FOM-Institute AMOLF and first impression

Ron answered my e-mail after a week and was very positive about the fellowship. We started to plan it straight away and I received a pack of information about the project I would be involved in. Ron's group belongs to top groups working on and with the mass spectrometry imaging technique. I had enough time to learn some theory before coming to AMOLF also thanks to the conference on imaging mass spectrometry, which I took part in together with Ron's group in Spain in September.

Well, what regards AMOLF after being there for real, I am completely taken off. That's exactly how I imagine an environment for a scientific work: a big group of well educated people, each of them being an expert in different field. There are no boarders for creativity: do you miss a laboratory device? The guys from our design department will help you to get your idea on a piece of paper and it will be conveniently constructed over there in the workrooms. Would a new algorithm or a mathematical function be handy to your project? Visit the IT department and discuss your needs. It is all based on a mutual communication.

Every week there is a group meeting, where progress and/or problems of the particular projects are discussed. Everyone can be easily involved and can offer an advice from one's field of interest. Let's see, how this works in practice. :-)