Events

IMBA regularly takes part in public events aimed at bringing the world of science closer to interested people.
The internal social events are organised by IMBA staff to reinforce solidarity between the staff and intensify contact between the various research groups and administrative departments. The following provides an insight into a few selected events.



IMBA Trip 2009 to Bratislava

  • The IMBA autumn event 2009 on October 5 took the IMBA employees on a boat trip to Bratislava. It was a beautiful autumn day and everyone enjoyed the relaxed and quiet atmosphere on the upper deck. Lunch was taken on board, before arriving at Bratislava, where the program continued with a guided tour through the city. It was an interesting walk and there was a lot to learn about the relationship between Austria, Bratislava and Hungary.  The tour also left some time to discover Bratislava. A few colleagues visited the expertly restored buildings while others could not resist the temptation to try the pastry at the oldest coffee house in Bratislava. Another group preferred to go for a traditional meal and yet others climbed up the hill to visit the castle. In the afternoon the boat left for Vienna.  The executives of IMBA utilized the return trip for a presentation and an update on plans and targets for the coming year.

European Researchers' Night 2009

  • “Research is art” was the motto of the VBC-ERN which took place on September 25 at the Campus Vienna Biocenter. ERN stands for the “European Researchers' Night” - a multinational public science event sponsored by the European Commission. It consisted of a one-night event offering "edutainment" activities which provided an opportunity for the attendees to improve their knowledge about researchers and research.
    On the day of the event, approximately 2500 visitors came to witness science in action. More than 100 VBC colleagues gave demonstrations of their current research and lent a helping hand to visitors who were eager to try out an experiment for themselves. From IMP and IMBA, the Dickson and Knoblich Groups and the Histology Unit were represented.
    Apart from research demonstrations the visitors could enjoy an enactment of DiNA on the Road, take part in the quiz “Spot the Scientist”, and play the VBC game. The Walk of Fame ceremony highlighted the merits of the VBC’s founding fathers, including the first IMP Director Max Birnstiel who had travelled a long distance from Switzerland to grace the occasion. One of the highlights was the Paint your PhD contest. Fifteen scientists were placed on an impressive scaffolding construction, equipped with paints and brushes, and given one hour to translate the topics of their dissertation into a piece of art. The IMP and IMBA were well represented by Lucia Aronica, Arabella Meixner, Mark Palfreyman (first prize, postdocs), Anne Philipsborn and Ivana Primorac (first prize, students). The paintings were auctioned and the money earned - 3000 Euros in total – was donated to St. Anna Children's Cancer Research Institute (CCRI).

VBC Summer Concert 2009

  • The VBC is fortunate to have music as a part of its cultural program. The solo program of this year’s summer concert featured music by Mozart, Debussy and Bach, two Turkish love songs, and readings of poetry.
    In the second part of the concert the MolBioOrchestra took center stage. The twenty-piece orchestra featuring students and staff from all over the campus presented an extensive program which included piano concertos by Mozart and Beethoven, “Water Music” by Handel, a waltz composed by the resident pianist Klemens Kunz and, as a final highlight, an arrangement of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen.

Long Night of Research („Lange Nacht der Forschung“) 2008

  • The Long Night of Research took place on November 8, 2008 in six different Austrian Cities. The event is aimed at raising the acceptance of research and development, bring the brightest minds and most innovative enterprises into the limelight and motivate the next generations for a career in science and research.
    IMBA also took part in this science event of course, and with an exciting programme. At the station “Stem cells live!” visitors had the opportunity to see live stem cells divide under the microscope. The shown stem cells which were derived from flies and mice look very much like human embryonic stem cells and are capable of generating any tissue in the body and any kind of cell to replace old or damaged cells. Special staining distinguished the newly developed “body cells” (e.g. neural cells) from the stem cells. However, the scientists not only showed audiences the technical side of these wonder cells. Over the course of the evening stimulating inspiring and fascinating discussions around the topic of the use of embryonic stem cells in medicine and research also developed.

IMBA Retreat 2008

  • This year more than 100 colleagues joined theIMBA retreat on October 6th. The first stop was the imperial palace “Schloss Hof” east of Vienna where the group enjoyed excellent guided tours in English and German. Afterwards there was time to explore the spacious baroque park with its wonderful, extremely colorful flowers. Lunch was followed by a presentation from the IMBA management. The afternoon was spent at Carnuntum/Petronell where the group was led through the Roman archeological excavations, the final highlight being the “Roman Games” where participants could try out hunting a wooden boar with a spear and putting a toga on the correct way.

Science Dance Party

  • On 18th January 2008 the world’s first ‘Dance your PhD’ contest took place at the IMP, organized by IMP-IMBA and John Bohannon, correspondent from Science magazine. In three categories (students, postdocs and group leaders)researchers where challenged to express their PhD theses using the medium of dance. Twelve dance entries were handed in and each performance was judged by a four member panel, which included a professional dancer. One dance entry came from IMBA: Josef Penninger, with his thesis “Analysis of thymic nurse cells in the chicken” eminently rendered as the ‘Birdie Dance’. He was awarded third place among three contesters.
    In addition to the dance contest, five musical tracks using sounds recorded in the lab like a DNA sequencer, or courtship song of a fruit fly, were premiered at the event accompanied by vivid graphics. Also shown was Cell Dance: a compilation of movies depicting beauty on the microscopic scale like cultured human cells undergoing synchronous mitosis and rotating 3D protein structures.
    The performances can be found on YouTube.