On charts and politics

OK, I think I'm definately not getting the hang of blogging. But I've been working my head off to finish my first ever manuscript, as well as applying to the EMBL PhD symposium and compiling a list of mutations for the human ABCC6 gene, which meant reading through 40something papers within a week. The last task at least I finally finished. Now it's 4 in the morning and I'm collecting energy to get back to the manuscript. Meanwhile I'm listening to the UK Singles Chart on Radio 1. It's one of my favorite shows. Not because the DJs are particularly appealing, but there's something about the selection of songs. It's so... random.

Well, this week there's a real jem in the Top 40. It's seeded at position 16 and it's called Illegal Attacks by Ian Brown, the former lead singer of The Stone Roses.

So why is this song special? Well, it's one of those rare songs that has real meaning to it. It is a very political anti-war song. And although in general I'm not a big fan of politics, I do think it is important to talk about issues like the war in Iraq. Just because it's far away doesn't mean it's not happening. So it's great to see that this topic has finally infiltrated musical pop culture, and that people are actually buying the single...

So what the fuck is this UK
Gunnin’ with this US of A
In Iraq and Iran and in Afghanistan
[...]
‘Cause as a matter of facts
It’s a pact, it’s an act
These are illegal attacks
So bring the soldiers back
These are illegal attacks
It’s contracts for contacts
I’m singing concrete facts
So bring the soldiers back

Ten days of SymBioSe – Part I.

My blog doesn’t really seem to get a good start. Nearly a month old and this is only my second post. However, at least to some extent I may be excused: I was away on a student symposium for 10 days, and no chance of writing… As a matter of fact the symposium is going to be the topic of this blog entry. And since there is a lot to say about SymBioSE I have diveded the topic into two posts: one aimed to be a general description and one a more detailed report on this years meeting.

SymBioSE (as the meeting is called) is short for Symposium of Biology Students in Europe. In essence, it’s an annual meeting where biology students from all over Europe gather to discuss life, the universe and everything (sometimes even biology :). Naturally the phylosophy behind SymBioSE goes a lot deeper:

SymBioSE was founded in 1996 by the German student association. The basic idea was to connect all European biology students, allowing for the exchange of ideas, perspectives and experiences about student concerns. This led to the first meeting in Berlin in 1997.

After a successful start with 12 European nations it was continued as an annual event to be held in the different participating countries. Since then, every host country has built upon the initial framework and upgraded it with aspects of their own cultural background. Thusfar, this has resulted every time in a unique and enriching symposium.

Today, SymBioSE meetings have three major goals: to broaden the horizons of the participating students by excursions and lectures, to connect the people by discussions and cultural exchange and to inform everybody about current university matters. The biological topics presented always rely upon the trends in research that complement both local institution.

Basically this means, that since 1997 SymBioSE has been hosted by a different country each year:

• 1997. Berlin, Germany


• 1998. Arrabida, Portugal


• 1999. Amsterdam, Netherlands


• 2000. Edinburgh, Scotland


• 2001. Murcia and Granada


• 2002. Freiburg, Germany


• 2003. Oslo, Norway


• 2004. Croatia


• 2005. Finland


• 2006. Ancona, Italy

And finally, the host of this years SymBioSe was Latvia and next years organizer is Portugal. Personally, I’ve been to Italy and Latvia, and I am definitely planning to go to Portungal.

SymBioSE is generally held in the first two weeks of august, so it’s easy to plan ahead for the next year and make sure you have nothing else planned for that period. Also, the price of the meeting has (as far as I know) never been more than 150 Euros. This price includes housing and food and all the excursions, so you really get value for money. Also, most organizers get independent funding to ensure scholarships and reductions for people who could otherwise not participate. That’s good news for poor students like me, who could otherwise not take part.

Another nice thing about SymBioSE is having a different host country each year. This means that each symposium has a different highlight, since every organizing team puts an emphasis on the topics and issues they think most important in their country or at their university. This way you can get a nice insight into how multi-facetted biology is in Europe.

As for the programme, there are invited speakers (usually professors and phd students from the organizing countries), student presentations, workshops and excursions. Apparently, in previous years, there were also practicals and courses for which you could get credits, but that was before my time. During the last two years the science part has been mostly l’art pour l’art, albeit still interesting.

Finally, I’d just like to mention the social aspect of SymBioSE. Having so many people (80-120) from various countries together means you always make a lot of friends. You just can’t get around chatting to people and in the evening/night there is always lots of talking/drinking/partying. This way you get to know different people, different cultures, student policies across Europe etc. Of course 10 days of socializing is extremely tiring, but it’s worth it!

Where it all began...

This is my first blog entry – ever. Quite frankly I have no idea how and where to start. Someone once told me that a blog should be something like a diary, except that other people read it, but then I never wrote a diary, so that’s not going to be much help.

Maybe I should first say a few things about myself: Until recently I was a biology student at the largest university in Hungary. That was fun. I liked being a student. Full time. Apparently some people study because they think they need a degree. I did it, because I enjoyed studying, friends and everything else that goes along with uni (wild parties and lots of booze…, you get the picture). When I was in my third year I joined research at a local Institute of the Academy of Sciences, and have been working there ever since. As a matter of fact, I’ll be starting my phd project there in September.

I don’t really know what to expect. I love working with my supervisor, he’s a great guy, and awfully clever. The others from the lab are also fantastic if you need a crowd to go out with and have a beer at the local pub. But sometimes I feel as if I have fallen into this great big swamp. For example when I read an interesting paper there is no-one whom I could discuss it with. Or when I get some weird results at 11pm I will definitely find the lab deserted and no chance of getting advice for another twelve hours. And unless I am very persistent at asking the others about their project they never talk about it. Not because they intentionally want to keep it secret – they just aren’t terribly enthusiastic about their work. So somewhere, deep-down I am terribly afraid, that one day I will wake up and I will realize that this big swamp of disinterest and non-motivation has swallowed me as well. This is why I have started this blog. I hope to share some of the fascinating things that happen every day: in my life, in the lab and in research in general. And I’d love to have feed-back. Please leave comments, whoever you are…