Bordeaux, France

Evolution of French Agriculture: Strategies to Face Climate Change

This summer school, organised by the University of Bordeaux and the French National Institute for Agronomy and Environment (INRAE), provides participants with scientific insight regarding French agricultural challenges, with a focus on strategies to improve agricultural sustainability in order to address environmental issues such as climate change and food security. It is open to third year Bachelor students as well as first and second year Master students with a background in biology.

During the two week session, students learn in a variety of ways thanks to:
- laboratory and practical sessions
- experiences of agricultural reality, with visits of research laboratories, farms, fish farms, greenhouses, breeding companies, wine castles, etc.
- exchanges with pioneering scientists in the fields of life sciences and agriculture.

Target group

The course is designed for third year Bachelor students and first and second year Master students with a background in biology and a strong interest in 21st century agricultural challenges.

Classes, discussions and group work will be in English. Candidates should have a B2 level of English or equivalent.

Candidates must provide a CV and cover letter detailing their motivations for attending the summer school and their professional project.

Course aim

The summer school aims to decipher the strategies that have been developed to identify and exploit stress responses and to manage the growing practices that tackle abiotic and biotic stress. Course content will focus on major challenges encountered by the agricultural industry, such as confronting climate change and maintaining both the yield and quality of agro-food productions. A variety of crops will be studied, such as tomatoes, strawberries, grapevines, carrots, leeks, pine and oak trees etc.

Teaching will be based on the flipped classroom principle: participants and speakers will co-design laboratory experiments in response to current queries and demands faced by farmers and customers. Students and professors will then collect the resulting data and determine the most efficient data mining methods to process the results. The analyses and experimental conclusions will be presented at the end of the summer school.

Participants will be familiarised with academic research, thus preparing them for future studies within doctoral schools and also for the workforce. This international experience will allow students to gain a deeper understanding of other cultures, make lifelong friends from a wide variety of backgrounds and benefit from world-renowned academic excellence.

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to translate socioeconomic and ecological demands into scientific questions and build a project proposal describing the work-packages, project management and financial support. Students and speakers will collaborate within project teams, thus allowing participants to develop their project management and communication skills.

Fee info

EUR 300: 300€ for students from the University of Bordeaux (including breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks and social programme costs)
EUR 950: 950€ for regular participants (including breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks, accommodation and social programme costs).