Where, when, how, and with whom do young university students engage in physical activity? A cluster-derived spectrum of patterns across 16 European universities.

Cluster analysis of mixed data identified three typologies of student sport and physical activity participation: 'Autonomous', 'Networked Supervised', and 'Regularly Supervised'.

• Survey of 2,165 undergraduate students (65.3% female) aged 18-25 years.
• Students came from 16 universities in 12 European countries and completed an online questionnaire as part of the HYPEM project.
• The profiles range from flexible, self-organized practice to more structured, supervised participation.

Individual and contextual characteristics were associated with the spatial, temporal, social, intensity-related, and equipment-related dimensions of PA participation.

• The study used an ecological approach considering interrelated determinants at the individual, social, environmental, and policy levels.
• Associations covered where, when, how, and with whom students engaged in PA.

Space, time and equipment were the key variables for profiling students' PA participation.

• These variables were the most discriminating in the cluster-derived typology of sport and PA participation.

Differences in PA profiles were observed across participating institutions.

• The authors state that contextual factors should be considered when interpreting these exploratory profiles.

The profiles are exploratory and may help generate hypotheses for designing and evaluating university PA opportunities in future prospective and intervention studies.

• The authors frame the clusters as hypothesis-generating rather than confirmatory.
• The work responds to European policy calls for better monitoring of PA beyond standardized quantity measures.