Science, friendship and a little Odyssey 🎬🔬

Last week, I had the great pleasure of welcoming my friend and scientific collaborator Prof. Benyamin Rosental and his family to Giessen.

Benyamin and I share a scientific vision that has become central to our collaboration: bringing immunology and advanced imaging together. We want to use imaging not simply to visualize anatomy, but to make immune processes visible and measurable in vivo. An especially exciting part of this journey is comparative immunology – looking across species to better understand which principles of immunity have been conserved throughout evolution.

During Benyamin's visit, we had plenty of time to discuss our ongoing scientific collaborations, develop new ideas and work together on our joint DFG–ISF research proposal. As so often in science, some of the best discussions happened beyond the formal meeting room.

And fortunately, the week was about much more than work.

Benyamin came to Giessen with his family, which gave our families the opportunity to spend time together as well – including a trip to a water park and plenty of conversations far away from grants, experiments and manuscripts.

One particular highlight was our trip to the cinema to see Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. We both enjoyed it enormously – and, in retrospect, an odyssey may not be the worst metaphor for collaborative science. There are ambitious destinations, unexpected obstacles, occasional detours and certainly some long journeys. The major difference is that scientific journeys are considerably more enjoyable when undertaken with good friends and colleagues.

For me, this visit was a wonderful reminder that science is ultimately built not only on experiments, data and publications, but also on curiosity, trust and personal relationships. Universities, disciplines and countries may provide the framework for collaborations, but it is people who bring them to life.

Thank you, Benyamin, for coming to Giessen – and for a week full of science, ideas, friendship and family time.

Our scientific journey continues – and I am very much looking forward to where it takes us next.