RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Through its status as a scientific, cultural and professional public institution (EPSCP), research activities are an integral part of the missions entrusted to INSEP. Capitalising on the resources of its two laboratories - Sport, Expertise and Performance (SEP) and the Institute of Biomedical and Epidemiological Research in Sport (IRMES) - which work closely with INSEP’s national sections and the French teams, INSEP provides scientific performance support to meet the needs of the Olympic and Paralympic federations in various fields:
- Performance optimisation
- Life balance for athletes
- Performance epidemiology
- Contemporary sport environments
- Injury prevention and athlete health
- Optimising the return from injury.
Their main missions are to better understand the physiological, biomechanical, psychological or sociological demands involved with sports performance, as well as the changes in the contexts for elite sport, building new knowledge to drive progress with practices and develop performance capabilities, while safeguarding availability for training in view of priority competitions. These goals are supported by a transversal approach contributing to research on optimum living and training conditions.
Looking ahead to the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, France has positioned research as one of the key accelerators for improving performance for French athletes. Through the scientific activities carried out at the heart of the training sites and the coordination of the national network, with the French national sports agency, for scientific support, INSEP has a key position for managing research projects to serve elite sports performance.
INSEP is developing extensive collaboration with scientific partners, such as the French Armed Biomedical Research Institute (IRBA), the IRIS Mixed Research Unit (CNRS, Paris), France’s major research centres (Institut Imagine, Institute of Myology, Institut Curie, CNRS, INSERM, INRIA, etc.), France’s leading schools and universities (Science 2024), the AP-HP and centres from the Greater INSEP network. On the international stage, INSEP is working with several leading centres in Australia, Canada, Norway, Qatar, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the US. It is taking part in the work of the French-speaking health research network ReFORM, which was recently accredited by the International Olympic Committee. It also hosts and organises international scientific conferences in these areas.
