The EMBO Practical Course “Pipetting scRNA-seq data into computational cells”, that took place at GIMM, Oeiras site, from 18 to 23 May 2026, brought together 20 researchers from 16 countries for a week of hands-on single-cell transcriptomics training. Organized by the Luís Graça and Marc Veldhoen labs, in close collaboration with the Stem Cell Institute (Cambridge, UK) and BRIC (Copenhagen, Denmark), it bridged the gap between wet-lab and computational expertise, from sample preparation and library construction to RNA velocity and cell–cell interaction modelling.

Participants ranged from PhD students to group leaders, and that diversity was a strength. The environment was open and welcoming enough that everyone felt comfortable chasing questions and challenging ideas, regardless of career stage. Along the way, several attendees discovered unexpected research overlaps that may well develop into future collaborations.

The group also proved that rigour and camaraderie go hand in hand. Bus rides became karaoke sessions, and one participant devoted himself to eating an entire basket of Portuguese tomatoes, apparently unfindable at that quality back home.

The initiative reflects our commitment to equipping researchers to move fluently between bench and terminal, and marks a step toward positioning GIMM as an experience centre in scRNA-seq.