The IOC Olympic Studies Centre and the Academic Community of Olympic Studies

The IOC Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) is the world source of reference for Olympic knowledge. Our mission is to share this knowledge with professionals and researchers by providing information, giving access to our unique collections, enabling research and stimulating intellectual exchange.

As part of the IOC, we are uniquely placed to collect and share the most up-to-date and accurate information on Olympism. Our collections include the IOC’s historical archives; the official publications of the IOC, the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games, the candidate cities and other Olympic Movement stakeholders; as well as books, articles and journals. Our resources cover all the key themes related to the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement, and their place within society. To give easy access to our unique resources, we have created the Olympic World Library, which is simultaneously a library catalogue, an information portal and a search engine wholly dedicated to Olympic knowledge. This platform offers access to our entire digital and printed collections, and connects you directly to other important publication platforms which publish Olympic content.

One of our key roles is to facilitate communication and cooperation between the IOC and the international academic community. This worldwide community consists mainly of over 40 Olympic Studies Centers and hundreds of individual scholars and university students with different academic and cultural backgrounds working on academic projects related to Olympism.

Thanks to this regular exchange and the work conducted by the academics, we enrich the world’s Olympic knowledge; share new analyses on key topics related to the Olympic Movement; and provide guidance to universities wishing to launch Olympic studies initiatives.

With our two research grant programs, we strengthen the exchanges between the academic community and the IOC. Through the PhD Students and Early Career Academics Research Grant Program, we support young researchers engaged in scholarly Olympic-related research, and foster the development of future professors in the various fields of Olympic studies. Thanks to the Advanced Olympic Research Grant Program, we encourage established researchers to conduct projects in IOC priority fields of research and facilitate collaboration between them and the IOC.

Whether we are sharing our resources, awarding a research grant or collaborating with academics on a project, we are creating bridges between the academic community and the Olympic Movement. We firmly believe that this collaboration can contribute to the goal of Olympism, which is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind.

To learn more about the Olympic Studies Centre, visit olympic.org/studies or contact us at studies.centre@olympic.org.