Education
Study offer
Work-Study
Bordeaux Summer Schools
Admissions
How to register
Tuition fees
Keep track of your education
Support and success in your studies
Enrich and enhance your experience
Research
Scientific vision
Major Research Programmes (GPRs)
Impulsion Research Networks
Open Science
Ethics in research
Research organisation
Research departments
Boost your research
Innovation and the socio-economic sphere
Science and society
Innovation
Ambition
Partnerships
LabCom
Resources
Business premises
Campus
Discover the campus
Campus life and activities
Daily life
Social and financial aid
Sense of community & social cohesion
Culture
Sports
International
International ambition
International partners
Come to Bordeaux
International students
International PhD students
International lecturers, researchers and staff
Opportunities abroad
Student mobility
Partnerships abroad
About us
Get to know us
An outreaching, extended university
Our strategy
Our areas of activity
Our mechanisms
Our commitments
Environmental and social change
Organisation and operations
Training components
University employment
She/he/they make up the University of Bordeaux
Our Honoris Causa
Press corner
Most searched pages
Frequent search terms
Updated on: 31/03/2026
Some fifty kilometres from Cape Town, South Africa, the campus of the University of Stellenbosch stretches out between mountains and vineyards. It was there that Glenn Cayrol, an undergraduate student in biology at the University of Bordeaux, spent a semester which profoundly shaped his academic journey… and clarified his future. His story.
“I grew up in an international environment; I was born in France but I have lived in the Netherlands since I was seven. After graduating with a mathematics and physics baccalaureate from the French high school in The Hague, I started a degree in business engineering at Maastricht University, which I dropped after four months to work in Spain and add a fourth language to my repertoire. After this experience, I wanted to settle in France, my country of origin, which I knew so little about as a citizen. I then applied for a physics and chemistry Bachelor programme and chose the University of Bordeaux for its size and location. After one semester, I shifted towards biology, a subject I really enjoy, and I enrolled in the international Bachelor degree programme in life sciences”, says Glenn Cayrol.
It was in this context that the young man applied for an international exchange of one semester (July-November 2025) in South Africa at the University of Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. He then chose a biology programme, selecting elective courses, including a course on South African politics dedicated to international students, all while making sure to meet the required modules and number of ECTS credits. “We choose our courses before leaving in agreement with the academic coordinator. It’s a good system”, he adds.
With a stunning campus, welcoming homestay accommodation, lush natural surroundings, and a highly inspiring social and cultural environment, Glenn settled in quickly. “I am a sporty person, which helped me meet people and have a great time. Besides, my schedule gave me plenty of freedom. This provided the opportunity to take a step back and reflect on my studies and my future. We were even offered free consultations with a guidance counsellor.
This experience was really beneficial to me and allowed me to confidently decide that I wanted to become a physiotherapist”, says the student. Back on the Bordeaux campus at the start of 2026, Glenn Cayrol is happy to finish his Bachelor degree there. Next September, he will pursue his studies at a physiotherapy school in Amsterdam.
