The snow is slowly melting, the sun is shining longer, and nature is returning from hibernation. The signs are clear: only three months to our second annual workshop. This year, we are going to meet at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, where an exciting program awaits you. But let us start at the beginning, the reason why you can read these lines is because we gave Cultured Scene new life with this second issue. We have a lot of ideas for content for many issues to come. We plan to publish Cultured Scene three times a year; and with your help this can become a reality. While we will use this space to update you on the latest news of the society, such as the upcoming name change, we especially proud about exciting articles from our members Damien Neadle, Elena Miu, and Rohan Kapitány on their recent projects. We also got an interview with Sylvain Alem and behind the paper insights into his bumblebee string pulling experiment. The feature article by Stephen Heap discuses the hive-mind and its pop-cultural references.
Also, if you are about to go to your first conference, fear not, our Agony Aunt article gives recommendations on how to make the most of it.
Let me close this welcome message by saying, the journey a researcher is taking is most enjoyable with good company. I have already found great people and friends in this slowly growing society, and I hope you will do too. By respectful sharing of our individual stories, ideas, and visions, independent of our personal and professional background we can make our work to go beyond interesting. Let’s make it exciting. For everyone!
About the author
Post-doctoral Fellow at UPenn