So we had our first NNBerlin group event and for those of you who couldn’t make it, here is a short wrap up of last nights diner with Nature’s Alison Abbott.

About 10 NNBerliners showed up to chat with Alison and to discuss general topics in science and about science in Berlin in particular. I think everyone had a great time and enjoyed the evening.

What was a bit disappointing was the fact that no students participated in the event. In the end only PostDocs and group leaders mingled over scientific topics and enjoyed a couple of drinks and a fine diner.

Now folks, as group leaders this is pretty much what we do every day. If we wanted to meet with other group leaders only, we could also do this in private and wouldn’t need to run a public network group.

The basic idea of Nature Network Berlin is to also give students the opportunity to participate in activities that they would otherwise not have access to (like talking to a senior Nature editor over a glass of beer, for example). We actively try to promote events which are especially targeted at you (students) and hope that, in the future, more of you will take advantage of these possibilities.

What also surfaced at last nights’ meeting was that most people didn’t quite understand why they should join the NNBerlin group. What is the advantage of being part of this network?

Again, we will promote and organize events that are not part of any other conference/lecture/seminar schedule. You will be able to meet with people that we think offer unique insights into different areas of science and/or into different aspects of science (like effectively executing, publishing, writing, communicating etc). In addition, we will also organize sessions that we think might be especially useful for NNBerlin members. Like on how to get funded, for example. Whether you want to apply for a PostDoc fellowship, or start your own company. We hope to bring to you representatives from Europes’ leading funding agencies for an informal NN-promoted exchange of ideas.

In other words, you will have access to science-related activities, simply by being part of the network, that are exclusively advertised on the NNBerlin web site. If you see something you like, just show up at the indicated time/location. No signing up required.

And once again, we specifically and strongly encourage students to participate in our events!