We are happy to announce the start of a new series where you will get to know the people who make our events possible. They are extraordinary people who work hard so you can worrilessly enjoy the events you attend at EMBL. They are the superheroes behind the show who keep everything running smoothly, but they are also people like you and me who, after a long day at work, want to put up their feet and enjoy Netflix.

So let’s get started! Meet María Bacadare – course organiser and occasional conference organiser. She is from Venezuela, always has a smile on her face and is constantly running around (seriously María, be careful!).

At EMBL since:
2014 – 2017 EMBL-EBI
2017 – present EMBL Heidelberg

Number of organised events:
2014 – 2017 EMBL- EBI: 38
2017 – present: 32

Favourite place in Heidelberg:

I love to walk around the Philosophenweg as it is very relaxing and you can get a super nice view of Heidelberg from there. My favourite part is the ice cream you can get on the way down at Amami Gelato!

First thing you do before an event starts and first thing you do after it finishes:

On the first day COFFEE! Coffee keeps me going with the running up and down the building to make sure everyone is fine and has found their way to the training labs/auditorium.

Once everyone has left the building the fun part starts with the tidying up of the rooms, taking down the signage and so on to start getting ready for the next meeting… but not before walking the participants/speakers down to the bus to wave goodbye!

If you weren’t an event organiser what would you be?

I would definitely be working at a bank and spending hours on excel sheets.

What is the strangest/funniest thing that has ever happened at an event?

The fun never ends in the ATC! We’ve sometimes found ourselves running down the helices or down the hill to get participants to the bus on time. But I think the funniest thing that ever happened on one of my shifts was the time a participant thought he had locked himself in the toilet as the sensor lights went off, and we could hear him screaming for help at the registration desk. We had to calm him down and ask him to wave his arms in the air to activate the lights. He was fine and we were all laughing afterwards.

If you were a superhero what power would you like to have?

I wish I could fly so I could be home with my family more often.

Favourite recipe:

Arepas! Easy, simple and delicious and not a single Venezuelan can live without them.

Upcoming events in 2020 María is organising: 

EMBL Course: Analysis and Integration of Transcriptome and Proteome Data. 2 – 7 February 2020, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

EMBO|EMBL Symposium: The Organism and its Environment. 1 – 4 March 2020, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

EMBO Practical Course: Microbial Metagenomics: A 360º Approach. 20 – 27 April 2020, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

EMBL Course: Hands-on Flow Cytometry – Learning by Doing! 25 – 29 May 2020, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

EMBO Practical Course: Molecular Geobiology. 19 – 24 July 2020, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany

EMBL Course: Cryo-Electron Microscopy and 3D Image Processing. 23 – 31 August 2020, EMBL Heidelberg, Germany