Euskampus Bordeaux Eguna: research without borders

In Irun, just a few steps from the Saint-Jacques bridge, people switch back and forth between French, Basque, Spanish, and English: the important thing is to understand each other. Here, history is told through many voices. For the first time since it was launched in 2014, Euskampus Bordeaux Eguna took place on the muga, the Basque word for border. The border that has seen travellers, families and exiles pass through. The border that has divided people as much as it has connected them. On October 15^th and 16^th, it welcomed researchers, students and academics who have made these two banks a shared field of exploration. Some 260 participants met at Ficoba, the cross-border exhibition centre. Among them were more than sixty early-career scientists, from Master students to post-doctoral researchers, who are helping research to flourish across this Euroregion stretching from Bordeaux to Bilbao.

Bridges that carry stories

Ricardo Díez knows Irun well. The director of the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) was born in the town and still lives there. During the opening ceremony, he shared a memory from his childhood and recalled those who crossed the border in 1939, after the Spanish Civil War, to seek refuge north of the Bidasoa. "This bridge has remained a symbol for everyone here today."

Joxerramon Bengoetxea Caballero, President of the University of the Basque Country (EHU), also reflected on the past. From the sixth floor of his family’s apartment building, he could see Txingudi Bay. He was learning French and tuned in to television and radio stations from both countries. Europe was not yet the Europe we know today, and universities operated independently. But even then, the border stood in the way of neither curiosity nor exchange. T"oday, Euskampus proves that we are much stronger as part of a network than on our own. That is also the idea behind ENLIGHT, the alliance our universities in the Basque Country and Bordeaux belong to, which aims to strengthen cooperation and interdisciplinarity across borders."

People on both sides of the river lived together long before research took an interest in the region. Today, scientific cooperation extends this everyday reality. These memories recount how far Euskampus has come since it was founded in 2011. Fifteen years on, the ties between the University of Bordeaux and the University of the Basque Country have taken on a very concrete form: double degrees, jointly supervised theses, research projects and cross-border cooperation laboratories (LTCs), as well as close collaboration between the administrative teams of both universities in support of their researchers.

"What we are building together opens up possibilities that no single institution could offer on its own", emphasised Dean Lewis, President of the University of Bordeaux. In his view, it is a way of bringing to life, day after day, "a Europe of knowledge, cooperation and solidarity."

When the border becomes a laboratory

Since 2015, ten cross-border cooperation laboratories have been awarded the LTC label and fourteen projects have received incubation support. "To create an LTC, collaborations must already exist between teams, bringing together early-career and experienced researchers", explained Jean-René Cazalets, Vice-President for Research at the University of Bordeaux. The aim is to provide established scientific partnerships the time and resources to develop long-term projects together.

Working across two countries does, however, mean navigating different administrative systems, funding mechanisms and practices. But Ricardo Díez encourages a change of perspective: cross-border laboratories do not develop because of the border. They also exist thanks to it.

Over the years, this cooperation has extended beyond the academic sphere. Igor Campillo, Director of the Euskampus Fundazioa, highlighted Bizi On, a programme bringing together patients and researchers in order to improve quality of life for people living with cancer in the Basque Country. It is a clear example of the practical benefits research can bring to society.

And then there is the next generation. More than sixty students and postdoctoral researchers took part over the two days. They discussed their work, met other teams and perhaps began to envision future collaborations. "I encourage you to look at what is different, because that is what drives us to learn", said Jesús Valero, CEO of Tecnalia.

This cooperation also carries an ambition that goes beyond laboratories. In a Europe shaken by geopolitical and climate upheaval, universities have a role to play in the future of their regions. "As academics, we have a responsibility to be a source of ideas for shaping new public policies. It is our duty to be active at that level", stressed Dominique Rebière, Vice-President for Business and industry relations at the University of Bordeaux.

At a time when borders sometimes seem to be closing, these two days offered a different perspective on the world: one where knowledge circulates freely, where differences enrich refelction, and where tomorrow’s challenges call for collective answers.

On the banks of the Bidasoa, bridges continue to connect. They carry the memory of those who once crossed them. Fifteen years after Euskampus was born, they now also carry the hopes of those who choose to work together.

Human Shelters: a new laboratory exploring the history of humankind

A tenth cross-border cooperation laboratory (LTC) was accredited during the event, as part of the Euskampus Bordeaux cross-border campus. Named "Human Shelters", it sets out to answer one question: how do rock shelters become repositories of archives of the past, whether of earlier human societies, of different environments, or even of particular geological conditions? Led in particular by Christine Couture (1), Professor of Palaeoanthropology at the PACEA laboratory (CNRS, French Ministry of Culture, University of Bordeaux), the project began around ten years ago and applied for the LTC label in March. It brings together 17 researchers from the University of Bordeaux and 19 from the University of the Basque Country. The LTC aims to combine perspectives and disciplines to gain a better understanding of past populations, their ways of life and their relationship with their environment.

(1) Christine Couture was appointed Vice-President for working conditions and work environment at the University of Bordeaux in March 2026.