finding with relevance to physiotherapy both within Germany and internationally, through scientific journals or digital media pathways (without being active as a publisher)
• collaborate with other groups, organisations or institutions with relevance to or supporting physiotherapy science in Germany or internationally.

The DGPTW has 13 founding members: Dr. Sven Karstens, Prof. Thilo Kromer, Prof. Gudrun Diermeyr, Prof. Christian Grüneberg, Prof. Nikolaus Ballenberger, Florian Sandeck Prof. Axel Schäfer, Prof. Bernhard Elsner, Dr. Kerstin Lüdtke, Prof. Christian Kopkow, Dr. Cordula Braun, Prof. Monika Lohkamp und Prof. Michael Jung.

Executive Committee

1. Chairman: Christian Kopkow, Professor for Physiotherapy at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus – Senftenberg, Germany.
2. Vice-Chairman: Annika Schwarz Professor for Physiotherapy at University of Applied Sciences Bremen, Germany.
3. Treasurer: Gabriela Carvalho, Professor of Evidence-Based Clinical Physiotherapy at University of Applied Sciences Furtwangen, Germany.         
4. Secretary: Tobias Michels, Research fellow at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück, Germany.
5. Member of the Board: Linda Baumbach, PhD, Research fellow at Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.

We are welcoming any individuals, groups or institutions who are interested in our work or who would like to become a member or sponsor of the DGPTW.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us at: info@dgptw.org