Summer Courses on Science, Universities and InnovaSummer Courses on Science, Universities and Innovation, and Special Programmes for Education Professionalstion, and Special Programmes for Education Professionals

• The Basque Government’s Ministry of Science, Universities & Innovation and its Ministry of Education have signed a framework agreement with the UPV/EHU Summer Courses Foundation to organise the Summer Courses and run specific education programmes.

• The 44th Summer Courses will be officially opened on 2 July and the keynote lecture will be given by Miren Arzallus, art historian and director general of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

• The second Ricardo Echepare lectures will be held in September and will be given by José Antonio Alonso Lozano. He is Professor of Computer Science and Artificial intelligence at the UPV/EHU and Scientific Director at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM).

A press conference has been held in Donostia-San Sebastián today to announce the recent agreement signed by UPV/EHU Summer Courses Foundation (UIK) with the Basque Government’s Ministry of Science, Universities & Innovation and its Ministry of Education, as well as to unveil the special programmes to be run thanks to this agreement.

The Rector of the UPV/EHU, Joxerramon Bengoetxea; the Basque Minister for Science, Universities and Innovation, Juan Ignacio Pérez; the Basque Minister for Education, Begoña Pedrosa; the Vice-Rector of the Gipuzkoa Campos, Juana Goizueta; and the UIK academic director, Idoia Otaegui, took part in the Conference held at the Miramar Palace.

Agreement between the Basque Government and UIK

The partnership with the Basque Government’s Ministries of Science, Universities & Innovation and of Education is long-standing and robust. As the Rector of the UPV/EHU, Joxerramon Bengoetxea, explained, ‘since the UPV/EHU Summer Courses Foundation (UIK) was established in 1993, the Basque Government and UIK have taken the same path, and bolstered and consolidated our cooperation over the years. Accordingly, we wish to acknowledge and express our gratitude for the Basque Government’s commitment to organising and promoting the Summer Courses; along with expressing our willingness to continuing to progress in this same line in the future’.

The Summer Courses are designed to be learning opportunities aimed at deepening and disseminating knowledge, fostering critical thought and discussion on a rapidly evolving society.

The Basque Ministry of Science, Universities and Innovation, as a member of the Summer Courses Organising Committee, is involved in preparing the general programme for each edition. In addition to the current series and lines, the programme includes activities to foster and disseminate science and technology in society. Its goals are to promote scientific and technical training at every stage of education, inspire vocation and professional aspirations in this field, and foster the dissemination and science culture among Basque citizens.

The Ricardo Echepare Lectures thus started last year and will continue in 2025 thanks to the Basque Ministry of Science, Universities and Innovation.

Second Ricardo Echepare Lecture by José Antonio Lozano Alonso

José Antonio Lozano Alonso will give the second Ricardo Echepare lecture during the second half of September, and the date will be announced shortly. He is Professor of Computer Science and Artificial intelligence at the UPV/EHU and Scientific Director at the BCAM. He has made outstanding contributions in the fields of artificial intelligence and data science, and was awarded the Euskadi Research Prize in 2024.

Specific programmes for education professionals at the Summer Courses

Begoña Pedrosa, the Basque Minister for Education, explained that the UPV/EHU Summer Courses are a strategic tool to give impetus to improving the Basque education system. With that in mind, Education is promoting along with UIK the 'Aprender para enseñar' [‘Learning to Teach’] programme, aimed at teachers of educational centres, and the 'Ikasiz Hezi' professional development plan for non-university teachers.

This year, 16 courses will be run as part of ‘Aprender para enseñar‘ on its 25th anniversary, and 10 courses for the ‘Ikasiz Hezi‘ plan. The range of learning is in line with the current priorities of the Ministry, such as better assessment, developing teacher training models, focus on diversity and student socio-emotional wellbeing. Furthermore, it is designed in conjunction with Berritzegune Nagusia, the educational innovation support services.

The course content draws on real experiences driven by the centres; it offers the educational community opportunities for reflection and practical learning to advance in an education model that is more inclusive, innovative and improvement-oriented. The Minister also stressed that those programmes bolster the Ministry’s commitment to lifelong learning, as the basis for continuing to drive quality and equity in the Basque education system.

Enrolment now open for the Summer Courses

Idoia Otaegui, the academic director of the Summer Courses, thanked the Basque Ministries of Science, Universities and Innovation and of Education for their ongoing commitment to the Summer Courses; she also stressed the social impact of the 'Aprender para enseñar' and 'Ikasiz Hezi' programmes: ‘We want to stress how deepening knowledge impacts our environment, and we invite not only education professionals, but also all citizens to attend the Summer courses as a step towards critical, real and objective information. We are convinced that personal commitments to knowledge will resonate in society as a whole’.

The Summer Courses are already underway. A total of 152 courses and 14 workshops are scheduled until the end of September. The majority of the activities will be held in Donostia-San Sebastián, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bayonne. Outside the cities, they will be run in Ataun, Auritz-Burguete, Azkoitia, Beasain, Elgoibar, Gernika-Lumo, Ispaster, Miñao, Lekeitio, Lesaka, Oñati, Zerain and Zubieta.

Based on the challenges of our time, the Summer Courses will address a wide range of subjects. The programme has been structured in strategic series; particularly noteworthy are the courses linked to Culture and Art, along with those on Society, Health, Education, Law, Economy & Business, and Science & Technology.

The values of coexistence, democracy, participation, community and teamwork will be present – either in a cross-cutting manner or explicitly – in the content of the 2025 Summer Courses. Sustainability and artificial intelligence will continue to be important subjects to be considered and discussed.

As Idoia Otaegui has announced, enrolment is already open. Special rates are available for different social groups. Thanks to a specific offer for the under 25s, for example, they will only have to pay €25 per course if they enrol before 30 June.

Miren Arzallus will give the keynote lecture of the 44th Summer Courses

Even though the courses are already underway, the official opening will take place at the Miramar Palace at 5.00 p.m. on 2 July, where Miren Arzallus, the Director General of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, will give the keynote lecture entitled Art Without Borders. Overcoming Boundaries, Exploring Languages.