These are 1.5-hour weekly meetings where pretty much anything can happen. We start by discussing miscellaneous issues regarding group news, etc., and then one of us stands up to talk about a topic previously agreed upon. In general, the topic will be directly connected to the speaker's own research, but occasionally it will be unrelated. If no one is scheduled to speak, the meeting will acquire a quaker-style free-format. Discussions are encouraged, and everyone in the room is required to ask the speaker at least one question (but cannot ask more than seven) before the meeting is over. In order to treat the speaker for lunch, a modest voluntary fee is suggested as follows:

Undergraduate student: $0.50 , Graduate student: $1.00 , Postdoc: $2.00 , Professor: $4.00.