Advancing science often means exploring the unknown: setting up a ground-breaking experiment in the lab, or venturing into remote areas of our world to collect new data. Geologist and cave explorer Francesco Sauro is leading challenging speleological expeditions in the table-top mountains of Venezuela and Brazil, whose caves harbour unique geochemical features. Saudi microbiologist Hosam Zowawi recently joined him in an expedition there, to study bacteria that have evolved in isolation and may further our understanding of antibiotic resistance. The speakers will share their experience and exchange with Prof. Martin Chalfie and the audience on scientific collaborations. Where should two different disciplines meet? How to balance excellence in science and the constraints of the field? How to translate in the lab a personal experience acquired outside of it?