This is Kaśka, our culture guru who always knows what’s going on in the city, be it concerts, festivals, or if a new café opened up near you. Her colourful style and fun self will brighten up your day and she’s definitely the person to go to if you need a book recommendation or two. Kaśka moved to Heidelberg earlier this year after having worked remotely from Poland for a year and a half, which brings the countries she’s lived in to a whopping 7, and we’re so happy to have her here!

At EMBL since:  July 2021

Number of organised conferences/courses:  I don’t quite organise meetings and instead am responsible for marketing them – though I work closely with our excellent Conference Officers who are responsible for the logistics and together we make sure every event is a success! I would estimate it must have been about 35 events that I’ve done so far?

What’s your favourite place in Heidelberg?  

It is really hard to choose, Heidelberg is a pretty town with lots of highlights! I enjoy Neckarwiese which is a green riverbank area popular for picnics and parties – but it is also great to sit down and read a book while catching some sun which I particularly enjoy doing. It offers great views over the town too, and the river is also great for water sports! It might sound a bit strange as probably not many people would point at their workplace as their favourite place, but the EMBL campus and especially the Advanced Training Centre, which is the building where I am located, are pretty cool. Not only is ATC’s architecture outstanding, but it also has a unique location, surrounded by the forest and sitting atop a hill, overlooking the area – nothing like enjoying the sunset from our rooftop terrace! There is a lot of wildlife around too and I thoroughly enjoy watching birds of prey majestically gliding over the tree crowns from my office window.

What do you like most about your job?  

My colleagues! A lovely bunch of both extremely talented and super fun people! It really makes coming to work a joyous experience which I know probably sounds quite odd but it’s really the people who make it, isn’t it? For me, it is also the public mission and the educational ethos; the feeling of contributing to something useful by facilitating essential scientific exchange via our diverse external training programme. I used to work as a project manager and events coordinator before I focused solely on comms and marketing and I really enjoy the buzz of events, participating in delivery, and watching people having a great time whilst visiting us!

First thing you do before a conference/course starts and the first thing you do after it finishes?

Before the conference, I always make sure to start tracking the event hashtag so I can follow people’s journey getting here and throughout the meeting and join the conversation! I also make sure my camera and phone are charged so I am ready to start snapping! After the event, well, it’s time to celebrate the success! It is also time to take my name tag off my lapel which I always forget to do.

If you weren’t a marketing officer, what would you be?    

Honestly, who knows? I’ve had dozens of different jobs throughout my life! Feel free to ask me about it later – it is quite a list with some truly random roles! But for real, I’d probably be doing something artsy or writing, which honestly is not that far away from working in communication. I would also love to work in urban planning, specialising in cycling infrastructure and public spaces.

Your favourite book and why? 

I couldn’t pick just one favourite book but I love reading and tend to read between 50 and 60 books per year, tracking my progress with Goodreads and trading loads of recommendations (and books) with my friends! Some of the books I’ve read this year that I could recommend are ‘Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow’ by Gabrielle Zavin (this one stayed with me for a long time), ‘We Are Never Meeting in Real Life’ by Samantha Irby, ‘Babel: an Arcane History’ by R.F.Kuang, and the hilarious ‘Thursday Murder Club’ series by Richard Osman which makes a bunch of retirement home residents self-proclaimed detectives in various criminal cases!

What is your favourite recipe?    

Mary Berry’s scones! I always loved scones and finally learned how to bake them during the pandemic. It is an easy recipe that always works out great although I’m not a very experienced baker! The question of course is: clotted cream or jam first…?

What is your favourite podcast?

Stuff You Should Know, I Weigh with Jameela Jamil, and You’re Dead to Me. I am a bit nerdy and love to know fun facts about random things and I always wonder how things work and am naturally curious – but in a podcast I usually also need a charismatic host with a bit of a comedic flair. SYSK breaks down a topic per episode and they can be completely random with subjects like caterpillars, insomnia, Hollywood sign, police line-ups, or afrofuturism. You’re Dead to Me is a British comedy podcast about history, with a brilliant format where the host, Greg Jenner, invites a historian and a comedian to discuss interesting topics in history in a very amusing and engaging way. I Weigh is a bit different as it mostly revolves around mental health – the host talks to many extraordinary people about their lives; the podcast is very inclusive, with a range of important topics and a lot of social activism and change-making involved.

Any upcoming events or projects you are working on that you would like to share?

I am excited about the EMBL Conference ‘Transcription and chromatin’ as I was also looking after its previous edition in 2022 and it was a very lively and successful meeting – really fun to deliver! One of my good friends is a researcher based in Oxford and he happened to be attending as a participant which on a personal note made for a lovely reunion as well!

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Behind the scenes:

Marketing Officers mostly stay behind the scenes though we do occasionally man the reception desk when you come to our events and of course, you can spot us running around with a camera, taking pictures and videos of the meetings. Did you know that you can become an event reporter and receive a conference fee waiver in exchange? Find out how to do that by visiting our Become an event reporter page.