How Olympic Studies Centre research grants are helping shape IOC policy and programmes
Victoria University Professor Clare Hanlon will speak at the IWG Global Summit on Women & Sport in Birmingham, UK, this week, presenting a research journey strengthened through an Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) research grant and culminating in the publication of International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines which support the recruitment and retention of women coaches. Her work is one of many examples of the tangible impact of the OSC grant programmes.
Key facts
- The IWG Global Summit on Women & Sport 2026 will feature discussions on IOC-backed research into effective actions for recruiting and retaining women coaches in international sport.
- The research was supported by Olympic Studies Centre research grant programmes, which provide funding and the chance to work directly with the IOC.
- Another project led by Dr Janja Tekavc further illustrates that the programmes help transform research into evidence-based tools and policies for the Olympic Movement
Professor Hanlon’s session, “Driving change: International Federation perspectives on practices encouraging women as coaches”, will cover her research on practices that are encouraging women coaches and advancing gender equality across international sports organisations.
The findings were instrumental to the IOC’s “Good Practices to Encourage Women Coaches in International Federations” publication, released last year, which provides International Federations (IFs) with examples of effective actions already implemented by IFs, along with an evidence-based checklist to guide further organisational action on women’s coaching.
Both the research itself and the checklist are in part outcomes of Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) research grant programmes, of which Professor Hanlon and her research team is a beneficiary. The grant programmes provide funding and also facilitate valuable opportunities for collaboration between the academic community and the IOC. As the “Good Practices” publication demonstrates, the results are not only rigorous research, but also tangible impacts on IOC policies and programmes.
Supporting research that drives action
The OSC offers two research grant programmes. Since 1999, the annual PhD Students and Early Career Academics Research Grant Programme has supported doctoral students and early career researchers engaged in Olympic-related study. The Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme was created in 2014 and runs every two years; it is aimed at established researchers and is structured around priority topics for research identified by the IOC and allows for direct collaboration between the researchers and the relevant IOC department alongside the financial support provided through the grant.
The project led by Professor Hanlon was part of the Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme and was conducted in direct partnership with the IOC’s Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit. It gathered evidence from IFs on the organisational practices that can help recruit and retain women coaches.
This collaboration gave our research a direct line to the people responsible for policy. Working alongside the IOC’s Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit proved to be a powerful collaboration and allowed us to answer questions that sports organisations face. The outcome is a checklist that organisations can apply immediately, and that is grounded in evidence from across the international sport system.
IOC Gender Equality and Inclusion Manager Primrose Mhunduru, part of the team that developed the guidelines, highlighted the benefits of working with established researchers and the ability to base initiatives on rigorous scientific credibility. “It is crucial to make informed decisions and to build policies based on evidence,” said Mhunduru. “It was both a necessary and logical decision to combine the experiences and feedback from sports partners such as the IFs with renowned researchers, and the cooperation with Professor Hanlon exemplifies how science contributes to strengthening policies.”
Collaboration opening up new opportunities
Dr Janja Tekavc, a researcher at the University of Maribor in Slovenia, was another recipient of the 2023/2025 cycle of the Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme. Her project used a sport-specific questionnaire to evaluate the level of mental health literacy among young elite athletes in multiple countries – findings that now directly inform the work of the IOC.
That outcome reflects the mutual benefits the grant programmes are designed to achieve. Alongside funding, researchers can call on the expertise and insight of IOC departments, while contributing their own to priorities across the Olympic Movement and seeing their work shape concrete initiatives.
Throughout the entire process, I received exceptional support from the OSC team. It was a collaboration that felt both professional and meaningful. Our research findings were not only acknowledged, but also translated into action, and it’s been rewarding to see how academic research and the IOC’s global platform can complement each other in promoting mental health in sport.
The partnership looks just as valuable from inside the IOC. “This project has shown just how essential the cooperation between academia and the Olympic Movement truly is,” explained Scott Sloan, Senior Project Manager for Mental Health at the IOC. “The richness of the evidence we gained simply could not have been generated without deep academic partnership. These insights now directly influence our programmes, guide our strategic decisions, and strengthen our ability to support athletes’ mental well-being worldwide.”
Applying for the Olympic Studies Centre research grant programmes
Applications for the next edition of the PhD Students and Early Career Academics Research Grant Programme are open until 22 September 2026, while the next edition of the Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme will launch in October.
For more information and full details on criteria, application processes and previous research projects, visit the Olympic Studies Centre research grant programmes page.