Education
Study offer
Work-Study
Bordeaux Summer Schools
Admissions
How to register
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
Press corner
Most searched pages
Frequent search terms
Updated on: 24/10/2025
Dimitri Batani is a lecturer-researcher in plasma physics at the University of Bordeaux, and member of the Georgian Academy of Natural Sciences. He spent the month of August teaching at Venice International University (VIU) in Italy, within the framework of the summer session of their “Globalization Program”.
One of my colleagues, Delphine Coursault, coordinates an introductory course for first-year undergraduate students dedicated to the challenges of environmental transitions, in which I take part. Being a member of the teaching team made me want to explore these topics further, and I therefore decided to design a course centred around these issues. As a member of an association of scientists advocating for nuclear disarmament, I also wanted to integrate elements on nuclear weapons and a closer look at nuclear energy sources, both fission and fusion.
The course I taught, entitled "A science-based discussion on current environmental and societal emergencies - a physicist’s approach", was designed to introduce students to some of today’s global challenges. Subjects ranged from the energy crisis and pollution, to climate change, ethnic tensions and the conflicts they cause, as well as the threat of war.
I believe it’s important to raise awareness among students about global issues and, if possible, help train a new generation of researchers who care about them.
During my time In Venice, I tried to introduce topics from a scientific angle. I mostly focused on physics (my field). The goal was obviously not to solve these complex problems in one course, but to provide students with an objective perspective as well as tools enabling them to tell the difference between reliable information and fake news. The idea was to encourage critical thinking.
My students came from all over the world (Turkey, Israel, China, Italy…) and form various backgrounds (from psychology to computer science and engineering). During the different classes, students were very motivated and worked on specific topics which they used to prepare their final presentations. I was pleasantly surprised by the professionalism of their work.
From my point of view, it’s very important to balance enthusiasm with realism while maintaining scientific credibility.
One of the most remarkable moments was on August 8th, which marked the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. On that day, I showed my students documentaries on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We discussed them together and I gave a series of talks on how nuclear weapons work, focusing on their effect and the history of nuclear rearmament. I ended the class with a short discussion about the situation and the recent nuclear threats linked to the war in Ukraine.
Another strong memory was the museum on San Servolo Island, where VIU is located. The island used to be home to Venice’s psychiatric hospital, the first in Italy to close in 1978 following the "Basaglia Law" which reformed mental health care.
Living in Venice for a month was fascinating. Even though the city was filled with tourists, just by stepping away from the main streets, you could still find very peaceful places.
I am currently coordinating the HiPER+ project with other European scientists, which aims to support the construction of a new research facility dedicated to laser nuclear fusion for future energy production.
This particular research field recently gained attention after researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved ignition*. This event was followed by strong societal interest in this topic, resulting in many start-ups related to laser fusion to appear in Europe and France. This dynamic is a positive sign for research, even though many of these companies promise unrealistic timelines. From my point of view, it’s very important to balance enthusiasm with realism while maintaining scientific credibility.
* The scientists produced more energy from a fusion reaction than the energy required by lasers to trigger it.
Find out more
