A summer school to weave the programme’s scientific network
Since its creation in 2022, the programme has expanded across a range of territories and projects: from the Rhine Graben to the Aquitaine Basin, from the Massif Central to French Guiana, by way of the Paris Basin, each regional site concentrates its own scientific and socio-territorial challenges. Yet at the heart of the programme are its doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, whose work constitutes its scientific driving force.
It was to strengthen the ties between these early-career researchers — often engaged in highly specific questions and sometimes isolated within their respective laboratories — that the programme launched its first summer school. The aim was threefold: to allow each participant to become better acquainted with the work of the others, to develop a shared scientific culture around a cross-cutting theme, and to create the conditions for future collaborations.
Ecole d'été 2026, excursion sur le plateau du Bénou
PEPR Sous-sol, bien commun
Ecole d'été 2026, excursion sur le plateau du Bénou
PEPR Sous-sol, bien commun
Excursion sur le plateau du Bénou
PEPR Sous-sol, bien commun
Ecole d'été 2026, visite du bassin de Lacq
PEPR Sous-sol, bien commun
Ecole d'été 2026, visite du bassin de Lacq
PEPR Sous-sol, bien commun
Three days devoted to native hydrogen
The choice of Anglet, at the heart of the Aquitaine Basin, was no accident. The region has an exceptional geological and industrial history: from natural gas exploited for more than a century to current research on native hydrogen, the Aquitaine Basin concentrates major scientific challenges for the programme.
Day 1: setting the context and understanding
Tuesday 9 June opened with a series of theoretical presentations designed to give all participants the scientific keys needed to converge on a common understanding. Speakers from academia, industry and the social sciences presented current work on the characterisation and generation of native hydrogen in the Aquitaine Basin, on exploration processes, and on the dynamics of media coverage of the subject.
These cross-disciplinary contributions provided the early-career researchers with a common foundation: where native hydrogen comes from, how it is explored, and how it is talked about — a solid basis for the days that followed.
Day 2: seeing, exploring, measuring
On Wednesday 10 June, participants left the conference room for the field. A first leg, by bus, crossed the Lacq basin and its remarkable industrial landscape: historic wells, repurposed chemical plants, and industrial estates that grew up around the sour gas fields. The excursion gave concrete substance to the history of subsurface exploitation in Aquitaine.
In the afternoon, on the Bénou plateau, the scientific dimension came to the fore. A geologist guided participants through the topography and geology of the site, after which everyone took part in measuring hydrogen in the soil, at different locations and different depths. A key moment: observing for oneself the spatial variations in hydrogen seepage, understanding the geological factors that control it, and asking questions. A form of field-based teaching that transforms theoretical understanding.
Day 3: collaborating and making sense
Thursday 11 June marked the high point of the summer school. After each doctoral and postdoctoral researcher had briefly presented their work, the whole group embarked on an original collaborative workshop: identifying and mapping the stakeholders involved in hydrogen exploration and exploitation projects, while highlighting the issues and research questions associated with each category.
Guided by the programme’s leadership and the project coordinators, the early-career scientists dissected the strategies and rationales of different groups of stakeholders:
Scientists: balancing academic responsibility, the production of useful knowledge and economic interests. What are the priority scientific questions? What is the political role of the scientist?
Industry: investment funds, established players, start-ups. Why is there massive investment in a resource that remains highly uncertain? What are the business models?
Policymakers (at national and regional levels): how are decisions made? How does the State weigh costs against benefits? What regulation is envisaged?
Citizens: local residents, activists, inhabitants of rural and urban areas, the silent majority. How do local mobilisations arise and develop? How do struggles converge on the ground?
This exercise in mapping the stakeholders and their rationales allowed each participant to contribute their own expertise and observations, to see their own research within a broader ecosystem, and to understand where tensions, opportunities and unresolved questions take shape.
Territorial and scientific convergence
Meanwhile, the programme committee was meeting in parallel in Anglet, bringing together project coordinators and members of the leadership team. These annual meetings, held each year in one of the regions under study (the Rhine Graben last year, the Aquitaine Basin this year, the Massif Central next year), are crucial moments for discussing the programme’s progress, its administrative aspects, future calls for proposals, and its scientific direction.
Bringing together both the early-career researchers and the project coordinators in Anglet created an essential dynamic of convergence. Informal exchanges across generations were able to emerge. The early-career researchers saw at first hand how the governance of a large programme works, while the project coordinators were able to gauge the richness and diversity of the work under way.
A success to be repeated
The stakeholder mapping exercise, in particular, showed how a simple method can become a powerful tool for collective scientific understanding. Participant feedback was enthusiastic: rare opportunities to meet other early-career researchers from the programme, an atmosphere of open exchange, and chances to build connections.
The 2027 edition will take place in the Massif Central, exploring another cross-cutting scientific theme, and will help to further strengthen the programme’s network of early-career researchers.