The EMBL stands out as one of the nicest research labs I have seen. It is in the forest in the beautiful city of Heidelberg. The building we are in is designed as a double helix, inspired by DNA. The facilities are excellent, and I saw 5 Illumina HiSeq DNA sequencers in one room. They are probably doing several whole genomes a day! They have a really nice cafeteria with big windows showcasing the view. There are plenty of vegan options every day. Today I had cabbage stuffed with couscous in tomato sauce, and yesterday was tofu curry. The course is highly subsidized, and we get free food, and even went to an all expenses paid fancy restaurant on Tuesday in the old town of Heidelberg. But even for the people working here, lunch is highly subsidized and costs about 4 Euros for the nice cafeteria. They say that they are paid well, and everyone seems very happy. The people working here come from all over the world, so everyone speaks perfect English, and actually it is rare to hear any German. This is simply a great place to work if you are interested in Molecular Biology.

The R course has been intense, and I definitely have learned things. Clearly, I am not suddenly a computer programmer, but I am no longer scared to open the program. The students and teachers were great, and I think I have some new friends.

Tomorrow night I fly back to Stockholm, but I get to be a tourist in Germany tomorrow afternoon. Here are some photos!