With the Christmas break a distant memory and work-weary lab members itching for a break, re-energisation of the work place was desperately in order. And how better to achieve this than with ping pong, pizza and (substantial quantities of) alcohol? Generous funding was granted from the Research Community Fund, allowing PhD students and early career post-docs from the Section of Investigative Medicine and Section of Cell Biology and Functional Genomics to attend an inter-lab social at Bounce Ping Pong on 12th April 2019. Due to popular demand, a round robin competition was held across the two hired tables, with members from different sections paired into doubles teams. Play ensued with fierce competition, and winners emerged from both sections!
Jamie Frampton, a first year PhD student and a winner of the competition emphasised how much he enjoyed the event. He referred to his team’s win as “legendary” and said that “it was great meeting new people with similar scientific interests over a drink while smashing a few ping pong balls. Who’d have thought that ping pong and scientific networking were such compatible activities?”
Rebecca Cheung, a second year PhD student, expressed her gratitude to the Graduate School for facilitating the event. She enquired as to how to apply for funding, stating that “events such as these are so important in raising morale and strengthening lab friendships. And thinking about it, this was probably the most fun I’ve had whilst still being able to talk about my research!”
Completing a PhD is testing even at the best of times. Events such as these are therefore crucial in fostering a supportive and friendly lab environment, and so we would sincerely like to thank the Graduate School for making it possible. As people came together over food and drink, with laughs and time to reflect on current work, we headed into the Easter break with continued dreams of research success.
Yateen Patel and Maria Lucey, Section of Investigative Medicine
