June 11, 2013
It is quite the week of meetings here in Paris! Unfortunately this is the last one that I have scheduled for a while. I really like going to Bianca’s meetings. So far each meeting has allowed me to connect with new people. This is helpful because usually these people know of some random person in Paris who would be interested in my work. Networking!
Anyways, today I accompanied Bianca to a meeting in the 5th arrondissement. This was a very important meeting between a group of ten individuals, each an expert in their field of study. There were a few German scientists (one of whom joined us via Skype!), a gentleman from Luxembourg, as well as some men from around Paris. The idea behind the meeting was for these distinct groups to join forces and discover ground-breaking information about cells. I wish I could explain this idea further, but the meeting was private and I will leave it at that.
The meeting went on for a long time, and even while walking out the door the conversation continued. Everyone there was enthusiastic about the potential project, and had high hopes to draft a proposal to find the money necessary to begin the experiments.
After the meeting I met up with a family friend who is a professor at CU Boulder. We had a drink at a beautiful café along the Seine and talked about academia. I should write a post that focuses on the personal narrative of my adventures outside of the lab sometime. I learn just as much from watching the people in the cafés as I do from watching the people who I see in meetings. Hopefully this weekend I will find the time to describe what it is like living in Paris in 2013 as a 20-year-old college student.
Until tomorrow,
Axio