International Olympic Committee : News

Postgraduate Research Grant Programme 2013

4/25/2012 10:00:00 AM

The IOC Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) has launched the 2013 Postgraduate Research Grant Programme intended for early career researchers engaged in scholarly research on the Olympic Movement, its history and ideals, and the impact of the Olympic Games on the various aspects of contemporary society and culture.

Three main objectives

The objectives of this programme are as follows:

- Encourage early career researchers to undertake research with a humanities or social sciences perspective on the Olympic phenomena. For the 2013 selection, 16 priority fields of research are being proposed to the researchers. You will find several examples of them below:

The impact on local young people and their perception of the Youth Olympic Games in the host cities of Singapore and Innsbruck.
Elite athletes - The role of the entourage (parents, coaches, agents, etc.) in the athlete’s sport career and/or in the preparation of a post-sports career.
The relevance of Olympic education in today’s society, countries and school programmes.
Governance of sports organisations: Future challenges for the Olympic Movement.
Sport-for-development programmes - The challenge of establishing key performance indicators to measure their impact on society.

- To promote consultation and access to written and audiovisual IOC patrimony.

- Encourage exchanges of information and interdisciplinary and intercultural networking of researchers.

Who is eligible to apply?

All current postgraduate students undertaking a PhD degree and all university professors/lecturers who have completed their doctorate or equivalent terminal degree in the past five years and who currently hold an academic appointment.

Selection Committee

The Grant Programme Selection Committee is composed of experts who are world-renowned for their involvement in Olympic studies, and the OSC officers and professionals.

Application files

Application files, and any related correspondence, should be sent to the OSC by email (research_grants@olympic.org) or mail before 28 September 2012. The complete explanatory document and the individual and collective application form are available on our website.

To find out more about the activities and collections of the IOC Olympic Studies Centre, please consult our web site: http://www.olympic.org/studies.

OSC Newsletter Number 15 - December 2011

12/21/2011 10:30:00 AM

Editorial

The Olympic Movement, the IOC and the OSC look back on a very intensive year, filled with events, activities and new initiatives. Close to the end of 2011, we are looking forward to the celebration of the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck next January and the Summer Olympic Games in London in July. At the OSC level, the renovation work on its new site has started, and the Library and Historical Archives are starting to prepare the move for the transfer between the Olympic Museum building and the Villa du Centenaire. We are experiencing exciting times with no risk of getting bored! The Olympic Studies Centre team sends you our best wishes for 2012 and looks forward to welcoming you soon to our new premises.

OSC NEWS

As of April 2012, all the OSC services will be united in the Villa du Centenaire, a building on the north-west side of The Olympic Museum, Quai d’Ouchy 1, CH -1001 Lausanne. Because of this move, the OSC will be closed to visitors from 1 February until the end of March 2012. On-site consultation of the Historical Archives or loans at the Library will not be possible during these two months. Nevertheless, the OSC will be able to receive your requests and will inform you accordingly. The OSC reopens to visitors in April 2012, in its new location.

- For the benefit of all researchers trying to trace the history of marketing elements of the Olympic Movement, the OSC has produced an “Olympic Movement Marketing History” bibliography. It highlights Olympic marketing history in terms of content coverage in existing public documents (themes and years covered) and provides a qualitative selection and assessment per theme. This document is available via the OSC section of the IOC website in English only.

- Did you know that judo entered the Olympic programme in Tokyo in 1964; women’s football appeared at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996; tennis was absent from the Games programme for 13 editions, from 1928 to 1984; and women’s boxing events will be seen for the first time at the London Games in 2012? Check out the OSC’s pages to find out more about the evolution of sports on the Summer Olympic Games programme.

- The library has digitised its patrimonial collections from the Olympic Games in London in 1908, 1948 and 2012. See all the programmes, rules and other official publications in our digital library.

- For the 2012 edition of the Postgraduate Research Grant programme, 34 candidates from the five continents participating in both individual and collective projects submitted their project to the OSC. Among the very diverse range of research subjects, most projects concern the athletes, the legacy of the OG (especially Rio 2016), the history and international relations of the Olympic Movement, sport as a tool for human development and Olympic education and young people. The scholarship winners for 2012 will be announced at the start of next year and the 2013 edition of the Grant programme will be launched in April 2012.

THE ACADEMIC WORLD AND OLYMPISM

Following our previous communication sent in October, we are pleased to inform you that the programme of the 4th International Sport Business Symposium on Olympic-related research, which will be held in Innsbruck on 12 January 2012, can be downloaded here. Registrations can be made at research@innsbruck2012.com.

- Registrations for the International Academy of Sports Science and Technology (AISTS) 2012 Open Modules are now open. The two upcoming modules are Sport Event Management & Organisation (SEMOS) and Sustainable Sport & Event (SSE), both taking place next February in Lausanne.
+ More info

IOC ACTIVITIES

Innsbruck 2012 coming soon! A New Year, a new Youth Olympic Games! Between 13 and 22 January, over 1,000 elite young athletes from more than 65 countries will come together to compete at the first Winter Youth Olympic Games, held in Innsbruck, Austria. Building on the success of the first summer edition, Singapore 2010, this event will feature high-level sporting competition in each of the seven sports on the Olympic programme, combined with an interactive Culture and Education Programme to enable the young athletes to learn new skills, experience different cultures and build friendships. To find out more about the Youth Olympic Games and for the latest news visit www.olympic.org/yog.

- In keeping with a tradition from ancient Greece, last October, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly called upon every country in the world to observe the Olympic Truce for the 2012 Games in London. You are invited to read the full text of the resolution and find out more about the Olympic Truce.

- The report of the 2nd International Forum on Sport for Peace and Development, which was held with the UN last May, is now available on our website.

- We are pleased to make available to universities copies of two recent IOC publications entitled XII Olympic Congress. Copenhagen 2009 - Follow-up and The Olympic Games – Staging the Games. If you would like to receive a copy, please email us at bulletin.ceo@olympic.org

Women make their way in Vancouver

2/13/2010 12:00:00 PM

With more than 40 per cent female athletes, Vancouver 2010 has set a new record for women's participation in the Olympic Winter Games. Out of a total of 2,631 athletes, there are 1,066 women currently giving their best across the Olympic sports.

From Chamonix to Vancouver

Women have come a long way since the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924 in Chamonix, where just four per cent of the participants were female. All seven sports on the winter programme have been open to women since the 1998 Nagano Games, which saw the first women’s ice hockey and curling competitions. In Turin in 2006, they represented a total of 38.28 per cent, and today in Vancouver they are up to 40.51 per cent.

Carrying the Flag

Women were also in the spotlight at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Vancouver Games held last night at BC Place. In all, 25 female flag bearers led their delegations during the athletes’ parade. Among the eight Canadians who carried the Olympic flag into the Olympic stadium there were four women: Betty Fox, an activist in the fight against cancer; Anne Murray, a Grammy award-winning singer; Barbara Ann Scott, the first Canadian Olympic figure skating champion (1948 St Moritz); and Julie Payette, an astronaut.

Learn more about women and sport.