The French Science Festival, a major nationwide event devoted to science, technology and innovation, will take place from 3 to 13 October 2025 across mainland France, in the French overseas territories and abroad.
The 2025 Science Festival will explore the nature, or natures, of intelligence.
The theme of the 2025 Science Festival is "Intelligence".
Every day, reports in the news talk about the latest achievements and the spectacular development of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as its potential dangers. The focus of fierce global competition, AI is permeating every field, opening the doors to a new revolution. Having become more "intelligent" than humans, could machines one day surpass them? But what kind of intelligence are we talking about?
For a long time, intelligence was seen as a human attribute. At the beginning of the 20th century, the notion of intelligence became something more palpable, almost mathematical, with the introduction of the concept of the intelligence quotient. Intelligence could be boiled down to a simple number. However, the latest scientific advances show that intelligence exists in various forms and nuances. From the behaviour of cells to the astonishing capacities of plants, from the cognitive prowess of animals to the emergence of AI, the notion of intelligence manifests itself in many ways and challenges our way of thinking.
The 2025 Science Festival invites the general public to explore all the different forms of intelligence and to re-assess what it actually means to be intelligent, looking beyond humanity alone.
BRGM, a partner of the event throughout France
BRGM, the French national geological survey, will be taking part in the Fête de la Science throughout France.
Fête de la Science weekend - Paris, Musée des Arts et Métiers, 3 to 5 October
Join us at the Musée des Arts et Métiers on 3, 4 and 5 October for a great start to the 2025 Fête de la Science!
An event organised in partnership with ANR, Anses, ASNR, BRGM, CEA, CNRS, Ifpen, Ifremer, IGN, INRAE, Inria, Inserm, IRD and Renater.
In this unusual venue right in the heart of Paris that celebrates inventiveness, come and experience a unique programme specially devised to celebrate science and intelligence: a Night of Science, a festive and relaxed evening on Friday 3 October from 7pm to 1am, followed by a weekend of entertaining scientific activities from 10am to 6pm on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 October for young and old alike.
Programme:
- more than 25 stands along the tour route, with events put on by researchers from Cnam and some fifteen other research bodies and organisations;
- an original Science on Stage programme featuring carte blanche sessions, sketches and improv acts;
- science discussions in small groups and informal get-togethers where you can meet scientists over a drink, etc.
There will also be family workshops, two-voice tours of the museum's collections and the Science & Vie Junior (magazine for young scientists) challenge to jointly write an essay on the topic of intelligence!
And with BRGM:
- Adopt your pet rock! Customise our pet rocks and learn where rocks come from, what makes them special and how they are used in our everyday lives. Find out how much rock you consume every day, depending on your lifestyle!
- Listen to the "Professor Caillou" (Professor Pebble) podcast.
- Listen to talks by our scientists.
- Visit our alabaster exhibition.
- And leave with your own geological observation booklet.
Musée des Arts et Métiers, 60 rue Réaumur, 75003 Paris
Village des sciences du Loiret (Loiret Science Village) - Orléans, INRAE, 4 and 5 October
INRAE Val de Loire will be pleased to see you at its Orléans site on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 October from 10am to 6pm to find out about the food, agriculture and environmental research activities it carries out to support innovation, expertise and public policy.
BRGM is taking part in the Village des Sciences, which brings together all the bodies involved in research and scientific culture in the area of the Loiret département (laboratories, research establishments, local authorities, associations and learned societies), who will be there to help you discover and share their scientific approaches through a host of workshops, visits, presentations and entertaining activities.
Programme on the BRGM stand:
- Adopt your pet rock! Customise our pet rocks and learn where rocks come from, what makes them special and how they are used in our everyday lives. Find out how much rock you consume every day, depending on your lifestyle!
- Listen to the "Professor Caillou” (Professor Pebble) podcast.
- And leave with your own geological observation booklet.
INRAE Val de Loire, 2163 Avenue de la pomme de pin, 45160 Ardon, France
Free admission and parking - Food trucks on site
Hydrogeological excursion - Brittany, 8 October
For the Fête de la Science in Brittany, BRGM will take you on a field trip on Wednesday 8 October from 2pm to 4.30pm to explore the link between geology and groundwater.
On this hydrogeological itinerary you will find out where water flows and where it can be found underground. Take a look at the different rocks that govern water flows and storage and find out about its uses, from drinking water to industrial applications.
Chartres-de-Bretagne (Carrefour Market car park), Rue de la Croix aux Potiers, 35131 Chartres-de-Bretagne
Terres de Sciences (Science Lands) - Montpellier, INRAE, 9 October
INRAE Occitanie is looking forward to welcoming secondary school students to its Montpellier site from 9.00am to 12.00pm on Thursday 9 October for an interactive visit to find out about solutions to improve water management, from the countryside to the city.
At INRAE, G-EAU scientists are researching and innovating to make savings on our water resources in agriculture: re-use of treated waste water, appropriate irrigation systems, agro-ecology, soil conservation, photovoltaic panels and even the use of irrigation water to reduce urban heat islands: a whole range of research and solutions grouped together on the PRESTI platform (Platform for Research and Experimentation in Irrigation Science and Technology). The team is looking forward to welcoming secondary school students and their teachers to find out about a range of solutions through an interactive tour!
The G-EAU (Water Management, Stakeholders and Uses) Joint Research Unit includes specialist scientists from INRAE, CIRAD, IRD, BRGM, Institut Agro Montpellier and AgroParisTech.
INRAE Occitanie-Montpellier, Lavalette site (UMR G-EAU), 361 Rue Jean-François Breton, 34090 Montpellier
Village des Sciences (Science Village) - Gardanne, 9 to 11 October
The Gardanne Village des Sciences will be back in 2025 from Thursday 9 October to Saturday 11 October. Jointly organised by the Gardanne media library and La Rotonde, the Centre for Scientific, Technical and Industrial Culture at the Ecole des Mines, Saint-Étienne - Aix-Marseille Campus in Provence, the event offers a range of stands and activities open to all, to help us better understand and live in the world around us.
This year, on Friday 10 October from 9.00am to 3.15pm BRGM will also take part in the Village des Sciences with its own stand.
Programme:
- Play the rock game! Learn to recognise different rocks and fossils in an entertaining interactive game that requires all your senses. It will showcase the exceptional heritage collection of rocks from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region and introduce children to geology. What? The region was under the ocean a few million years ago? But how come there are volcanic rocks here?
- Test your knowledge with the mine game! This board game will introduce children to the fascinating world of mining, miners and the historical and industrial heritage of the Gardanne region
- You will be able to take a virtual trip underground. Use a 3D mouse to move around the 3D point cloud. This animation is an entertaining way to learn about underground voids and the problems they pose. It also provides an insight into an innovative technique for acquiring geometric data using a hand-held laser scanner.
Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne, Campus Georges Charpak, 880 Route de Mimet, 13120 Gardanne
Le Carreau des Sciences - Lewarde, 12 October
As part of the Fête de la Science, the Nord département's Post-Mining Territorial Unit of BRGM's Mine Prevention and Safety Division will be taking part in the Carreau des Sciences event organised on 12 October from 2pm to 5pm by the Lewarde Mining History Centre.
This public event, held in an iconic location, will be an ideal opportunity to find out more about BRGM and to present its post-mining work through events and discussions on mining heritage issues.
Free admission (guided tours of the galleries at a reduced rate: €7.70).
Centre Historique Minier, Rue d'Erchin, CS 30039, 59287 Lewarde
Inaugural "Intelligence" village - La Réunion, 3 and 4 October
To launch the 2025 Fête de la Science, the garden of the François Mitterrand multimedia library will be turned into a Science Village on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 October from 9am to 4pm.
BRGM is taking part in the Village des Sciences, which brings researchers, media people, associations, artists and events together to explore intelligence in all its forms: human, animal, artificial, plant and collective. Workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions and discussions will be held during the festivities.
Programme on the BRGM stand:
- Learn about natural hazards using models: landslides and rockfalls, flooding, coastal erosion, etc.
- Multimedia presentation of BRGM's work on natural hazards in Salazie
- Exhibition of BRGM projects on natural hazards in Réunion Island
- Explanation of BRGM's areas of expertise and the issues it addresses
Gardens of the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand, Rue de l'Europe, 97400 Saint-Denis
Coast in motion: how mud banks work - French Guiana, 4 and 10 October
For the Fête de la Science, BRGM is inviting you to find out about coastal dynamics in French Guiana and the key role played by mud banks in changes in the coastline, using an interactive model. This will be supplemented by a presentation of the digital model used by the Observatoire de la Dynamique Côtière (Coastal Dynamics Observatory - ODyC), developed jointly by I-Sea and BRGM, to monitor changes in these formations.
Visit the BRGM stand in French Guiana:
- At the Village des Sciences in French Guiana you can take part in a morning of events open to the public on Saturday 4 October from 9.00am to 1.00pm. Discover intelligence in all its forms through stands, interactive workshops and visits to laboratories.
University of French Guiana, 97300 Cayenne
- You can also meet BRGM on Friday 10 October from 4pm to 8pm at the Quartier en Fête neighbourhood festival in Cayenne. Around its TOTEM community space, the Médan district has been turned into a true science village, with over 40 specialists, a score of stands and an opening concert by the group Kassialata.
ToTem - La Canopée des Sciences, 4 Cité Medan Oyanas 97300 Cayenne