Nearing the End of the First Journey

As my last week in Grenoble begins, I look back on our time here with great satisfaction.  The quality of the scientific interactions and the personal relationships that have been developed are higher than I would have ever dreamed.  We knew from previous works and reputation that the Channels Research Group at IBS performed very high quality science.  What we didn’t know was what high quality individuals they are.  Our colleagues here have proven yet again that you can be exceptional scientists and at the same time be wonderful people. 

From the moment we arrived in Grenoble Dr. Christophe Moreau has gone beyond all expectations to make our time here productive, but even more so, to make it fun.  Group leader Dr. Michel Vivaudou has welcomed us into his lab and has shared his science with us in an open and unfettered manner, allowing us to understand what is really being done in the lab on a day by day basis.  The research synergy between our labs is almost immeasurable and should position us to work together for the foreseeable future.  Overall, it has been demonstrated time and again that we made the right choice in coming to Grenoble and working with our colleagues here. 

Though my time here is coming to an end this week, Mark will continue here for another 4 weeks, continuing to strengthen our collaboration and helping us collect the data necessary for the two proposal submissions that we have planned for the coming months.

 

As mentioned often in this blog, the GREET program was instituted to facilitate long term research collaborations between research groups in the US and an international partner.  When we arrived in Grenoble, I knew that we would have the possibility to build a strong, long-term interaction with our colleagues at IBS.  I could not have imagined how well it has gone.  I look forward to the future with great anticipation and anxiously await many more trips to Grenoble!