After months of preparation, hard work, and anticipation, our annual Biology Retreat has come to a successful end! For those unfamiliar, the retreat is based on the ancient concept of a “retreat” from the daily routine, offering researchers a unique opportunity to take a break, gather at an external site to share their science, meet with both seasoned and new colleagues, celebrate science and inspiration, and enjoy themselves.
Approximately 250 people participated in this year’s Biology Retreat at the “Megiddo” Cultural Center: graduate students, postdocs, and faculty who presented their latest findings, exchanged ideas during 4 sessions of talks, flash talks, and no less than 105 posters presented by the students.
This year we also included 2 industry tables featuring faculty alumni Dr. Alona Rabner (Data Scientist @pluri) and Dr. Yulia Friedman, founder and CEO of NewMoo, and 3 academic tables led by faculty members Assaf Besser, Yael Mandel, and Nadav Sharon. The tables served as a relaxed platform for networking and advisory corners for students who wanted to get a glimpse into the day after graduation. We also didn’t forget about the fun – the day was full of drinks, plenty of good food, and for dessert, we enjoyed a lively closing performance by the “Malabi Tropical” band: an Israeli band that plays original music in a tropical style, gypsy music, and Mediterranean influences.
In addition, the day’s lectures culminated in the “Best Poster” competition. We would like to commend the 3 winners of the competition:
- First place – Firas Masha’ar, PhD student from the Iov Lab
- Second place – Noa Afik, Master’s student under the joint supervision of Shlomit Levenberg
- Third place – Ekaterina Plyak, Master’s student from the Podbilewicz Lab
Thank you to all the students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and everyone in the faculty who took part in the preparations and production of the retreat: to faculty member Shai Levy who led the conference from every academic aspect. Thanks to Head of Administration Nir Blitz who works on this conference days and months in advance every year. To Fleur Grabois, Marketing Manager. To the administrative staff and IT staff. Special thanks to Amit Guy and Maty for their great help during the preparations and on the day of the event, which is not easy to operate.
