2024 PhD Students and Early Career Academics Research Grants awarded 

In the framework of the PhD Students and Early Career Academics Research Grant Programme, the IOC Olympic Studies Centre (OSC), with help of its Grant Selection Committee, has selected four research projects based on their academic quality and link with Olympic studies. 

Olympic Studies Centre
© IOC/Catherine Leutenegger

The selected candidates and their chosen projects are:

1. Sihyeong CHO (KOR)

Research project: Two Winter Olympics in Gangwon: Modern Environmentalism among Key Stakeholders and Young Generation
Loughborough University (GBR)

2. Sonja CIMELLI (GBR)

Research project: Breaking and the Olympics: An exploration of the judging system during breaking’s diversification from subculture to mainstream artistic sport
Buckinghamshire New University (GBR)

3. Joshua FROST (AUS)

Research project: Facilitators and barriers to mental health help-seeking among Olympic coaches: A concept mapping study
The University of Melbourne (AUS)

4. Jason Paolo TELLES (PHI)

Research project: The Southeast Asian Games and the mediation of Philippines Cultures and Identities
Monash University (AUS)

The chosen candidates benefit from a grant which allows them to carry out their research project and, if relevant, to consult the Olympic Studies Centre’s resources in Lausanne (Switzerland). The results of their research must be submitted to the OSC at the end of 2024.

28 candidates from 22 countries and 5 continents applied

For this 25th edition of the programme, 21 applications were submitted by doctoral students and 7 by early career academics.

Background of the programme

The PhD Students and Early Career Academics Grant Programme is one of the two research programmes that has been organised by the OSC, aiming to support Olympic-related academic research since 1999. It contributes to promote the presence of Olympic studies in the universities by reaching out to the next generation of professors.

What is the selection process?

The grant holders were selected by a committee of academic experts renowned for the quality of their research linked to Olympism and/or their involvement in Olympic studies. The selection committee for the 2024 edition of the programme comprised the following members: Mahfoud Amara (Qatar University, Qatar), Dikaia Chatziefstathiou (Canterbury Christ Church University, Great Britain), Marion Keim (University of the Western Cape, South Africa), Sigmund Loland (Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norway), Hisashi Sanada (Tsukuba University, Japan), Tracy Taylor (RMIT University, Australia) and Paul Wylleman (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) as well as OSC representatives.

Other research grant opportunities

University professors, lecturers and research fellows who have completed their doctorate and who currently hold an academic/research appointment covering the period of the grant are eligible to apply to the Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme.

This programme aims to promote advanced research by established researchers with a humanities or social sciences perspective in priority fields of research, which are identified annually by the IOC.

The full list of research projects funded by The Olympic Studies Centre since the creation of its grant programmes in 1999 is available here.

For more information on The Olympic Studies Centre and its programmes and services, visit its website or contact studies.centre@olympic.org. To discover the full OSC’s collections including 38,000 publications and 1.5km of IOC historical archives, visit the Olympic World Library.

The Olympic Studies Centre is the recognised source of reference for Olympic knowledge. Its missions include to make Olympic knowledge accessible, foster academic education and research and support the academic community engaged in Olympic studies.