Description du sujet de thèse

One of the challenges of the CATAMENIAPERF project will be to shed some light on the ordinary, everyday dimensions of the recurrent menstrual process for sportswomen. In addition to the objectives of better individualizing athletes' preparation for hormonal fluctuations, such a project aims to identify the obstacles that persist when it comes to the mere mention of this phenomenon. These obstacles relate to socio-cultural determinants, and call for reflection on the definition of the relevant sample of sportswomen from whom not only biological data but also sociological characteristics can be collected. The aim is therefore to implement a two-year monitoring protocol covering both biological and sociological aspects, while considering the possibility of cross-referencing their perspectives. Assessing the effects of the menstrual cycle
on the practice of high-level sport requires monitoring multiple parameters - fatigue, sleepiness, sleep, activity-rest cycle, nutrition, stress, mood, menstrual symptoms, injuries, family environment, age, social background, educational background, level of competition, training schedules, etc. - or the intermingling of the biological and sociological aspects. - where the biological and the sociological meet.
This challenge is only conceivable with the assent of the sportswomen themselves, of course, but also of those around them who are mobilized to produce performance: coaches, medical staff, national technical management of the federations concerned, and possibly parents in the case of minors. From a biological point of view, this will require the implementation of a rigorous protocol for obtaining the consent of participants in the project. The collection of behavioral data (performance, sleep-wake cycle, duration and timing of sleep, start and end dates of menstruation, various questionnaires on mood, stress, motivation, anxiety, depression, etc.) will be the subject of a human experimentation protocol to be submitted to an ethics committee, or even a committee for the protection of persons involved in biomedical research (CPP) if necessary. Following this, the participants' informed consent will be obtained. These are the first regulatory hurdles to be cleared.
Ensuring that the people taking part in the research are involved in an ethical procedure is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for obtaining their acceptance to express their views on a subject that still gives rise to varying degrees of prejudice depending on social background, religious beliefs and the age of the sportswomen involved, touching on their intimacy and involving representations of hygiene that are still surrounded by depreciatory prejudices. Removing such a barrier will require gaining the trust of athletes to gather accurate testimonials.
In terms of expected outcomes, the CATAMENIAPERF project will help to disseminate knowledge among athletes, enabling them to better monitor their training during their menstrual cycle and to become more autonomous. Beyond that, the aim is to avoid being a mere technical expertise, a kind of monitoring tool for use by teams of female athletes or engineers specializing in performance preparation, and to be more of a project aimed at scalable advances (i.e., a program enabling the results of one experiment to be transposed into a wider operational context).
The stakes are therefore both scientific and social, insofar as they enable us to envisage the conditions for adapting the results to all women's sporting practices, whatever their level, in order to devise optimal, individualized training methods and prescriptions.

Contexte de travail

The PhD student will be supervised by Claude Gronfier, chronobiologist and neurobiologist, in charge of research at INSERM's Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (CNRL, INSERM U 1028, CNRS UMR 5292) and Olivier Le Noé, sociologist, professor at Paris-Nanterre University, director of the Institut des Sciences sociales du Politique (ISP, UMR 7220, CNRS, ENS Paris Saclay, Paris Nanterre University).
At the CRNL, where Claude Gronfier heads the Chronobiology group in the current "Waking" team, one of the research themes deals with circadian rhythms and sleep. The expertise and resources available concern human physiology, in particular the neurophysiology of sleep and biological rhythms (ultradian, circadian and menstrual), cognition and mood, in healthy and pathological humans, via fundamental and epidemiological approaches. The PhD student will have access to the expertise of a specialist in fertility and menstrual cycles (René Ecochard, collaborator, Professor of Medicine and Biostatistics). A workstation will also be available.
At the ISP, in addition to the workstation and shared office, the PhD student will have the opportunity to cooperate with the ISP data processing staff, and with the Nanterre University Data Platform.
Within ISP, a research axis in the unit's project for the 2026-2030 mandate deals with “Body, sport, health”. It involves a dozen researchers from a range of different social science specialties.
The doctoral student's task will be to elaborate and implement the data collection process. He/she will analyze them with the help of the thesis supervisors, benefiting from the ecosystems of each of their research laboratories. Conducting this work will require a variety of skills to cover the different needs of the project: endocrinology with knowledge of female hormones, myology, nutrition, recovery and sleep, sports data analysis, social sciences. Since it is unlikely that the person selected to carry out this thesis already masters such a varied range of knowledge, the completion of his or her doctoral work will be an opportunity to broaden his or her training beyond the disciplinary framework of his or her previous career.
More specifically, the doctoral candidate's work will involve setting up longitudinal monitoring systems, designed to track participants and assess their performance not in terms of absolute data, but in relative terms, over time (each participant being her own monitor). Based on training phases, using standardized session repetitions and standardized physical tests, each participant will be able to carry out her own monitoring, enabling the individual menstrual cycle (its phase) to be related to individual performance data (standardized - e.g. weight, heart rate, mood, motivation, etc., in % with reference to a point in time common to all, such as the 1st day of menstruation of the 1st cycle). The doctoral canlidate will also be responsible for designing and administering sociological data collection tools, and for processing the collected data.

Contraintes et risques

Short trips in France - in particular to the Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon - and abroad are possible as part of the survey work, participation in working meetings and scientific events.
The candidate will preferably have a training in biological and social sciences. A proven track record in competitive sports will be particularly appreciated. Experience in conducting interviews and implementing experimental protocols would also be welcome. He/she must also be fluent in English.