Conferences & Events

In a nutshell

Grenoble hosts scientific workshops all year round, many of them organised by the ESRF and the ILL for their users. For the general public, the main moment is the national science festival in October. Dates change from edition to edition; check the organisers’ sites (status as of 3 November 2026).

The rhythm of a research year

Life at the big machines follows its own calendar. At the ESRF, the standard deadlines for beam-time proposals are 1 March and 10 September. At the ILL there are two main deadlines a year, in February and September, and the proposals are reviewed about eight weeks later. The ILL’s reactor runs in cycles separated by shutdowns. For visiting scientists these dates matter more than any conference.

ESRF User Meeting

The ESRF holds a User Meeting at its Grenoble site, where scientists who use its beamlines meet each other, ESRF staff and management. The tradition is as old as the facility: the first Users’ Meeting took place in 1989, three years before the first electrons went round the ring. The 2026 edition took place from 2 to 4 February.

Anniversaries

Grenoble’s institutes mark their milestones publicly. On 1 October 2024 the ESRF celebrated 30 years of user operation. EMBL Grenoble held a symposium for its fiftieth anniversary on 4 July 2025, bringing together staff, alumni and partners.

Fête de la Science

The Fête de la Science is France’s national science festival. Universities, laboratories, museums, libraries and associations across the country organise events. The 2026 edition ran from 2 to 12 October under the theme “Saveurs savantes”, about food and the science behind it.

The big machines have taken part: in 2014, for example, the ESRF and the ILL opened their doors over a festival weekend, and hundreds of visitors saw how X-rays and neutrons are produced. Open days are not held every year, so watch the institutes’ news.

Parvis des Sciences

Parvis des Sciences is a public science day at MINATEC on the Presqu’île, organised with the GIANT network. In 2025 the ILL, the ESRF and EMBL Grenoble shared a stand, and about 1,765 visitors came on a single Saturday.

A city of exhibitions

Grenoble has used big public events to show off its technology for a century. From 21 May to 25 October 1925 it hosted the International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism, celebrating the “white coal” of Alpine water power that had drawn engineers and industry to the city. The story is told on City & Region; places to visit today are on Science Travel.