Yeast is a simple yet powerful tool to understand the living system. An event solely dedicated to discuss the recent advancement in the field of yeast research is surely exciting. One such event is “Yeasterday” (sounds very cool), an annual meeting to gather all the yeast researchers working in academia, industry and other organizations within the BeNelux (Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg). This year, it was held on 17th and 18th of June at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

It was especially interesting for me, a PhD student, as I got to learn about the different types of research carried out using yeast as model organism; from deciphering molecular mechanisms to generating artificial chromosomes. I am working on understanding the regulation of autophagy and Tor protein plays vital role in it. This is one of the reason, I was looking forward for the keynote lecture by Robbie Loewith, from the University of Geneva on “Tension and TOROIDs: regulation of TOR activity by phase separation”. I would say it was an admirable work and highlight of the event. He explained how the physical parameter such as tension can be used to study the function of proteins. This was an excellent example to motivate young researchers to consider interdisciplinary research to address biological problems.

Also, there was a social event that consisted of teams and provided a platform to break the ice among participants and encouraged teamwork. In a nutshell, this was an event filled with intellectual discussions and an opportunity to make new contacts.

(by Babu Raman, ESR1, UMCG)