From 2019, Aix-Marseille Université and the CNRA wanted to develop their field cooperation on the Tipasa UNESCO World Heritage site, leading to the signing of an application agreement for "Terrestrial and Maritime Archaeology in Tipaza" in 2020. After an interruption due to the COVID 19 crisis, the two partners decided to relaunch fieldwork in partnership with other institutions, notably the Office national de gestion et d'exploitation des biens culturels protégés (OGEBC), the archaeological site manager, and the Centre universitaire de Tipaza. To support field operations, AMU and the CNRA applied for a FSPI call for projects through the French Embassy in Algeria, drawing on the expertise of the Centre Camille Jullian (CCJ) in terrestrial and underwater archaeology and ceramology, the Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE) and the Centre de recherche en astronomie astrophysique et géophysique (CRAAG) in geophysics and archaeometry.

The ARCHEoPHY-Tipasa project has been awarded €600,000 in funding to achieve the following three objectives:

• Train project members in geosciences applied to archaeology (geophysics, archaeometry, underwater, geomorphology, etc.), building on the partnership work underway in Tipasa between Aix Marseille Université and its local Algerian partners, notably through the purchase of cutting-edge equipment;
• Use geosciences to support scientific research in the field in Tipasa, in association with Algerian partners;
• Contribute to the knowledge, preservation and promotion of the Tipasa site for the general public.

Although several sectors located in the western park were initially selected for the field study, the project finally focused on the eastern park within Tipasa, with the support of new techniques and geosciences through a multidisciplinary research team comprising some fifty members from both countries (researchers, teacher-researchers, PhD students, students and curators), including geophysical and pedestrian surveys, unaltered analysis of building materials, topographical surveys, ceramology and underwater archaeology.

The ARCHEoPHY-Tipasa project has carried out eight main actions:

• Purchase of state-of-the-art geophysical, archaeometric and geomorphological equipment;
• Specialized training at geophysical and archaeometric equipment suppliers for Algerian researchers from CRAAG and French researchers from AMU;
• Specialized training in underwater archaeology for eight Algerian archaeological divers in Marseille and at the training site in Aegina (Greece);
• Fifty-five cross-border visits by Algerian and French researchers;
• Various field operations and expert reports (geophysics, ceramology, topography, archaeometry);
• Seven training workshops in Tipaza;
• A Master class in underwater and coastal archaeology in Aix-en-Provence;
• Five Master's scholarships for Algerian students enrolled at AMU.

The training aspect of the project has been particularly important, in particular the training of Algerian and French trainers as well as Algerian archaeology and geophysics students, in order to train them through and for research and introduce them to the latest cutting-edge methods in archaeometry, geophysics and coastal and underwater archaeology.