Program GEN retreat – 27 August 2026

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Palais de Rumine, 3rd floor, room “L’Aula”

9h-9h25 : Introduction
Nadir Alvarez + Christian Fankhauser + Giovanni Ciriello

9h30-10h55 : Serious talks (15 min. + 5 min. questions), 2 from each department
Florent Mazel, DBC
Johannes Larsch, CIG
Jay Durairaj, DBC
Yinan Wan, CIG

10h55-11h15 : Coffee break (Atrium 5th floor)

11h15-12h15 : 8 Fun talks
Each presentation (5 min. + 5 min. discussion) will be based on a set of five slides prepared by one PI and presented by another PI:

  • Sonja Lehtinen, DBC
  • Richard Benton, CIG
  • Christophe Dessimoz, DBC
  • Christian Fankhauser, CIG
  • Zoltan Kutalik, DBC
  • David Gatfield, CIG
  • Sven Bergman, DBC
  • Nadine Vastenhouw, CIG

12h15-13h30 : Lunch (Atrium 5th floor)

13h45-15h : Workshops (around 30 pers. per group), themes:

  • Ideas for the 2027 Retreat (concrete proposals with organizers for activities): Christian Fankhauser (Room “Ruminoscope” 3rd floor (cathedral side), next to the Paleontology entrance (Harpe) and directly across from the restrooms)
  • “Night science”: Sanyami Sunil Zunjarrao and Justine Pascual (room “Tissot”, 1st floor)
  • “How to improve community building”: Johannes Larsch (room “Sénat”, 1st floor)
  • “Popularization of science”: Frédéric Schütz (room “L’Aula”, 3rd floor)
  • “AI for research” (or more specifically LLM)”: Clément Train and Robin Hofmeister (room “L’Aula”, 3rd floor)

15h-15h30 : Coffee break (Atrium 5th floor)

15h30-16h30 : Feedback after workshops (L’Aula)

16h30-18h30 : Groups’ tour (mixed groups):

Registered participants will be divided into three groups based on the color of their badge.

4:30 PM – 5:05 PM:
Yellow group: Destination Archéo / Red group: Geology / Green group: Zoology

5:10 PM – 5:45 PM:
Rotation:
Yellow group: Geology / Red group: Zoology / Green group: Destination Archéo

5:55 PM – 6:30 PM:
Rotation:
Yellow group: Zoology / Red group: Destination Archéo / Green group: Geology

Meeting points and guides:

  • Destination Archéo: In front of the Great Halls, with Thibaut
  • Geology: South Wing, Paleontology section, with Manuel
  • Zoology: South Wing, in front of the vultures and bearded vultures exhibit, with Sandra

18h30 : Departure on foot (about 30 min. walk) for apéro and dinner in Chalet Suisse

Meeting at the main staircase, outside at the museum’s entrance.