Science and Society

Strengthening the links between science and society, weaving fruitful relationships between researchers and citizens – this is one of the priorities of the Université Bourgogne Europe. To this end, we organize year-round training courses for researchers to help them set up initiatives to talk about their research, facilitate contacts with researchers and organize events conducive to discussion without limits or knowledge barriers…

Some of our actions are carried out under the “Science Avec et Pour la Société” label awarded by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

The Experimentarium

Launched by the university in 2001, this program regularly brings together young researchers from all disciplines and a variety of audiences. During workshops and discussions, around experiments or unusual objects, the researcher talks about his or her day-to-day life, inviting questions and taking visitors to the heart of research “in the making.”

The Expérimentarium is for the general public (aged 10 and over) as part of singular events, held in places dedicated to science (universities, research centers, etc.) but also in public or unusual venues (libraries, markets, farms, etc.). Special days for school groups are organized several times a year…

Since 2023, the Experimentarium has been offering an innovation: “Our idea for a researcher.” The idea is to help a researcher make progress on a question he or she is currently grappling with in his or her research. This incredible challenge is open to the general public (and even to 5th graders!), during invigorating one-hour brainstorming sessions.

Photo credits: Culture Cluster at the UBE

Researchers’ Night

Once a year, on the last Friday in September, La Nuit des Chercheur-es (Researchers’ Night) takes place in over 300 towns and cities across Europe, including a dozen in France. Our university is one of the organizers of this nocturnal event, which gives visitors the opportunity to meet researchers from all disciplines, in the heart of unusual spaces and singular scenographies: an evening to get up close and personal with research in the making! On this night, hundreds of visitors stroll through the world of researchers. Immersive facilities and atmospheres encourage convivial encounters and mutually enriching discussions. Mini-conferences, games, workshops, “speed searching,” lively entertainment, shows and snacks are just some of the treats on the “menu,” which changes every year.

Photo credits : Vincent Arbelet

Fête de la Science (Science Fest)

The Fête de la Science is a national event where scientific and cultural players (associations, universities, research organizations, museums and libraries) get together to talk to the public about science and current research issues.

Nearly 150 events are held each year across the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region. In Dijon, the University of Burgundy hosts and organizes the Village des Sciences (Science Village) in partnership with the Pavillon des Sciences. A highlight of the Science Fest, the Village offers a weekend-long opportunity for young and old alike to discover science in a fun way. Visits to labs, discussion workshops and events combining various scientific disciplines, companies, labs and associations are on offer.

Photo credits: Edouard Barra

Planetarium screenings

In partnership with Dijon’s Jardin des Sciences, we regularly offer film screenings followed by meetings with a specialist in the proposed theme.

Women of science evenings

The university, in partnership with Dijon bar Un singe en hiver, is offering an evening of discovery and exchange around women in science. The event is an opportunity to give voice to women involved in research, in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere combining personal accounts and games.

Photo credits: Culture Cluster at the UBE

Our original creations

During the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant lockdowns and event cancellations, our university multiplied its creative initiatives on various digital media to maintain a link between the public and researchers. These virtual meetings, born of an extraordinary situation, have become one of the hallmarks of the UBE, and it is with great enthusiasm and good humor that radio programs, podcasts, web series, documentaries and comic strips are regularly offered…

Student lives [Web series]

Now in its 4th season, this web series gives voice to more than thirty university researchers. They talk about their research and, above all, their early careers in academia. Historians, biologists, sociologists, neuroscientists, physicists, psychologists, neurobiologists, ecologists, all recount the memories of their studies, the sometimes rocky paths they followed to complete a dissertation, and offer a few words of advice to the younger generation…

Moi, chercheur (I am a Researcher) [Comic strip serial]

Thibault Roy’s comic strip series tells the stories of various researchers’ journeys through their studies. How did the desire to engage in a research career come to them? When did it all click? What drives young students to embark on such a long and challenging career? How do they cope with the mishaps along the way, disillusionment and disconcerting internship supervisors? In so doing, they engage in an original autobiographical exercise. These stories, which were made possible by funding from the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, are regularly published on the Instagram account @culture_univbourgogne.

Echoes from the lab

Third-year undergraduate students in the Biology and Life Sciences program, taking part in the “Scientific communication and museography” course run by the university’s team of scientific mediators, have the opportunity to meet and talk with young researchers. The undergraduates question the scientists about their research, their careers and their commitment to scientific mediation. These encounters give rise to audio reports, echoes from the lab, that are lovingly crafted, cobbled together and edited by the students themselves…

The Hub

In a spirit of “service” to society (and also to researchers!), the Université Bourgogne Europe contributes to the Burgundy-Franche-Comté Hub which puts researchers in touch with citizens, associations, museums, school groups, etc. who request it. If you have a project more or less related to scientific culture, and you’re wondering whether it might be interesting to discuss it with a researcher, or to involve him or her in it, don’t hesitate to contact the members of the Hub (real mediators) via this address: saps@ubfc.fr