A cool little thing

[Brief] - Published on October 13, 2025 in Science and Society

The goal of the “Le Bidule” project is to highlight research funded by the ANR in order to promote science in innovative ways, fostering a dynamic dialogue between science and society.

But what exactly is this gadget? Whether electronic, plastic, acoustic, or atomic, a gadget is a scientific object generally unknown to the general public. But could you guess what the researcher using it is doing? That’s the challenge posed by “Le Bidule,” a science outreach project launched at the University of Montpellier that“aims to highlight research funded by the National Research Agency,” explains Julie Aubourg of the UM’s Science and Society Department, who has been leading the project since September 2023. For the first season of Le Bidule, 14 researchers who have received ANR funding will have their work shared with the general public.

How? First, with videos depicting a meeting between two scientists who know nothing about each other but must guess their counterpart’s field of research.“We give them an envelope containing a series of clues, a few keywords, and, of course, a photo of the object in question,” explains Julie Aubourg. Each then conducts their own investigation to try to determine the other’s research focus.

Make it easier to understand

“The first video was shown to the public during the Science Festival, and the audience members also tried to guess the researchers’ fields of study alongside the scientists; they were eager to learn more,” notes Julie Aubourg, who used the event to showcase another approach to promoting these projects: interactive illustrations that make research topics visually appealing and engaging. The goal: to make scientific projects easier to understand by making them accessible to everyone.

While these educational tools are designed for anyone interested in science, they are also aimed at high school students, and their teachers will be able to use them in class with accompanying teaching guides and activity sheets.“All content will be available on the project’s website, where visitors can watch videos, view illustrations, explore interviews, and download related educational resources,” adds Julie Aubourg.

Following this first season, which focused on researchers who received ANR funding in 2018–2019, three more seasons will follow—in response to an ANR SAPS call for proposals in collaboration with partners INRAE, IRD, Inserm, and Montpellier University Hospital—featuring more than forty researchers who will showcase their innovations to inspire others.