Group meetings and Annual retreat
In addition to the group meetings that take place every week, once a year we get together to discuss the projects of the lab within the big picture, as well as new ideas and new techniques. We have already been to Spain and Austria, where in addition to interesting discussions and a bit of hard work we also enjoyed a couple of nice dinners out!!
Other meetings
There are several international meetings that the lab is interested in attending. These meetings cover work on Developmental and Cell Biology (eg., BSDB/CB, ASCB), Fly development (eg., http://www.drosophila-conf.org/, European Drosophila Research Conference), add various "biophysic" meetings (eg., Physics of Living Matters) and others.
Social events
In addition to the work events described above, we also like having dinners together every now and then, celebrating birthdays, papers, fellowships, newcomers, etc. We also get together with other labs of the department for Happy Hour or a Curry (the "national" food) here and there. It is not all about eating, however, as we also like going to the cinema and playing squash... there is even a squash ladder within the lab!!