Cycling to death, in the Tyrolean Alps

In January 2013, over 100 researchers from 18 different countries gathered in Obergurgl, a remote ski resort in the beautiful Tyrolean Alps in Austria. The inspiring idea of this EMBO-funded workshop was to bring together two scientific communities: researchers in the fields of cell cycle and cell death. These two mature fields have been considered distinct for many years and researchers active in one often tend to neglect aspects of the other. It is well established though that cell cycle defects can trigger cell death and it is becoming increasingly clear that some cell death paradigms can only (or preferentially) be found within certain cell cycle ‘windows'. Furthermore, defects in both pathways are hallmarks of cancer, amply justifying the concept of an interdisciplinary discussion platform. The quality of the talks and posters, the relaxed and informal atmosphere, enhanced by the beautiful weather and the stunning location, guaranteed the effectiveness of the interchange. Here we summarize a selection of the key contributions in the various fields and apologize to the participants neglected due to space constrains.