I, Alexander Hynes, who is definitely writing this post right now, am super proud of the first student to graduate from the Hynes lab. Hiba did a great job over the course of her Master's and I have decided to keep her around forever and pay her a million dollars a year

[ed. note: This is what I get when I asked a student to write her own going away post. Serves me right. Still, it is true, except the pay]

Earlier this week, Kevin Zhao was awarded a BHSc summer studentship (Congratulations!) - great news. But it was also illustrative of a remarkable flexibility in the funders; Kevin was able to defer his award to next Summer. My NSERC USRA and IIDR scholarship students were granted additional flexibility in start/end dates, and projects. My NFRF was topped up with 2.2 months of funding, and granted an additional year to spend the grant money in. NSERC Discovery Grants are eligible for 1-yr extensions. My institute is re-directing some of the overhead from my grants to help manage staff costs…

Combined with the completely unprecedented, world-leading student aid package announced by the Federal Government on Wednesday - I am so glad to see that (with few exceptions) research, science - and above all, our trainees, are an important part of the decision making process in this pandemic.

Congratulations to Rabia, who just got news she was awarded a CGS-M! Well deserved, but on top of that, it definitely says something about Rabia that her first question was “will I still be able to TA?”.

The second grad student in the lab, the second to defend (also on-time!), the second zoom defence. This is becoming normal-ish, because the students are - and this is an understatement - incredibly adaptable. Congratulations Anisha Nandy!

But will nobody think of the PIs? Now I am down 2 students in 2 weeks…

The first student in the Hynes lab. The first to defend a thesis (and on time). And yes, that is my daughter sneaking in unnoticed, and yes, she too dressed up for the defence. Congratulations Hiba!

This image is the new “normal” - videoconferencing, microsoft teams, zoom… be it lab meetings, one-on-one meetings, or, as depicted here, our daily ‘social’ chat to keep us all sane.

But, maybe unsurprisingly, the work goes on - and there’s plenty to celebrate. While we don’t know what form it’ll take, two undergraduates will be rejoining us for the summer with prestigious scholarship support; Stephanie Scott with an NSERC USRA and Janice Tai with an IIDR Summer Studentship. Congratulations!

Pulled the plug on Monday, last walkthrough today. Other PIs report melancholy - for me, just some anxiety. The usual, overwhelming job (good and bad!), but without the cornerstone that I can always count on to get me out of bed in the morning.

No, a cat didn’t just walk on my keyboard - I’m referring to the Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences Research Symposium. A stellar inaugural event, kicked off by a timely talk on combatting the spread of misinformation online. It was also Tamina’s first academic poster, and I’d post a picture, but this shot of Kim’s look of understanding as Rabia explains her poster was too good to pass up on.

I gave a research rounds talk on Wednesday, and despite it being carefully calibrated to drive a graduate student of mine up the wall, she still took this picture of me for the website. Thanks!

The talk was the first opportunity I’ve had to share a really fantastic (phantastic?) new phage detection tool, and having an audience of clinicans really forced me to craft this story carefully. Also, I used props. There’s nothing quite like seeing plaques first hand to realize this stuff actually works!

One of the easiest tasks that falls on my desk is when I’m asked to write a preview/news&views/feature for an article I loved. It’s a chance to highlight some amazing work and, from a writing perspective, it’s a very refreshing opportunity to write… a little differently.

Félix and I put together this Preview on the Westra/Van-Houte group’s excellent Cell Host & Microbe article highlighting unusual benefits to carrying ‘weak’ anti CRISPRs, and then Félix promptly put my twitter efforts to promote the original article to shame… proving I`ve still got a lot to learn.

Today, a trainee of mine met with great success. Not an academic trainee, but a trainee nonetheless. And boy did he work hard to get where he is! Francis Coté, one of the small group of Québec city who learned the game under my tutelage, just won the (final) World Championship of the Game of Throne Living Card Game. I often get questions about the warhammer in my office… well, here’s a picture of Francis earning his!

It was a tougher, larger field than my 2013 victory, and - in watching the last few games streamed live - he’s definitely a better player now than I have ever been. I love it. Congratulations, well deserved!

The preview featured the work-in-progress of a cleanup day, but here’s the resulting catharsis.

Thrice a year, we shutdown the lab and everyone scrubs/does inventory/repairs/does maintenance. And while it’s a big undertaking, it’s always worth it.

What does it say that as soon as this fancy new plate reader got unboxed, the undergrads assumed it, too, was for Gayatri. Her lab bio does say she gets to play with all the coolest lab toys, but this one - this one is for you Ikram (*partly)!

And a picture is worth 1000 words. Even if it’s a picture of words.

A year and a half into my role as Faculty coordinator for RIP, it was my great pleasure today to be involved in the inaugural Farncombe Trainee awards. These four great students (left to right: Jessica Breznik, Patrick Schenck, Alexandra Clarizio, and Mercedes di Bernardo) had truly exceptional presentations this year and showed us what scientific communication looks like at its best. Congratulations!

Last year was the Hynes Holiday Hootenany, while this year the Solstice celebration. I’m a sucker for alliteration. Despite 6 members MIA due to a combination of illness, exams, travel and previous social committments, we still wound up with a potluck providing enough leftovers to last us until next year.

I’m glad someone thought to take a picture before the first few had to leave, although we’re not at our best! I think we had 3 camerapersons instead of the usual 1, and Janice was mid-critical phone call . But it’s authentic!

My students sent me this, insisting it deserves to be on the lab website. Yes, yes it does. Breanna (right) is our new pipette tip filling champion, marking the first upset since the title's inauguration.

Three people dared guess who their secret Santa was even before opening their present. One even got it right! And yes, that is me in an ugly blue christmas sweater, how nice of you to notice.

Earlier this week, we were treated to a visit by Jessica and Jan from Phage Directory. Thank you to David Speicher for lining this up (and the photo credit), the Biochemistry Department for their help hosting, and most importantly, to Jan and Jessica for what wound up being some very engaging discussion on the future of phages!

This time, it’s like Christmas in Decem… right. Well, in keeping with my Belgian nationality, for St. Nicholas’s day, we got this marvel. Thank you to Emma Allen-Vercoe for assistance with setup and training, with any luck we’ll have this up and running, and pumped full of phages, in no time.