Lausanne to Host European Sport Science Congress in 2026

Lausanne, Switzerland, is set to become the hub of European sport science when it hosts the SwissTech Convention Center Congress from July 7-10, 2026. The event will convene researchers, physicians, and engineers to explore the evolving landscape of sports, which now sits at the crossroads of performance, technology, and health.

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One of the major challenges is to make disciplines that did not speak to each other until recently dialogue: physiology, engineering, social sciences, public health, climate. Sport sciences today produce a considerable volume of data from the field, and the real challenge is to translate them into concrete benefits, from elite sport to public health. In other words, sport sciences offer a unique framework for the development and validation of health and well-being models for all.

Bengt Kayser, a professor at the University of Lausanne's Institute of Sport Sciences, and Kamiar Aminian, an honorary professor at EPFL, are co-chairing the local organizing committee. They highlight the significant challenge of fostering dialogue between disciplines that historically operated in isolation, such as physiology, engineering, social sciences, public health, and climate science. The field generates vast amounts of data, and the key task is translating this information into tangible benefits, from elite athletic performance to public health initiatives. Sport sciences, they argue, offer a unique framework for developing and validating health and well-being models for everyone.

Artificial intelligence and wearable technology are revolutionizing sports research and performance. Continuous, real-world data collection via sensors allows for the analysis of physiological and biomechanical parameters previously only measurable in labs. This data opens new avenues for monitoring training load, assessing performance, preventing injuries, and optimizing training regimens, leading to a deeper understanding of the body's adaptation to effort. AI promises truly individualized monitoring for elite athletes, amateurs, and patients alike, provided that methodological rigor, algorithmic transparency, and data protection are maintained, with human decision-making remaining paramount.

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The new technologies and wearable sensors now make it possible to continuously record a considerable amount of physiological and biomechanical data in real conditions. This evolution offers an ideal field of application for AI, by allowing the analysis of parameters that, until recently, could only be measured and studied in the laboratory. These data open new perspectives for monitoring training load, performance evaluation, injury prevention, and optimization of training programs, while promoting a deeper understanding of the body's adaptation mechanisms to effort. AI opens the way to truly individualized monitoring, for the elite athlete as well as for the amateur and the patient. Provided that the course is kept: methodological rigor, transparency of algorithms, data protection. The decision remains human.

Beyond elite athletes, the tools developed for sports performance are increasingly benefiting the general public. The prevention of injuries and concussions in young athletes is a prime example, as these traumas can have lasting health consequences. Sport sciences also aid in rehabilitation guidance, prescribing physical activity for chronic conditions, ensuring safe exercise for vulnerable populations, promoting healthy eating, and developing effective strategies for public health. The congress aims to showcase these advancements and foster collaboration across disciplines.

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Many tools born for performance now also serve the general public. The prevention of injuries and concussions in young athletes is an emblematic example. In team sports played by children and adolescents, these traumas can have lasting consequences on health and quality of life.