Leipzig PhD use high performance computational ressources for protein modeling
by Tristan Zellmann (doctoral student at Leipzig University): I had the opportunity to stay at Jens Meilers lab in Nashville from 11/27/13 to 12/06/13 as well as from 01/27/14 to 03/22/14 to complete the modeling for an upcoming publication.
During my stay, I had the opportunity to take part in two great, american traditions – arriving the day just before Thanksgiving, I got invited to an actual Thanksgiving dinner, featuring delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, buttery carrots and even pumpkin pie. Another culinary and cultural highlight was a super bowl party complete with chili, buffalo wings and lots of snacks, even if the Seattle Seahawks seemed to dominate a bit too much. Besides these great examples of southern hospitality, Nashville itself welcomed me with untypically cold weather. On the warmer days, the beautiful centennial park was great for a walk. Being called “Music City, USA”, Nashvilles reputation for a vibrant music scene is also no understatement – on most nights, you can just randomly go into a bar for some great live music, even besides the country music Nashville is said to be famous for.
The beautiful campus of the Vanderbilt University, the cultural offerings of Nashville and the good atmosphere at the lab all made my trip very much worth it. I am glad I had the chance to experience the welcoming, open attitude of the people in the southern US.