Basque Country

The climate, the influence of the sea, an attractive mixture of villages, mountains, hills and abundant greenery, along with an internationally renowned cuisine, make the Basque Country a place full of surprises.

The Basque Country represents one of the largest industrial concentrations in Spain and is highly involved in the European race towards increasing competitiveness in the global and highly industrialised economy.

In addition to being one of the most attractive places to work and do business, the Basque Country is also considered a knowledge hub. This is thanks to the significant public investment in R&D and to the high proportion of active population holding a university degree and working as researchers in the business sector.

It is a region that enjoys a high quality of life thanks to the fact that the spending on public healthcare per inhabitant is among the highest in the world. In addition, the Basque Country is the safest autonomous community in Spain, and one of the safest places in Europe, with an average crime rate almost seven points lower than average for Spain, and over twenty points lower than the EU average.

For more interesting cultural information, please check out the Official YouTube channel of the Basque Country Tourist Office https://www.youtube.com/user/TurismoEuskadi

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a charming harbour city, world-famous for its wine and acknowledged for its outstanding architecture (it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Moreover, the lively student population brings a buzz to the air and the well-kept outdoor spaces make life in Bordeaux a pleasure.

Bordeaux is home to many global companies that are a big incentive to work in the city, along with the traditional wine industry and its world famous university. Bordeaux’s economy is diverse; alongside traditional sectors such as agriculture, fishing and wine, newer sectors have come to the fore relatively recently, including aeronautics (employing 20,000 people in the area), electronics and telecommunications.

New Aquitaine is a leading region in the areas of life sciences and laser technology. Laser Mégajoule is a major, multi-million pound research project situated near Bordeaux. Bordeaux is a major trading port, with some nine million tons of goods transported to and from the city. In addition, thanks to the lure of its grand architecture and history, tourism is a key sector.

Relocation assistance to candidates:

We are fully conscious of the difficulties and challenges involved in changing both employment and country of residence. Therefore the programme includes partners specialized in providing assistance to selected researchers in all necessary administrative procedures to obtain any residency permits or research visas and to find local accommodation.

Within Euskadi, the Bizkaia Talent Relocation Service assists researchers relocating to the Basque Country, while in the UBx the Welcome Center for International Researchers (WCIR) acts as the intermediary between hosting laboratories and international researchers arriving to Bordeaux.

Industrial perspective

The ADAGIO fellowship programme gives researchers from all over the world the opportunity to develop their own innovative projects within a network of internationally recognized European universities, research centres and R&D companies.

Fellows will benefit from the participation of an extensive group of highly innovative and cutting edge manufacturing companies . Each applied research project will be jointly supervised by both an academic and industrial mentor. Furthermore, fellows will be encouraged to redirect their research activity to a more industrial research path through secondments and short stays. Apart from gaining first-hand insights into the private R&D sector and professional experience outside academia, the secondments and short stays present an excellent opportunity for the researchers to build a significant professional network that they will be able to draw on when seeking employment after their contract.

This programme therefore constitutes the ideal stepping-stone in order for fellows to develop their academic and professional profile and explore future career perspectives both within and outside academia.

Career breaks. The ADAGIO Programme welcomes researchers that have taken a career break and wish to return to a career in research. Indeed, a career break might be considered an advantage if the applicant’s CV reflects relevant achievements acquired during that period, e.g. experience in industry. Career breaks due to maternity/paternity leave or national service will not have a negative impact on the assessment of any applicant.