Monday the 29th of July
As the sun rose, a mere week after solstice, STRATiGRADs finest began to congregate in sporadic groups, spread far and wide across the capital. The air was dense, and the heat at this early hour already uncomfortable as drivers arrived; stepping into the air conditioned cool interior of these cars was welcome for all. Initial tardiness, manifested in the form of a boxer clad Frenchman answering the door, was duly noted by the author.
As the cars raced down the motorway discussion of the day ahead began in earnest and excitement built for those whose first trip this was. With arrival of the vehicles one by one to the glass fronted terminal 5, STRATiGRAD numbers grew to a final sixteen, at which point appearance of the almighty Anisha signified a beginning to the adventure ahead. With all present and accounted for, one could not have asked for a smoother start, casual check in at the airport proceeded. As everyone passed the smells and taste of breakfast accompanied by sorely needed coffee filled our mind, and allured us into a sense that the trip would go off out without hitch. But no! Where was Goncalo? Turning our heads, Goncalo panic painted across his face had failed check-in, concerned we motioned to return and help, but thankfully the almighty was there, phone already pressed against her face, coolly handling the situation, mind ticking, problem solving. At peace with this knowledge we made for breakfast.
The sun, now strong in the sky, glinted of aeroplanes and bounced into the terminal as we ravished through breakfast and coffee; Goncalo at great expense was back with us. No problem for the almighty. Our stomachs filled and minds alerted we boarded; a small group in the sea suits and briefcases on our 7:30am to Frankfurt.
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Exiting Frankfurt terminal, the location of our coach and identity of our hosts for the trip was immediately evident. A Mercedes bannered with Merck’s leading products collected us, the comfort and style of the coach were a good sign of things to come. At the visitor’s entrance we were greeted by a very smiley and enthusiastic Merck researcher, Andrea, clearly this is a good place to work! Here too also the design was impeccable, speaking out science and the future of healthcare. All this topped by the innovation centre, the location for our day of talks and presentations, so new parts were still actively under construction. Inside we were greeted by a massively spacious, light filled room with perfectly arrayed Bauhausesque furniture plus pop-up football table. The environment created instantly turned our minds off to the outside world and allowing free unbounded flow of ideas.
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Here, some of Merck’s leading researchers and business minds warmly greeted us and we prepared for our talks and sipped coffee. First in line were the systems oncologists (this author included). Richie opened with a strong performance as expected, preaching the word of science and K-Ras to all, rallying the interest and attention of audience, setting the bar high for the rest of us. Great talks by Adam and Kayleigh and Adam followed and the talk of yours truly finished off the first session, Together we had successfully drummed up much interest and discussion amongst our hosts Merck. Lunch followed and we were treated to a sumptuous array of food and snacks. A tour of the innovation centre also gave us the exciting opportunity to test out the rather cool invention of iPads on Segway style rollers. This allows one to explore the room, meet other people and converse with them all remotely, though conjuring a weirdly dissociative feeling.
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Following lunch, sessions with interspersed breaks continued exploring frontiers in clinical phenotyping, medical computing and mass spectrometry, and finally the impact of diet on health. Many questions were asked and the atmosphere gave one a sense of being on an island surrounded by a sea of breakthroughs, with the tide coming in. A glimpse of how the world of pharmaceuticals is transforming was provided by Merck and discussion on the future of phenotypic profiling led by our eminent professors Jeremy Nicholson and Elaine Holmes, proved fascinating.
Dinner that evening was delicious; talk at the table interleaved science, stories, exciting opportunities, and experienced views on the present state of the health industry. Hearty laughs were heard from all and helped with hearty quantities of wine, and a scrumptious sweet to finish. At this point many retreated whilst STRATiGRAD in large, led by Pamela, took to Frankfurt as the sun set for more adventure. Here we found a lovely outdoor bar by the river and enjoyed, notably better than UK, German lagers. This was accompanied by the entertainment of a cable being mistaken for a rodent by one unnamed person, resulting in fright so large unnamed person nearly fell backwards off their chair. After some detours on the return journey we all made it back to the hotel and tucked up in bed for some well needed sleep.
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Tuesday the 30th of July
The next day we ventured into the heart of Darmstadt, the Home of Merck, led by a valiant guide we enjoyed a fantastic tour. Highlights included seeing the original pharmacy of the Merck family bought in 1668, the palace of the baron Ludwig, and the “wedding tower” which had the interesting appearance of a hand, Jocelyn pointed out it was debatably making a rude gesture.
With the tour ended we returned to the Merck headquarters for lunch and ice-cream, and said goodbye to Andrea who did a fantastic job of arranging our visit and schedule, thank you! Lunch down our tour of the colossal Merck site began. Starting in the museum we were educated on the history and present day products and assets of the Company, who little we knew are also the world’s leading manufacturer of liquid crystals, in fact you’re probably reading this on a screen made from they’re crystals right now! Journeying on the coach to the other end of the site, (yes a coach is necessary to get from one end to the other) we were treated to a tour of their most recently constructed laboratory. Here the composition of tablets is formulated and tested for maximum effect in the digestive system, and tablet manufacturing procedures are also trialled and tested, for quality control. To finish up we returned to the visitors centre rounded up our luggage and began the journey back to the airport.
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Thanking the Driver for his great effort ferrying us all around we checked in. This time Goncalo thankfully had a ticket, and we were hoping again all would go smoothly… But NO! Whilst we stood around talking and waiting for everyone to check-in Goncalo made his entry for the Rio 2016 100m sprint, as eh bombed past us and up the elevator. Luckily making it we found out later his flight was in fact the earlier one, giving him less than 10mins to get though security, to his gate, hand in his pass and board the plane! After that surprise all else went smoothly and we returned to London having learnt huge amount about the world of pharmaceuticals, discussed and considered exciting new opportunities, possibilities, and avenues for our PhDs, and finally had immense fun all round. From the STRATiGRAD students, thank you to all of our funders, and especially our hosts this time round Merck!
Photos courtesy of Pete, Torben, Arnaud, Pamela and Munirah