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Associations

A dozen or so PhD student associations are currently active at the University of Bordeaux. They can provide you with a rich and varied community life.

The Graduate Research School is eager to encourage and promote these student associations, by supporting their scientific, educational and professional projects. To this end, it offers them assistance in setting up projects, a channel through which to disseminate information and financial support if needed.

From field-specific associations to multidisciplinary projects, there are so many ways you can get involved, flourish and express yourself.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY ASSOCIATIONS

AquiDoc: An association for early-stage researchers in the Aquitaine region

AquiDoc is a multidisciplinary association whose aim is to encourage and support the careers of young researchers (PhD students and graduates) in non-academic sectors. Since 2007, AquiDoc’s role is to provide information and accompany young researchers in the Aquitaine region with regards to their career opportunities, as well as give advice and host recruitment preparation workshops.

PubhD

PubhD is a monthly event open to the general public that takes place in twenty or so European countries. During each PubhD event, 3 PhD students from various fields - the speakers - present their theses in a pub for no more than 10 minutes. These friendly scientific outreach events organised by a group of PhD students from the University of Bordeaux are open to everyone.

Femmes et sciences

The association ‘Femmes et sciences’ or ‘Women and Sciences’ encourages young people, especially women, to take up scientific and technical studies. It also advocates the advancement of women in scientific careers and raises the profile of women scientists in any way it can. Its target audiences include the educational world (teachers, pupils and students), the research and higher education community, managers of scientific institutions, women's networks, businesses and the general public.

PhDOOC: PhD and career development

PhDOOC is a non-profit organisation governed by the French law of 1901. Its aim is to train and support PhD students and graduates, and to build a community. To this end, PhDOOC organised the first MOOC in France on the subject of career development for PhD students in all fields. This free online training course helps students prepare their future careers thanks to resources, group activities and discussions between participants. The aim of this initiative is to get participants thinking about their skills, their career plans and their approach to finding a job. PhDOOC’s goal is to offer one training session a year and create a forum for information, exchanges and mutual support around this topic. Another of its goals is to encourage people from the academic sector and the professional world to interact.

ANDès: Association Nationale des Docteurs

The 'Association Nationale des Docteurs' or 'National Association of Doctors' is a non-profit organisation governed by the French law of 1901. Founded in 1970, it was recognised as being of public benefit in 1975. The ANDès has three main goals: promote doctoral studies, place the skills of PhD graduates at the disposal of society, and create and develop synergy between the various PhD-graduate networks.

The university’s field-specific associations

ADoC: ‘Association des doctorants de chimie de Bordeaux’

Founded in 2001, ADoC, the Bordeaux Association of Chemistry PhD Students, is an association whose aim is to bring together former, current and future chemistry PhD students of the University of Bordeaux. It also aims to enhance the social and cultural lives of the members of the Doctoral School of Chemical Sciences of Bordeaux, to encourage relationships between PhD students and the professional world, foster networks between PhD students, and provide information about doctoral studies to students.

The association for PhD students of the Doctoral School of Society, Politics and Public Health

The Doctoral School of Society, Politics and Public Health (ED SP2) has the particularity of covering a wide range of academic fields and being spread across the University of Bordeaux’s many campuses. This particularity is also an asset that enables each and every PhD student of the doctoral school to talk, meet and learn from one another. The association acts as an intermediary by organising events throughout the year.

Ad'Hoc: The association for PhD students in law at the University of Bordeaux

Founded in 2009, Ad’Hoc has two goals: first, ensuring that PhD students scattered across the many branches of law can get to know each other, eliminating their feeling of isolation. Next, defending the rights and interests of PhD students and lecturers who often find themselves in situations that are precarious and difficult to understand. Ad’Hoc believes that doctoral excellence cannot be achieved without excellent working conditions. To achieve these goals the association organises events such as gatherings, picnics, and the presence of elected representatives on several of the universities decision-making committees.

LAMBDA: The association for Bordeaux mathematicians in the doctoral school

LAMBDA is a non-profit organisation governed by the French law of 1901 and brings together PhD students enrolled in the University of Bordeaux and studying for a PhD in mathematics. LAMBDA is supported by the Doctoral School of Mathematics and Computer Sciences (ED MI), the Bordeaux Institute of Mathematics and the University of Bordeaux. LAMBDA’s activities are based on four goals for PhD students: encourage scientific discussions, promote their work, represent and defend their interests within the university, and encourage their professional integration, especially into the business world.

2D2B: The association for PhD students and graduates in biology in Bordeaux

Founded in 2014, 2D2B’s main goal is to encourage communication between PhD students of the Doctoral School of Health and Life Sciences of Bordeaux (ED SVS), and with the heads of the doctoral school, teachers, researchers, and the business world. The association also aims to provide information concerning doctoral studies and postdoctoral life. Members play an active role in the life of the doctoral school, in particular by co-organising the Scientific Day (JED) that takes place mid-April. The aim of this event is to enable PhD students from all academic fields to meet in a formal setting to present and discuss their scientific work. The multidisciplinary nature of this day provides a comprehensive overview of the different research topics explored in Bordeaux within the Doctoral School of Health and Life Sciences.

AFoDIB: ‘Association de la formation doctorale d'informatique de Bordeaux’

AFoDIB, or Bordeaux Computer Science Doctoral Training Association, is a non-profit organisation governed by the French law of 1901 and was created in 1994. Its goal is to promote insertion and doctoral training in computer science in Bordeaux (notably via AquiDoc, of which AFoDIB is a member). AFoDIB organises several events to allow PhD students and other members of the Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche en Informatique (The Bordeaux Laboratory in Computer Science Research, LaBRI) and Inria Bordeaux South-West to spend time together in a friendly atmosphere.

Bordeaux Electrical Engineering - Branch of IEEE

Bordeaux Electrical Engineering Student Branch is a student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), an international scientific society. Founded in January 2014 by PhD students from the Integration from Material to System Laboratory (IMS), the IEEE offers students on the Bordeaux campus the opportunity to develop their skills. The ‘Bee Branch’ organises conferences on topics of interest to its members and encourages exchanges with speakers at special events. The branch has a wide range of academic and industrial partners, which gives its members the opportunity to develop their professional network.

BOSC : Bordeaux Optics Student Chapter

Bordeaux Optics Student Chapter is an association whose aim is to promote optics and photonics through scientific events (after work gatherings, company visits, presentations of experiments, conferences, etc.). It aims to help members enhance their teaching skills by organising events designed to promote, disseminate and popularise scientific information, increase members' visibility and develop interaction and exchanges between industrial and academic sectors; encourage the creation and support the development of scientific projects in optics and photonics; to pool members' knowledge of optics, photonics and physics in general in order to organise think tanks on the problems encountered by each member in their research theses. The association is supported by two American companies, SPIE and OSA, which provide both financial support and access to their worldwide network.

NBA : Neuroscience in Bordeaux Association

NBA was created in 2012 by and for students and PhD students in neurosciences in Bordeaux. The association is composed of full members and associate members from France and beyond. Every member is or was a master’s student or PhD student in neurosciences in Bordeaux. NBA aims to: 1) welcome and support new students in neurosciences in Bordeaux; 2) set up an intergenerational network encouraging exchanges and cohesion between master’s students and PhD students in neurosciences in Bordeaux, each member can share their experiences with others; 3) become a privileged interlocutor between students, the Master’s Program Committee and the Doctoral School of Health and Life Sciences of the University of Bordeaux; 4) contribute to the dissemination of scientific knowledge in neurosciences to the general public by organising and/or participating in events (e.g. Neurodon, Semaine du Cerveau or “Brain week”, Pint of Science).

SPIDoc: The association for PhD students in physical sciences and engineering in Bordeaux

Created in April 2014, SPIDoc aims to organise cultural, scientific, sporting and festive events in order to create and develop cohesion and communication between the PhD students of the Doctoral School of Physical Sciences and Engineering (ED SPI) of the University of Bordeaux. Previous events organised include a barbecue, a badminton tournament, a weekend skiing, an introduction to fencing, a pétanque tournament…

The association for the PhD students of the Doctoral School of Science and Environment - TerraDoc

Created in January 2019, TerraDOC aims to bring together young researchers interested in various topics related to earth, natural and environmental sciences.