A scientist’s life

London and me – Memories of a pandemic

I have been to London recently: a long weekend catching up with friends, strolling around familiar places, and discovering new ones. Once again, it has struck me how London makes me feel at home, even if it is a metropolis and I lived there only for a little more than two years. Two years likeContinue reading “London and me – Memories of a pandemic”

How we work with viruses in the lab

“If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles”, said the Chinese warrior Sun Tzu. As our enemies in a battle, viruses can differ a lot, each of them with their own weapons to cause diseases, and strategies to spread in the population. Knowing the characteristicsContinue reading “How we work with viruses in the lab”

Summary of my 2022 and happy 2023!

You may have noticed that my activity on this blog has been reduced compared to 2020 and 2021. But this doesn’t mean that I’ve been unproductive! On the contrary, I have participated in other projects and I have reaped the fruits of my first year with the new research group! Last February I contribuited toContinue reading “Summary of my 2022 and happy 2023!”

Immunology is cool!

Last week I attended the British Society for Immunology Congress in lovely Edinburgh. At last a “real” in-person congress (the online option was also available) with real interactions with other scientists from all over the United Kingdom and some international guests. When I take part in big congresses like this, with parallel sessions on differentContinue reading “Immunology is cool!”

Per aspera ad astra: failure and success in (and beyond) science

As scientists, we are familiar with the concept of failure. The experiments that do not work are more than those that actually do, the papers that need revisions and corrections exceed those published without any correction, the number of rejected grant applications is greatly larger than the number of applications that are accepted. The effortContinue reading “Per aspera ad astra: failure and success in (and beyond) science”