Panos gave his money to Olivier Rannou (a second year PhD student) in order to pay for him to go to a conference in Sheffield. Olivier has written the following about what happened:

As a second year PhD student in September I attended an international conference. This event gathered scientists from around the world to speak about their discoveries in the field of DNA replication, which is the most fundamental process in biology. During the four days, scientists gave talks and at the end of each talk we could ask questions in order to better understand the work of the speaker. It was very exciting as each of them was an expert in their subject and I could learn a lot about the newest discoveries in DNA replication in general.

Olivier

I was able to present a poster to show my results to this audience, and met a lot of people from England and around the world. This experience was very exciting and gave me a chance to meet a wide range of people at different stages in their career, to speak with them, to get their advice and opinion about my work, as well as to learn about their research.

The four days spent at this conference were not only enjoyable for the opportunities to discuss work, but also for the general atmosphere. The atmosphere was like being part of a big family where everybody came to enjoy time with people interested in the same thing, there were also a number of opportunities to relax and socialise with people.

The experience at this conference confirmed my passion for my area of research, I thoroughly enjoyed all the lectures, was inspired by the people I met, and I am excited about continuing my own research and hope to make valuable contributions to this exciting field.