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Updated on: 06/05/2025
The University has a huge pool of human resources. Its mission is to contribute to the advancement of science and education by producing and disseminating knowledge leading to human, social and technical progress.
By encouraging critical thinking and defending scientific integrity, the University of Bordeaux intends to base its mission on conducting research that is deemed excellent and is nourished by a spirit of innovation.
Throughout their training and their professional careers, entrepreneurship and innovation are absolutely within reach for the University’s students and lecturers alike, regardless of their area of specialisation. Organisations and institutions undergo profound changes to overcome the challenges surrounding societal and environmental transitions. Skills in entrepreneurship and innovation find their full expression against the background of such far-reaching changes – in all areas of business or specialisation. In view of this, the University of Bordeaux intends to play its full part in disseminating knowledge about entrepreneurship and innovation to its students and researchers. The idea is to give them the opportunity to foster relevant skills and to support those who, from as early as their university days, show that they intend to go down the path of innovation. In the case of researchers, the University encourages any desire to innovate as part of their practices, all the way through to any steps they take as entrepreneurs. The University of Bordeaux is gradually introducing several measures that will help to meet these challenges, namely (i) by sharing accurate information about entrepreneurship and innovation, avoiding clichés and preconceptions, (ii) by giving students and staff the opportunity to develop their skills in entrepreneurship and innovation (training courses and awareness-raising internships), and (iii) by supporting the entrepreneurial intentions and innovation projects of its communities (UBee Lab and Chrysa-link incubators in the case of deeptech innovation projects). These measures are designed at the interface of the socio-economic world and businesses (a) by calling on the relevant players to highlight the variety of possible sectors and forms of innovation and entrepreneurship, (b) by providing concrete and real-life examples that students can use to put their learning and skills into practice (learning by doing), and lastly (c) by offering invaluable resources and advice to students and staff as regards creating projects, taking action and embracing innovation. Creating many spaces for exchanging ideas and practices, as seen in the new learning spaces and other third places, is important in terms of ensuring a good balance between training and societal impact. Beyond the added value for education, the goal is to foster genuine relationships between socio-economic players and the university and its academic excellence, as part of a shared objective to promote innovation that is accessible and serves society.
The University of Bordeaux is a launch pad for students, researchers and entrepreneurs who want to create businesses with a real socio-economic impact on account of its ‘economic permaculture’ and because it provides relevant resources such as skills, equipment, experiments and capital. More than 60 startups have been created since 2000 as a result of research findings from the University’s laboratories.
Through the incubator UBee Lab and Chrysa-link, the incubator of the affiliate in charge of knowledge development and transfer, the University of Bordeaux provides a boost in innovation for Nouvelle-Aquitaine. UBee Lab helps students and student entrepreneurs to make their projects more mature so that they are able to start or take over a business (traditional companies, social enterprises, co-ops, startups focused on technological or usage innovations, etc.) or to join support organisations within the regional ecosystem (specialised incubators, hubs, accelerators, etc.). The incubator makes available and runs co-working spaces at various campuses and helps to promote a mindset of entrepreneurship as part of Pépite ECA, the University’s the Student-Entrepreneurs network. UBee Lab is also the place for research and initiatives relating to the GRP business model invented and deployed by the Entrepreneurship Research Team of IRGO (Institute for Research into Organisation Management). Chrysa-link is an incubator of the SATT AST (Aquitaine Science Transfert), a technology transfer acceleration company specialised in deeptech (innovations based on breakthrough technologies, with high-potential markets). It is open to students, PhD students, researchers, and entrepreneurs – whether they are new or experienced.
Head of the department for entrepreneurship
alexandre.savin%40u-bordeaux.fr
The Mature your PhD+ challenge is for second and third year PhD students. Its goal is to give PhD students an opportunity to fully focus on developing their innovation for three months (a fixed-term employment contract in addition to their thesis), giving them the gift of time. What’s more, participants receive individual support until their thesis is complete in all the economic, legal and technological aspects relating to their project.
For full details
Head of the innovation's department
dev.innovation%40u-bordeaux.fr
The University of Bordeaux invests in projects that have a high potential but a low technological readiness level (TRL) to turn those projects into innovations. The pre-maturation programme, intended for leaders of scientific projects, helps to identify innovative ideas in laboratories, to speed up the increase in the TLR of public research projects, and to prepare for these projects to be included in the maturation programme of Aquitaine Science Transfert (SATT). The main goal is to nurture promising ideas developed in laboratories so that they can reach the market through traditional outlets such as starting a business, creating a startup or granting a licence. Doing so helps the projects maximise their societal and environmental impact. In 2023, over the course of the last two calls for projects, ten projects obtained funding.
The programme called SPARK helps in promoting many translational projects in overlooked areas in maternal and child health, global health, and orphan diseases. Its goal is to transform academic breakthroughs into new treatment opportunities as a way of improving patient care. The University of Bordeaux is the only French member of the international network SPARK, which includes more than sixty institutions in over twenty countries. Researchers who take part in the programme, called ‘SPARKees’, receive support, training and funding for up to two years.
SPARK website
