Euskampus Bordeaux Eguna online, a great success thanks to you

On October 30th the important annual event  was held to present and share the latest achievements and developments of Euskampus-Bordeaux Cross-Border Campus and its Poles of Knowledge, which work on leading research to face important scientific, technological and social challenges. The event took place online for the first time, due to the current health situation, and was a great success.

This year’s Euskampus-Bordeaux Eguna, which was the prelude to the event’s tenth anniversary next year, was closed by the Rector of the UPV/EHU, Nekane Balluerka; the President of the University of Bordeaux, Manuel Tuñón de Lara; together with the Director of the DIPC, Ricardo Díez; and the CEO of TECNALIA, Iñaki San Sebastián, as well as the Basque Regional Minister of Education, Jokin Bildarratz; and Mathieu Bergé, Regional Councillor of Aquitaine.

Nekane Balluerka, Rector of the UPV/EHU, highlighted the importance of this event, and also congratulated the organising team on the great success of the new format: “This was the first time that the event was held online, but it was carried out successfully. Euskampus-Bordeaux Eguna is designed to be an event where institutions, entities, research groups and all the people dedicated to this project meet and exchange knowledge. The nine projects to fight COVID-19 that we have decided to promote through the Euskampus Resilience Programme prove this dedication”.

“This was the first time that the event was held online, but it was carried out successfully. Euskampus-Bordeaux Eguna is designed to be an event where institutions, entities, research groups and all the people dedicated to this project meet and exchange knowledge. The nine projects to fight COVID-19 that we have decided to promote through the Euskampus Resilience Programme prove this dedication”.

These nine COVID-19 projects, which have already started up, approved as part of the Euskampus Resilience programme, include researchers from the UPV/EHU, University of Bordeaux, Tecnalia and the DIPC. The projects show great potential for having a scientific, technological, economic and social impact, as they deal with issues such as reliable diagnosis and prognosis; effective prevention and treatment; infection monitoring and traceability; protection and equipment against biological threats; and anticipating and overcoming this crisis and others that may happen in the future.

The President of the University of Bordeaux, Manuel Tuñón de Lara, declared that he was satisfied with the progress: “This cross-border project is gaining momentum and the Euskampus-Bordeaux Eguna event is proof of that. We can be happy with what we have achieved so far, and especially now that we are taking part in the ENLIGHT consortium of universities. University goes beyond a person’s lifetime and I think that nothing will be the same after this project we are developing, in the best sense”.

Regional Minister Jokin Bildarratz said that “the long and close collaboration between Bordeaux and the Basque Country, on which this alliance is based, has given us the confidence we need to take on structured, far-reaching projects that are likely to continue in time. It is not easy to create a sense of belonging in a shared space; we need to carry out activities that bring people together, but that are relevant to stakeholders at the same time. In this respect, this event is necessary because it brings together very different stakeholders, and it identifies and makes the most of the potential of two poles of academic and scientific excellence. So, instead of working separately, they are making a considerable effort to collaborate more closely.”

The promotion of collaborative research and the contribution to the transformation of the European Higher Education Area are two of the goals of the alliance that started almost ten years ago between the University of the Basque Country and the University of Bordeaux, with the collaboration of the DIPC (Donostia International Physics Center) and Tecnalia.

Euskampus-Bordeaux campus promotes new green concrete cross-border lab that aims to become a leader in the field of green cement

A new Cross-border Cooperation Laboratory (LTC) – LTC Green Concrete – has been created this year, which helps to strengthen collaborative research. This laboratory is aimed at conducting research into the science and development of more sustainable concrete and cement-based material production processes.

LTCs are joint international structures that combine teams from several institutions of the Basque Country and New Aquitaine, which have well-defined four-year programmes, including collaborative research projects, co-tutored theses, researcher exchange, promotion of postgraduate studies, etc.

A large number of researchers are working at LTC Green Concrete: from the Basque Country, researchers from the UPV/EHU, Tecnalia, the Materials Physics Center (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Polymat and Materials Physics Center BERCs; and from Bordeaux, from the Institutes of Molecular Science and Condensed Matter Chemistry; and the Mechanics and Engineering Institutes belonging to the University of Bordeaux, the French National Research Centre (CNRS) and the Bordeaux Polytechnic School - Bordeaux INP. LTC Green Concrete focuses its research on finding a local/cross-border answer to a large global challenge, as 10% of global CO₂ emissions come from concrete production. LTC Green Concrete aims to become a leading research body in the field of the science and technology for sustainable production of concrete and cement-based materials. Some of the lines of research include new cement manufacturing processes, the study of hydration and curing of cement compounds and the impact of using nanoadditives in these curing processes, and the optimisation of performance for concrete produced with new cements in terms of mechanical strength, thermal properties, energy storage, durability and life-cycle.

This new LTC is joining another three existing LTCs: AENIGME, on advanced sustainable manufacturing; QuantumChemPhys, on theoretical chemistry and physics on the quantum scale ; and TRANSMATH, on maths and its applications.

Presentation of Euskampus Bordeaux Eguna Urte Nagusia 2021

The 2020-2021 academic year is a great year for the Euskampus Bordeaux community in which we celebrate the 10th anniversary of 4 central milestones in our history of collaboration:

1. the selection of Euskampus Campus of International Excellence of UPV/EHU together with Tecnalia and the DIPC.
2. the selection of the project of Initiative of Excellence of the University of Bordeaux with its partners, IdEx Bordeaux.
3. the creation of Euskampus Fundazioa, catalyst instrument of the UPV/EHU-Tecnalia DI alliance
4. and as a finishing touch, the start of Euskampus  Bordeaux Euroregional Campus.

They have been 10 years marked by major progresses and specific results thanks to the involvement of a powerful community that has grown over time and that brings together researchers, teachers, students, administrative staff and territorial agents in different initiatives.

With this spirit of renewal, the meeting on October 30 is our "Txupinazo", it is the rocket we launched to start a period of celebration  and activities that we will develop until next June. To celebrate our 10 years in style,  To celebrate our 10 years with flying colours, we will change the season of our Euskampus Bordeaux Eguna and, if the sanitary conditions allow us to do so, we will meet in Bilbao, in June 2021, to share our projects and achievements once again.

More information about Euskampus Bordeaux here.