Every two years, the DOSB recognises the best of sports science in the country, which has existed since 1953.

A total of 27 works from different areas and disciplines of sports science were submitted, with seven of these being theses and 20 dissertations.

Professor Achim Conzelmann chaired the Board to determine the winner, selecting four for those entered.

"The 27 works submitted offer an impressive showcase of sports science; they show their high level and the continuously growing variety of their topics, theories and methods," he said.

"No competition illustrates the achievements of young sports scientists better than the DOSB Science Prize."

Furley's winning thesis Nonverbal Behavior and Person Perception in Sport took top prize, followed by Carmen Volk of Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen for her dissertation Promotion of competence in physical education: diagnostics, intervention and evaluation in the context of "health and fitness.

Third place was shared by Thomas Gronwald of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg for his thesis Non-linear dynamics of cardiac autonomic function as a parameter of organismic self-regulation during endurance exercise and Pascal Bauer of University of Tübingen for Automated Detection of Complex Tactical Patterns in Football Using Positional and Event Data.

DOSB President Thomas Weikert will personally present the awards on February 24 at the DOSB headquarters House of Sports in Frankfurt.

A total prize fund of €12,000 (£10,700/$12,900) will be shared among the winners.