George Simos (EMBL Postdoctoral Fellow 1990-95) chats with Thomas Vaccari (EMBL Predoctoral Fellow 1999-2004). George reflects on his first impressions upon joining EMBL in the early 90s, his return to Greece and efforts to bring back some of the culture and approach to research that he experienced in Heidelberg. He also explains his work on hypoxia and the thrill he gets when discovering something new in his research.

This conversation was recorded in July 2025.

Alumni Chat contributors are members of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) community. The opinions expressed are their own and are not necessarily representative of the views of EMBL or any other party. The mere appearance of content on EMBL Alumni accounts does not constitute an endorsement by EMBL.

Production and Editing: EMBL Alumni Relations