In order to get insights in the academic world it is extremely beneficial for students to participate in tutorials, which take place in a relaxed and personal atmosphere. Such a tutorial was the
one given by Maria Mota as part of the IRI Tutorials.
Focusing on her work about Plasmodium liver and blood stages she gave two informative and entertaining talks. Besides the presentation of a variety of factual informations, Maria outlined how she
asked the questions which lead to the presented experiments and conclusions. Besides a clear logic behind her approaches, she genuinely reported how sometimes fortunate coincidences lead her to
important experiments.
However, these coincidences, not really coincidences but conversations with other researchers, only arose due to an open mindset.
As take home message of this tutorial I would name that while oneself is focusing on specific details of ones work, which request a clear logical mind, it is crucial to stay open minded in order
to perceive new perspectives and ideas.
