Lab meetings and retreats
The lab meet every Friday morning to give two or three members of the group the opportunity to present their latest results. Everyone is encouraged to ask questions and offer constructive criticism. It also gives Steve the opportunity to tell everyone about any 'hot' news and provides a forum to discuss and resolve any lab-related issues that may have arisen during the previous week.
In addition to the weekly meetings, the lab goes on retreat once a year. The first retreat took place in Derbyshire in 1998 and since then the lab has visited Nottinghamshire, the New Forest, Woodbridge, Suffolk, Melton Mowbray and Hook, Hampshire. Over the last few years the lab has visited Newquay, Sherwood Forest, West Yorkshire and Rutland Water. This year the lab retreat was held at Ashridge Conference Centre, Berkhamsted. Some images from this year's lab retreat can be found here.
It is not all hard work, however. We also make sure there is time for some relaxation as well with group activities ranging from the relatively mild....
...to the positively hair-raising!
The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute also holds an annual retreat in the autumn at which the group leaders present their labs' progress and ambitions. This, together with weekly internal Institute lectures, provides an excellent opportunity to get to know colleagues from all corners of the Institute.