MEMOS XXVIII in English

August 2025 – September 2026

The MEMOS programme in English is based on four face-to-face education and training sessions
combined with online asynchronous activities. Each of the first three sessions follows a similar format
with pre-module work (introductory videos/activities), which is then complemented by in-person
residential teaching/tutoring from Monday to Monday/Tuesday (see program schedule for details).
Attendance at all sessions is mandatory. For the in-person teaching/tutoring, all students must arrive on
the Sunday before the start of the first module and leave after the end of the final module the following
week. Lectures, group work and other learning activities are held all day (9:00 to 18:00) and occasionally
in the evenings, with the research/project module taking place after the first module of a given session.

Each module is led by a professor and a practitioner who are experts in that topic. Modules involve
student presentations, discussions, activities (in-person and online) and group and individual assessment
tasks 1. The modules begin with online asynchronous activities (e.g., lecture videos, readings, or pre-
module assignments) equivalent to eight hours of learner engagement using the University of Ottawa’s
Brightspace online learning management platform.

The research project module is taught in between modules during the first three sessions. This includes
lectures and coaching with tutors, as well as presentations by students to demonstrate progress on their
research projects. The research project module culminates in the fourth session, where students present
their projects to a jury and their peers. Students who have successfully defended their project then deliver
a public presentation the following day. The day concludes with a graduation ceremony.

To round out their training, over the year, students complete a set of online and in-person learning
modules related to athlete safeguarding, preventing competition, generative artificial intelligence (Gen
AI), and Olympic history and values.

1
During the teaching periods, students are requested to refrain from accessing their emails, sms, etc. Please attend to urgent
issues only outside the classroom to avoid distracting other students.
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 Session 1
Online Session: Mid-August 2025
Online asynchronous activities related to Modules 1 & 2 and the MEMOS Research Project must be
completed before the in-person session.

In-person Session: SUN 31 August 2025 (arrival) – WED 10 September 2025 (departure)
Lausanne (Switzerland)

Module 1 – MON 01 September 2025 – WED 03 September 2025

Strategic Management and Governance
Lecturers:
- Dr. Mathieu WINAND, Université du Luxembourg, Luxemburg
- Dr. Donald RUKARE, President, Uganda NOC

Main Topics:
- Governance of Olympic sport organizations
- Strategic management tools and principles
- Risk management
- Values and ethics in Olympic sports organizations
- Strategic processes in Olympic sport organizations

MEMOS Research Project Module A – FRI 5 September 2025 – SAT 6 September 2025
Lecturers:
- Prof. Leigh ROBINSON, Roehampton University, London, and MEMOS Tutors

Main Topics:
- Understand the need for research and the components of a research project
- Develop focused research objectives/questions that will guide your project
- Understand current research and thinking on the issue you have chosen
- Help develop an argument for the need to carry out your research
- Understand the strategies for collecting data
- Understand the main tools for collecting data

Module 2 – SUN 7 September 2025 – TUE 9 September 2025

Financial Management
Lecturers:
- Prof. Francesc SOLANELLAS, Institut Nacional d'Educació Física de Catalunya Barcelona
(INEFC)
- Ms. Lee FREW, business and finance consultant, Vanuatu & New Zealand

Main Topics:
- Understanding the importance of financial management in the sports organization
- Developing the ability to read a set of financial accounts
- Understanding and being able to communicate the basic tools of financial analysis (profit and
loss statement, balance sheet, budget, and finance control)

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 Session 2

Online Session: December 2025

Online asynchronous activities related to Module 3 and the MEMOS Research Project must be
completed before the in-person session.
In-person Session: SUN 11 January 2026 (arrival) – MON 19 January 2026 (departure)
Hammamet (Tunisia)
Tunisian Olympic Committee

Module 3 – MON 12 January 2026 – WED 14 January 2026

Leadership and Human Resource Management
Lecturers:
- Prof. Tracy TAYLOR, College of Business and Law, RMIT University (Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology), Australia
- Mr. Martijn VAN WESTEROP, performance coach and consultant, the Netherlands

Main Topics:
- Leadership styles and theories
- Leadership practice and self-awareness
- High-performance teams
- Recruitment, selection, training and development, performance management
- Diversity and inclusion

MEMOS Research Project Module B – FRI 16 January 2026 – SUN 18 January 2026
Lecturers:
- Prof. Leigh ROBINSON and MEMOS Tutors

Main Topics:
- Analysing and interpreting data
- Presentations by students

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 Session 3
Online Session: April 2026
Online asynchronous activities related to Modules 4 & 5 and the MEMOS Research Project must be
completed before the in-person Session.

In-person Session: SUN 3 May 2026 (arrival) – WED 13 May 2026 (departure)
Bucharest (Romania)
Romanian Olympic Committee

Module 4 – MON 4 May 2026 – WED 6 May 2026

Olympic Sport Organisation Marketing
Lecturers:
- Prof. Alain FERRAND, University of Poitiers, France
- Mr. Luiggino TORRIGIANI, Sports Marketing Consultant, Switzerland
- Prof. Guillaume BODET, Université Claude Bernard Lyon-1, France

Main Topics:
- Marketing challenges for Olympic sport organizations
- Creating value for the Olympic sport organizations and their stakeholders
- Creating, building & managing sport organizations brands
- Managing sport sponsorship
- Improving people’s lives with sport: Marketing social change

MEMOS Research Project Module C – FRI 8 May 2026 – SAT 9 May 2026
Lecturers:
- Prof. Leigh ROBINSON and MEMOS Tutors

Main Topics:
- Presenting the evidence

Module 5 – SUN 10 May 2026 – TUE 12 May 2026

Project and Event Management
Lecturers:
- Prof. Milena PARENT, University of Ottawa, Telfer School of Management, Canada
- Prof. Martin SCHNITZER, University of Innsbruck, Department of Sport Sciences, Austria

Main Topics:
- Project management
- Opportunity and bid procedures
- Organizing committee leading, planning, marketing, and financing
- Sport event functional areas, operationalisation, and implementation
- Event wrap-up, evaluation, and legacies

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 Session 4
MEMOS Research Project Module D – Project Defence
In-Person Session: TUE 8 September 2026 (arrival) – SAT 12 September 2026 (departure)
Olympia (Greece)
International Olympic Academy

MEMOS Research Project

Coordinator: Prof. Leigh ROBINSON, University of Roehampton, with 8 tutors from participating
universities:

- Dr. Dawn AQUILINA, Malta Football Association (Malta)

- Prof. Guillaume BODET, Université Claude Bernard Lyon-1, (France)
- Dr. Lisa DELPY, Georges Washington University (United States of America)
- Dr. Mireia LIZANDRA, Temple University Philadelphia (United States of America)
- Dr. Donald RUKARE, Uganda NOC (Uganda)
- Prof. Francesc SOLANELLAS, Institut Nacional d’Educacio Fisica de Catalunya (Spain)
- Prof. Tracy TAYLOR, RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia)
- Prof. Thierry ZINTZ, Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)

All MEMOS XXVIII students must conduct an individual project during their study year (August
2025 - September 2026). In principle, their project deals with the management of, and performance
improvement in, the student’s sport organization, including current challenges encountered by their
organization. The project topic must be discussed with the sport organization and specified in the
candidature form.

Each student is assigned a tutor who coaches them throughout the programme. Between the in-person
sessions, tutees and tutors maintain close contact by e-mail and tele/video conference (e.g., telephone,
Skype, WhatsApp, Zoom, or MS Teams). The project topic is expected to be fully confirmed at the
end of the first Session.

To complement the learnings from the three sessions, there is a set of mini courses on athlete
safeguarding, preventing competition manipulation, artificial intelligence, and the Olympic Values
to be undertaken during the study year, and certificates of completion must be submitted before
completing the programme to qualify for the university certificate. 2

2
On successful completion of MEMOS, students are awarded a university certificate. MEMOS is not a recognized research
master’s and therefore may not lead to a PhD program.
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