Busy start

The semester really had a crowded start, first introduction to the study field (pharmaceutical chemistry) for the 4th year pharmacy students (during my holiday... 😎), so that they can select to which field thay want to specialize, followed by Tiina's birthday celebration, and all these events, I was in so "holiday mood" that I forgot to take any photos... and this week we had FinPharmaNet symposium (link) in Kuopio, and the 20th celebration year! And what make it busy was that I was asked for a presentation just 1 week before (due to the cancellation), but since Hamed was already selected to present OATPs, I was left to build up a new story with Piezo1 agonists. 😅 But that was good, since now I have a clear picture of what Andy's second paper is going to look like! 😍 The next step is to transfer this to Andy's head! Anyway, good 2-day event, unfortunately, the new Director of Biocenter Finland (Katja Kivinen) et al. also wanted to visit Biocenter Kuopio at the same... so to sum up, a busy start! 

Back to School soon...

It is about time, when almost all of us have our summer holidays behind, and hopefully everyone has had a relaxing and enjoyable vacation. At least I had, and one of the greatest moments was Andy's wedding in Paris. It was again a good reminder of how science can also unite cultures, and it was really a privilege to be part of Congolese-French-Finnish wedding traditions. So thank you Andy, for inviting some of us and all the best in the future!

 

The trip to France also gave an opportunity to extend the holiday a bit, and see all the major attractions and thanks to Janne and Sohvi for their travelling company, we actually travelled all the major train lines to their final tops; North, South, West, and East! 😎 At the end, I also realized and I need to remember this for the upcoming semester; that not everything is as they seem to be. Unfortunately, we tend to judge things and people without better knowledge. For me, I thought that I knew what macarons are, and I must to admit that I have always wondered what all the fuss is about them, but having eaten ones in Paris, I realized that this was really the first time I had had macarons, all the dozens before that have been just cheap copies... 

Have a Great Summer Break!

Soon it starts to be the time for most of us to have the summer holidays, unless already started. Before that, we received some great news, since Janne, Ville, Hamed, and Mikko received UEF-travel grants, and Janne also Saastamoinen Foundation grant for the research visit abroad (unfortunately, no press release from made of that, which is pretty unusual behaviour from UEF...). Anyway, congratulations! 

We also had a nice gathering and outdoor activities at Puijo, before we all spread around the world for the holidays! Anyway, have a relaxing and enjoyable summer break, and let's get back with fresh ideas and enthusiasm!