June 10-13 in Prague & in the Woods of Bohemia

Sign up here to receive information!

What do we require for doing good and enjoyable science? François Jacob said it well: we need ‘an atmosphere of enthusiasm, lucid criticism, nonconformism, and friendship’. Yet our current scientific culture seems to stray from this ideal, having become overly rigid, and with an emphasis on immediate deliverables. We chase “high impact publications” instead of following our curiosity. There is an imbalanced emphasis on ‘day science’ experiments, at the cost of also nurturing the creative ‘night science’ mode which leads to new directions and synthesis. How have we allowed a process as intrinsically creative as science to become so corporate-like in its culture?

Conferences are an important part of our academic culture where new ideas and collective thinking could occur, rather than just the dry reporting of results (which in many cases have already been published). What would a re-imagined conference look like, which prioritizes fun and time for creative thinking about our science, new possibilities, nourishing enthusiasm, and establishing friendships? 

This June we will give it a try. Join us for a celebration of science (and music!), a ‘Woodstock’ meeting of the life sciences – very broadly interpreted – where the import/export of ideas will be facilitated across specific fields, where we will encourage an open mind to adopt contrarian attitudes, and where we will enthusiastically apply ‘night science’ thinking tools to our problems. This meeting will be structured in a radically new way to allow for creative interactions and incorporate lots of fun surprises. Looking forward to seeing you in this conference to redefine science conferences!

Stay tuned!