The annual EC<sup>2</sup>/BIG-NSE retreat took place on June 12–13, 2025, once again at the beautiful Hotel Döllnsee-Schorfheide, about two hours from Berlin. Nearly all PhD students and several supervisors participated, with only a few students unable to attend in person. Thanks to hybrid options, two students currently abroad (in the USA and China) were still able to present their work virtually.
The retreat featured excellent scientific presentations from students of the WS22 and WS23 cohorts, sparking lively discussions across disciplines. The full retreat program is available here, and photos from the event can be viewed here.
In addition to the presentations, the third edition of the “PhD Accelerator” workshop series was held, focusing this time on “Writing.” The sessions, led by Dr. Adam Belsom and Dr. Ana Perez (postdocs in the Rappsilber Lab), took place at the end of both retreat days and were highly appreciated by the participants.
Parallel to the workshop on Thursday, the attending PIs gathered to discuss the future direction of the BIG-NSE program in a dedicated internal meeting.