Fantastic DNA meets Bordeaux students and families

What a brilliant visit to the University of Bordeaux in October 2025!

This visit marked the final phase of the SHARE project, supported by an ENLIGHT+ award through Global Galway and the ENLIGHT European University network. Members of the Cell Explorers team from the University of Galway travelled to Bordeaux to support the delivery of CE-inspired outreach activities during La Fête de la Science, from the 12th to the 15th October 2025.

The Galway team for this visit included Aoife O’Connell (CE team lead, 3rd year PhD student and 7 years with Cell Explorers), Clara McCorry (3rd-year Physics student), and Dr Muriel Grenon (CE programme director), working alongside colleagues from Bordeaux and the Basque Country.

We met the team of 7 enthusiastic and motivated MScS and PhD students assembled by our hosts Professors Karen Gaudin and Stéphanie Cluzet for a short training and set up before the sessions started.

Sunday was dedicated to family outreach events as part of the Fête de la Science. Three Fantastic DNA sessions were delivered, 1 session in English and 2 sessions in French.

A total of 47 people attended, including 27 children, with families getting fully hands-on with DNA experiments and discussions.

School sessions took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, welcoming two local secondary schools in Professor Gaudin’s teaching laboratory:

o   Collège Clystène from Bordeaux Grand Parc: 55 students aged 13–14

Check the school blog link here: https://clisthene.fr/2025/10/26/sortie-fantastic-dna-pour-la-fete-de-la-science/

o   Lycée Václav Havel from Bègles: 25 students aged 14–16

Check the school blog here: https://lyceevaclavhavel.fr/actions/lorsque-des-eleves-jouent-aux-apprentis-chercheurs-sortie-scientifique-luniversite-de-bordeaux-dans

The scientific introduction was delivered in English, while facilitation and questions were handled mostly in French, allowing pupils to engage confidently while also being exposed to scientific English.

A highlight of the visit was a Tuesday afternoon pilot session exploring a possible new workshop on environmental transitions, designed to align with the University of Bordeaux’s scientific strengths. The rest of the time was used to set up and tidy down, train and reflect with student facilitators, and prepare the next steps of the collaboration beyond SHARE.

Huge thanks to Karen and Stéphanie, the university of Bordeaux students and PhD volunteers, and all colleagues at the University of Bordeaux for the warm welcome, energy, and enthusiasm. This final SHARE visit showed just how far the collaboration has come.

We are excited to keep building on this work with our Bordeaux and UPV/EHU partners. The future is bright for science engagement across the ENLIGHT network!

A note about the funders

The activities of the University of Galway team as part of the SHARE project have been mainly supported by an Enlight+ award from Global Galway to Dr Grenon as well as the Medtronic Foundation award to the Cell Explorers project.

About Medtronic Foundation:

The Medtronic Foundation partners to improve lives for underserved and underrepresented populations worldwide, and support communities where Medtronic employees live and give. For more information, please

visit  medtronicfoundation.org.