The first LTC Sarea conference was held on Thursday, July 20 at the "Cité des Arts" in Bayonne, the venue for the cross-border summer courses the same week.

 

This new event brought together 60 people from a variety of backgrounds (PhD students, post-docs, senior research staff) from the 6 Laboratories for Trans-Border Cooperation (LTC) and the 7 LTC Incubators that now make up the LTC Sarea network.

This Euroregional, interactive and interdisciplinary meeting allowed participants to find points of convergence and develop existing connections between LTC Sarea members, thereby strengthening this network, which is growing year by year, and reinforcing its central role in terms of research between New Aquitaine and the Basque Country.

The event was opened by the Basque Government, a strategic partner of the LTC Sarea programme, and alternated between scientific presentations in plenary sessions with group participatory activities and fruitful bilateral and inter-LTC meetings, both arranged and spontaneous.

The LTC Sarea programme is promoted by the UPV/EHU and the University of Bordeaux (UB), and is coordinated by Euskampus Fundazioa and co-funded by the Basque Government.

 

Participants at the LTC Sarea conference on July 20, 2023

 

The first Laboratory for Trans-Border Cooperation was created in 2017 as a result of the strategic alliance that started in 2011 between the UPV/EHU and the UB and the cornerstone of their research collaboration within the framework of their Euroregional Campus of Excellence project.

The LTC programme took a leap forward in 2021 thanks to the Basque Government's firm commitment to strengthening this backbone science initiative between the Basque Country and New Aquitaine, which yielded outstanding results.

This led to the launch of LTC Sarea, which made it possible not only to roll out ambitious work agendas around training, research and transfer at existing LTCs but also to provide support, through the LTC Incubator tool (annual call), to research groups from both sides of the border wishing to prepare a proposal for the annual LTC call and/or join the ongoing dynamics of the LTCs to develop their collaborative projects.

Currently there is a network of 6 LTCs in the fields of mathematics and its applications, theoretical quantum chemistry and physics, neurosciences, sustainable design and manufacturing processes, sustainable materials, light sciences and photonics, plus 7 LTC incubators in the fields of health, advanced manufacturing, renewable energies, bio-materials, environmental resistance to antibiotics and bio-engineering.

The “LTC Sarea” 2023 conference was the first in the programme's history and was a very important milestone for the Euskampus community and for science between our two territories. The event was aimed at strengthening the network and fostering new scientific interactions, and provided an opportunity for members of the LTC cross-border community to interact, share concerns, explore collaborative lines of research and link up their work agendas.

60 people with different roles in the LTC and LTC Incubators took part in the event, the programme for which was divided between scientific presentations in plenary sessions and group participatory, leaving plenty of time for meetings, which are always fruitful and appreciated (coffee and lunch breaks and open bilateral meetings). This interactive meeting allowed participants to find points of convergence and develop existing connections between LTC Sarea members, thereby strengthening this network, which is growing year by year, and reinforcing its central role in terms of research between New Aquitaine and the Basque Country.

Cristina Uriarte, the Basque Government’s Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, opened the event together with Igor Campillo, director of Euskampus Fundazioa.

Cristina Uriarte underlined the importance of the Basque Government supporting the LTC Sarea programme in the three official languages of the Euroregion, the impact and results of which were very important as far as the three major transitions were concerned and in line with the priorities of the 2030 Science, Technology and Innovation Plan (PCTI by its Spanish acronym)

Igor Campillo, in addition to presenting the network and the main results of the current year for the LTC network, gave a speech on behalf of the vice-chancellors for research of both universities, emphasising the strategic nature of this initiative and of this meeting, which was aimed at:

• building a shared vision of the network,
• sharing good practices,
• identifying new skills and links and,
• promoting young talent (21 doctoral students and post-docs attended the conference), which is a key part of LTC Sarea.

 

Cristina Uriarte, Basque Government and Igor Campillo, Euskampus Fundazioa at the opening ceremony

After these presentations, 21 doctoral students from the LTCs, a key part of LTC Sarea, made a quick presentation on their research projects, which they expanded for those who wanted to do so in a poster session that was organised in the exhibition hall.

Itziar Alkorta - IP of the LTC EAR Incubator on behalf of the UPV/EHU

After these presentations, 21 doctoral students from the LTCs, a key part of LTC Sarea, made a quick presentation on their research projects, which they expanded for those who wanted to do so in a poster session that was organised in the exhibition hall.

 

PhD Student Laura de la Heras-García / LTC CoMorPD

“Role of the Locus Coeruleus in prodromal phases of Parkinson's Disease”

In the afternoon, the participants of the conference split up into various inter-LTC groups in order to foster interaction and took turns on 4 thematic discussion panels, sharing the contributions that they could make from their LTC to the major challenges of transition (digital, socio-demographic and energy transition) and to the LTC Sarea network in general, sharing good operating practices and suggestions for improving and/or implementing new actions for the future.

Participants of the conference during lunch, at the cloister of the university.

The conference came to a close by giving thanks to all the participants and with a plenary session to take stock of the event, with a reminder about the upcoming important milestones for 2023, including the closing of the LTC Sarea call which is open until August 8 and Euskampus Bordeaux Eguna on November 13 and 14 in Bilbao, at which the new LTC will be announced and LTC network projects will be given a high profile.

It was also announced that this first event could be held annually and it was hoped that members of the LTC Sarea community would lead a Euroregional summer course(s) in 2024 to share their work with a wide audience.

More information about LTC Sarea right here.