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Bordeaux Summer Schools: when academic excellence and an international outlook come together

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Applications are now open for this year's edition of the Bordeaux Summer Schools, with nine programmes covering a wide range of subjects and offering high-quality teaching to participants from all over the world.

Photo : Neuropain 2025 Summer School © Gautier Dufau - University of Bordeaux
Neuropain 2025 Summer School © Gautier Dufau - University of Bordeaux

Every year, the University of Bordeaux becomes a meeting point for graduate students, doctoral candidates and young researchers from around the world, who come to take part in the summer schools organised by the institution. These offer a unique opportunity for participants to immerse themselves in a high-level scientific environment while discovering the campuses of the University of Bordeaux.

The Bordeaux Summer Schools programme, which receives financial support from the French government within the framework of the Initiative of Excellence, under the France 2030 plan, enables the institution to develop international research-oriented summer schools, drawing on the scientific expertise available on site.

Over the past five years, the Bordeaux Summer Schools represent:

  • 46

    summer schools organised

  • 1,076

    students welcomed, including 691 international students

  • 715

    speakers, including 285 international experts

This success is based on close collaboration between project leaders, teaching and administrative teams, and the university's International Office.

Diversity at the heart of knowledge

The strength of the programme lies in particular in its diversity. From labour law to philosophy in biology, sustainable development in viticulture and oenology, cardiology and neuroscience, the topics covered reflect the wealth of expertise available in the university's laboratories.

In recent years, my colleague Caitriona Carter and I have led a very popular European training programme for doctoral students on the theme of "Decision-making in the Anthropocene". We wanted to broaden and diversify recruitment by leveraging the Bordeaux Summer Schools label and its excellent international reputation.

Eric Macé, Professor of sociology, head of the Master programme in Sustainability science and leader of the "Interdisciplinary issues of ecological transition: contributing to decision-making in an Anthropocene context" Summer School

A stepping stone for participants

One of the main objectives of the Bordeaux Summer Schools is to enable participants to develop their skills as well as their professional connections:

  • Participants explore the campuses of the University of Bordeaux and engage in discussions with speakers from the university and elsewhere in an environment conducive to dialogue.
  • With 60% of participants coming from abroad, the schools provide valuable opportunities for exchange between future colleagues and researchers from around the world.

And because learning also involves informal exchanges, a social and cultural programme accompanies each summer school. These moments are essential for creating group cohesion and discovering the city of Bordeaux.

A renewed ambition for the 2026 edition

Following the success of the 2025 edition, the university is offering nine summer schools for 2026, including five new ones. The range of topics is expanding further with projects on sustainable development in vine and wine sciences, multiscale chirality and new contemporary challenges in the regulation of labour relations.

Applications are now open on each school's website.

2026 Summer Schools

Neural circuits of pain: from physiology to pathology

  • Neurology
  • 1st - 5th June
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Philosophy in biology and medicine

  • Philosophy, Life science, Medicine
  • 1st - 5th June
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Foresight in economics: rethinking the global economy through information, innovation and risk

  • Economics, Innovation, Data & Risk
  • 8th - 12th June
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Interdisciplinary issues of ecological transition: contributing to decision-making in an anthropocene context

  • Social sciences, Ecological transition
  • 15th - 19th June
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Contemporary issues in the regulation of labour relations

  • Law, Sociology, Labour studies
  • 15th - 19th June
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Multiscale chirality and optical activity: bridging molecules and nanomaterials

  • Chemistry, Physics, Material science
  • 29th June - 3rd July
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Cardiac electrophysiology

  • Cardiology
  • 29th June - 3rd July
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Introduction to experimental neuroscience

  • Neurosciences
  • 20th July - 1st August
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Sustainability, biodiversity, resource preservation and innovation for vines and wines within the framework of climate change

  • Viticulture, Wine, Environmental science
  • 7th - 11th September
  • In English
  • On-site
  • Website

Contact

  • Bordeaux Summer Schools

    summerschools%40u-bordeaux.fr

Chirality is a particularly dynamic area of research on the Bordeaux campus, with a community of nearly a hundred researchers. It therefore seemed only natural to me to share this collective expertise with students.
I am delighted with the strong support provided by the Bordeaux Summer Schools programme team, and deeply pleased with the enthusiasm with which our scientific community, both in Bordeaux and throughout France, responded to our invitation to participate in this school.

Elizabeth Hillard, CNRS researcher at the Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry in Bordeaux (ICMCB) and leader of the "Multiscale chirality and optical activity: bridging molecules and nanomaterials" Summer School