Thanks God it’s Friday!… I know I’ve not been around lately (I mean, after the big London NN meeting I had so many ideas, but no time at all!).

The good part is that I got a good excuse… one of the papers was submitted today. I know, I know… it’s only submission, but it was really hard to get to this point.

Finally, my “To Do” list is moving forward… and I’m happily coping with all the stuff I’m doing at work and also during my free time:

*Submit the paper: checked!
*Holidays (+ writing writing writing at home): starts tomorrow!
*Swimming (4x): checked!
*Science radio program La Manzana de Newton : checked!
*Write the column for RedCiencia Newsletter : checked!
*Write the scientific news report for RedCiencia Newsletter: checked!
*Chilean Independence day celebrations (today): checked!

Now, I can rest a little bit and join the party of my colleagues that finished their PhDs a week ago, so:
*Goodbye party: checked

(and that will be another blog post soon…)
(to be continued…)

PS: Wow, I’m so glad today it’s Friday!

Today we are having the hottest summer day in Germany… and I’m in the lab wondering about all the experiments running under these weather conditions. We are expecting it to get even hotter; the forecast showed us a magnificent 33°C during the morning. The actual temperature: 29°C

From: www.wetter.de

My colleagues are actually complaining all the time, but I’m just feeling so comfortable!. People are dropping by my office just to tell me how hot it is and how uncomfortable they feel. I just answer with a smile and a: “I feel great!…” and they look back at me smiling, they know that I’m not a native.

While working at the computer it gets even hotter here… my office now has the jalousies down because it was a tip from one of the local newspapers today: “Close your windows and pull down the jalousies or close the curtains…” – but it’s just such a nice wonderful sunny day outside!!… Mmm… I just got a white-shiny view now.

To think is harder than usual when it’s so hot… but anyway I had some time to wonder about the immunohistochemistry I’ve to run, not today but maybe soon. I just checked the technical sheet, but there is no information regarding to the working temperatures. I’ve read it somewhere else, I just cannot remember where. I looked for the paper and there I found it: “higher temperatures during the procedure may increase the noise and alter the background”. Yes, everybody knows that, but… I was wondering how does it work usually in places where it is warm all the time, because here it is only ONE DAY a year (over 30°C), but what about countries where it is over the room temperature most of the time with no chance of an air conditioner?… I though about it once, but never pursued an answer. Now I started looking, surfing the net, asking around… Ok, isolation should help, during the incubation time it’s not such a problem, but it’s hard to establish the time then. Also a fan may help, and time… shorter times at increased temperatures… Mmm, interesting that I’m still not able to find a nice answer… do you have any hints?

A thought cross my mind, antigens were created to be used by people in cold… cold places (with a cold… cold heart) or do you have an extra explanation?
Maybe it is just the heat… my mind starts to be a little slower (more than usual??)… the warm room, the no-air or breeze… everything looks white and static. OK, I’ll open the window just a few seconds… niiiiceee… a breeze!

Nobody will stay until late in the lab today, I hope… There is an increasing need for a cold beer, a swimming round at the Maschsee or a refreshing shower

From: Wikimedia Commons

Anyway, I have “Feierabend” today, meaning I won’t be here all day long… I’m leaving earlier to catch a plane… Where?… just guess!

PS: I’ll put some cold water to the fish before leaving, they’re very hyperactive… hope it helps!

The “piranhas” posing for the photo, in fast motion!

Today, my 20 min. bike ride to work was interrupted by a very peculiar situation on the street… but first a little bit of background information…

All started last July, when people from pro-animal and animal-rights groups “occupied” a small area next to the university, where the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim plans to build a massive research building for animal vaccines, focused on pigs (the main protein source in Germany) by the end of 2012.

© dpa

© Oliver Hausen

Boehringer Ingelheim chose Hannover and it was no random location… the University of Veterinary Medicine is so close that all the main labs are around the future building. The agreement that the university and Boehringer Ingelheim have represents opportunities for many labs to start cooperations and new projects there as well as a chance for many students to work there.

After the decision was made, supported by the Dean of the university and Hannover’s Major, different groups started to be annoyed. First the people living around the selected place, then the people that own little gardens there, and then the pro-animal groups that are against the use of animals in research (among other things).
The main worries from the people are that they will get “something” from the pigs, that their kids will get sick, that there will be a lot of traffic, that the pigs will be too loud or dirty or too smelly, contaminations, and others are worried about the pigs quality of life and if it really justify to have them here.

From: www.schweinerei-hannover.de

We have been discussing the situation for months among my colleagues. It’s a complex issue because it involves people, animals, science, quality of life, and many other issues that touch closely personal sensibilities… and that makes the whole thing very complicated.
I’ve heard many comments:
1.- “Why don’t they go somewhere were they will not be bothered at all… they could go to India – and after a small silence and a laugh – or to Chile… hahaha!”
(Bad joke, after my killing glance everyone looked somewhere else and changed the topic…)
2.- “Why are they so against research?”
3.- “It is my house and I’ll not allow dirty pigs around!”
and so on…

I think that a main issue here is that there has not been a lot of information to the residents of the area or to the pro-animal groups, so people is afraid that they will get sick if they start a research with pigs there, etc… as always, all the problems arise from bad communication, the damn communication vacuum left space to all the urban legends to be created…

Problems started a month ago or so, when the university called the police because of a couple of paint-related incidents at the virology department, and also here, at the pathology department. “Stop animal experiments” or red paint on the buildings… not nice at all…

© Christian Elsner

It’s not easy and it is never like you expected it to be… the relationship between Ph.D. student and advisor seems simple, but it is not… beyond the specific area (in vet medicine as in any other), we will always find good advisors and bad ones, just as we find good students or scientists and their less-reputable versions.

I’ve been asked a lot for advice during the last few weeks, so I’ve decided to write a little bit about it. For me, it is the essence of this relationship that is worthy of analysis from my own perspective.
Imagine that with ONE professor the relationship is already complex, then having TWO professors checking and advising on a Ph.D. project is way more fun!. Well, I’ve two professors… maybe that’s why I’m asked about it so often.

I’ve a thousand stories that I could tell you, but I’ll keep those in my more private archives. What I would like to share with you is how I would classify this student-advisor relationship, regarding what I’ve seen in my program and lived in my own experience.

There are many names defining the person who will direct the thesis of a student – and also his/her achievements – in a Ph.D.: director, advisor, supervisor, counsellor, principal professor, mentor, etc. Here in Germany they are also called “Doktorvater” or “Doktormutter”, which literally translates to Ph.D. -father or -mother (the German version of a Ph.D. is called Doktorarbeit and you get the “Doktor” degree). The German name catches my attention because it cannot be truer, at some point that is the final goal of the professor through the Ph.D. experience, the one who educates you and guides your research, the ultimate guide of your Ph.D. project.

The role of the advisor goes back to the very basic and old educational system, the “master” and “apprentice”. I’ve personally known true “masters” myself, those who have as aspiration to teach his/her students to be better, even better than themselves, and that success represents success for all.

I’ve also known those advisors who have no will to be a “master”, maybe they never wanted to become one, or they are just not really interested. We have all met at least one of them. Here you can find all those advisors who after 2-3 years of working together are asking you again _–“Your name was…” or –“What was your research about again?- I know it is not lack of interest, it is just that other things have become priorities, it is not easy to have students and to maintain a lab!.

Another group of advisors are those who believe in the total independence of the junior scientist, and when the student seeks advice, the usual comment is –“I’d done my thesis all by myself, without any help, in another country, with a family of four, and a scholarship that was half of yours… and I did it without asking around, you can do it too…”.

There are also those who establish a closer to slavery particular relationship, because they needed cheap specialized labour, where productivity is required, positive results are a must, and only analysis after analysis matter. Everything is left behind, restricting the student’s life to its minimum. Some of the comments would be –“Holidays? When I was a student I never took holidays” or “If I’m able to work in the lab until 12pm every day, why can you do the same?”.

I could keep going on with the list forever and fill it with the diverse personalities from the academic world, professors that you and me have known, but I will not.

When a student starts a Ph.D. program they never ever questions the – very particular and very important – relationship that starts with his/her advisor which will be developed over the next 3, 4, 5 or more years.

I’ve seen “masters” to enjoy a relaxed dinner or a beer with some students, which are able to give advice and are up to date on the scientific, but also some more personal issues of the students. They stimulate creativity, new research ideas and challenge them in every step of the way. It’s hard to find them, but I’ve some very good and close examples. To be a good “master” does not mean that you leave discipline and high standards to the side, but from my perspective that is a more complete approach, more “holistic”.

I can tell you that beyond the good or bad times that my advisors and I have had together, I’ve realized that as years goes by –so fast– we have been growing up together, and also I’ve perceived that my degree of understanding is positively correlated with my age and experience… isn’t that great?

The most important thing is to keep a nice, healthy and constructive relationship with the advisor because that will define the Ph.D. experience.

Viel glück (good luck) to the ones starting their Ph.D. programs and keep on moving!

While writing… I heard a noise… and there I found it, a beautiful butterfly flapping against my window, shaking and soft, colourful and delicate.
I took it gently in my hand and it stayed there for a while, until it realized it was time to go…

Inachis io
I looked at my “Naturführer” and it corresponds to Inachis io or peacock butterfly (mariposa pavo real)

I’m thirty years and a few minutes old now (it’s 18:21 hrs in Hannover)… my third decade has started, and there is no way back… but I’m still young for terrestrial parameters, right?.
Aaah, the 30’s… the age when Charles Darwin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and had already published his famous “Journal and Remarks of The Voyage of the Beagle”. Marie Curie was having her first daughter when she was 30, and Albert Einstein was getting married and getting a permanent position at the patent office in Bern…

I’m so happy that I need no comparison!!… I still the same somehow, no difference at all from yesterday though… I still have my desk full of papers to read and folders to review.

My desk!

I know, in essence we still the same, but of course we change!.
Let’s see: now I wear glasses because I cannot see the very small letters on the optometrist’s poster with my right eye, but that’s a minor change, right?… Mmmmm, and maybe I forget most some things, like I cannot recall some phone numbers (or names)… I’m different because I’ve grown 20 cm. since I was 15 years old and I’ve also found a couple of grey hairs around. I’ve gained a couple of kilos and I cannot eat as many spicy foods as I would like to.

But, I like changes, physical and spiritual ones. I like what I’ve learned and lived in these 4.25 dog years…
I know now who invented the binary numbers and what the hell a DNA microarray is. I’ve read many books and seen many countries. I’ve met wonderful and also crappy not-so-wonderful people, I’ve heard many different languages (and tried to learn them all_), and I’ve discovered that I like science as part of my life. Also, now I can grow plants without forgetting to water them or to keep the fish from my office aquarium healthy and happy (and exponentially growing and reproducing).

Meet the -_piranhas- fish!

Through my 262992 hours of life I’ve celebrated many wonders of nature and been amused by the clearest skies in the world… and I also celebrate those trivial things like Friday’s nights when we stay at home to watch a movie or just to read a book somewhere.
I’ve made my life easy and flexible, but I have a couple of statements in which I usually do not negotiate: I don’t like to wake up early and I don’t like work on the lab during the weekends… but through the time I’ve also discovered that my negotiations skills are very weak…

I’ve learned and dreamed, and I’ll continue doing so as long as I remember that I like to do that…
I don’t regret any of my 10958 days of living and I hope to live enough to see some cool Asimov’s robot or the first man-on-the-moon station…

Now I’ll continue working to achieve what I’ve dreamed, although that during the 15779520 minutes of life I’ve dreamed way less of what I’ve received.

Tonite, I’ll go out to celebrate… and then I will write down a letter to be opened in 10 years, to remind me how was it like when I was 30 years old, to keep the hope and the dreams… (but I’ll have remind myself to keep it somewhere that I hope I’ll be able to remember!… ha!)

When it comes to little countries against big ones, or little shops against evil corporations, or science against the government it reminds me of David and Goliath biblical myth.

David and Goliath: 13th century Jewish illustration from France.

This time I would like to refer to the last scenario: science and government, and how things get along in Chile, my homeland.
It never stops surprising me, how science manages its way through every day. Despite of the several problems that Chilean science may have, on the last few months I’ve been watching a new renaissance of the Chilean science thanks to young scientists and their innovative ideas that are making their way to be great ideas one day, because they are involving the government, slowly and quietly… very straight forward, uh?.

Lately I’ve been involved in a pretty new scientist Chilean organization called RedCiencia, the biggest web based scientific plattform in South America which groups Spanish-speaking scientist from all over the world and promotes funding opportunities, jobs, news, updates and a very interesting column made by me (hahaha! – it’s in Spanish, sorry!) supported by CONICYT (National Comision of Scientific and Technological Research). There, I’ve been a silent (and far away) witness of this continuous process that I will call the David and Goliath myth, the little kid standing in front of a giant.

A few days ago, one of the junior scientists and executive director from RedCiencia, Cristián Hernández sent a letter to a big newspaper in Chile, he got published and got lots of support. Believe it or not, this time the media covered this initiative and promoted it. It will be so good for the future, for the future meeting Encuentros 2010 that has been planning, and for the things, that we as scientist are thinking to do and for the future of the science in Chile.

There are so many things that have to be done and so many others that we would like to do, but they are not always “aligned” with the government agenda. As I see it, this was one David’ point against Goliath!!.

I know, it will be lots of work to make science in Chile, but most of us want to do it, and I think it is fair to give it a try!

And at the end, I saw the light…
Since April I felt that I was not very inspired, not at work, not here… it was not only the fact that the muses left me alone with just an empty chest during these months, it was also the lack of time, that time that the scientists enjoy with their own reflective thoughts and divagations.
I was required to be focused, effective, rational and concentrated… The only thing on my every day was the articles I was writing, and even that was very difficult some time.
But it’s done, finito!… and more will come, but this time is different.
I feel renovated, and I’ve learned that the extremes are not good either, just the middle way, the equilibrium…
(Mmmm… but that is really complicated to achieve…)
So, I’m still learning, and in my learning process I also learned that it will take me a while until I learn how to get to this perfect middle way-equilibrium.
Even now, when the reality surrounding me is only pressure, due dates, revisions, only 60 days to go to be finished with all my stuff, and an uncertain future, I believe that I passed my proof of fire, and now I’m stronger.
As the sun is shining a bit more in Hannover, so is my inspiration.
The muses are back and friends with me again and I’ll take advantage… I’ll take advantage of my momentary lapse of reason!

Yes, I already wrote: “On holidays” and drew a palm on a paper to put on my desk, just to pick on my colleagues… hahaha! ;-P
From today, until two more weeks, I’ll be in Chile (anyway, no palms there!), mainly in Santiago but also a few days in Mendoza, Argentina… enjoying the sun (hopefully) and eating beef and avocados… of course also visiting and spending time with our family and friends!.
But, I started getting this knot feeling in my belly a few days ago… maybe it is our 16 hour flight (stopping in Frankfurt and Madrid) or that weird feeling that this will be my last holiday as a Ph.D… our next visit to Chile will be to go back or to establish some cool cooperation with a cool institute (as planned, right?).
As always, these are not the normal holidays that you can imagine, there is always the “political” part of it, I mean, getting together with professors and colleagues, visiting the old vet school, chatting with the dean, and so on.
The good relaxing-not-entirely-political part is that I’ll be also meeting a couple of RedCiencia people, a new Chilean scientific network created by a group of young researchers (the ones that organized the “Encuentros 2009” meeting), which through the years managed to get support (also some important government support) and now they are going to be big, and as a collaborator I’m glad to be part of it. I’ve been doing a couple of columns and sending links to them, so I’m very happy that I’m finally meeting them (and to know that they are real people, not just emails, ha!).
Anyway, I just wanted to share this last pre-holiday post with you. I’m feeling happy and nervous of seeing everybody again, even though it’s for a few weeks.
I don’t know if I’ll manage to post while I’m there, but I will be looking forward to do so, to show you how nice Chile is and share my experiences “live and alive”.
Until the next one!…

A few months ago some Chilean scientists (including me) got together in Göttingen, Germany for Encuentros 2009, the third meeting of its kind, which managed to get more than 70 Ph.D.s and postdocs from Chile studying all around Europe. Some political figures involved in sciences at the Chilean and European level were there, and also great professors and senior scientists from Chile and Germany participated in the meeting. The aim was to show what we were doing in our projects, but also to discuss the scientific-political situation and some questions that we have about science in Chile. I have not been in Chile (working or studying) for almost 4 years, so it was really nice for me to get an update of what is going on and how get involved on it while we are not there.
In the last few years, Chile has positioned itself into the “top” list of countries in South America, with lots of things going on in different science fields and at different scales. Cooperation between several European countries has been established and several world-known institutes are planning to go to Chile and create working groups there. So, just positive things are happening in Chile in the last few years: a good country image , nice research and scientific groups getting the chance of recognition around the world. Pros and cons were analyzed, and it was good to get these three different views together: the political, the senior researcher and the young scientist perspectives.
While we were sitting there, looking with big eyes all these good news and cool projects, the new support from the government and international grants, etc., one of the senior assistants asked: “Just think hypothetically… what if in Chile the government decides to cut all our research support… all science just gone, what would be the world impact?”…
Then, a big question mark in our faces indicated that we had no clue… we were so surprised (at least I was so surprised that until today the question still going on in my mind).
What if there is no more Chilean science?… honestly, I think nothing very dramatic would happen, I mean I know it would be a dissaster for all of us as Chileans, but thinking coldly, it won’t move the world. I’m not pessimistic or conformist, and to tell you the truth I’m really surprised of what scientists are doing there, but Chile is not making any top science and there are all these researchers trying to do something with scarce resources, even though now there is a lot more support than before. Science is a top priority to develop a country in a developed world, but in countries like Chile where science is not a top issue in the government list, does it have a room if, in the end, it is not making a mayor impact?…
I know, this is only my very biased opinion (and just focusing on the point of what impact would it cause in the world), but I would like know your opinions and comments, as scientists or science-related professionals, on how you perceive smaller countries doing science… What do you think?…