Advent calendars usually contain tiny samples of what a brand has created that year. So, I thought I’d do the same, except instead of chocolates or a mascara, I’m going to share some snapshots of moments from our own little group CEG in and out of the museum.
I’ll keep it short and let the photos speak for themselves, but here’s a nutshell view of our year:
2025 was a real productive year for our group, both scientifically and beyond. We welcomed two new members, born right into our academic adventures: Arthur and Otso. Both seemed quite eager to participate in group activities with their mothers Ana and Annis; Arthur was more interested in PhD defences, Otso was fully engaged the most intense meetings during our group retreat.
Pia and Nhu Dinh defended their Master’s theses brilliantly and are now bravely stepping into the next challenging stages of their scientific life.
Marianne and Enrico, our PhD warriors, pushed their projects forward with full power, although there’s still a long journey ahead. Marvin and Thomas hit their milestones and successfully finished their projects.
Almost all members of the group were so active in the field and sampling, but this year it was mostly within Norway for marine biodiversity lovers. But our insect enthusiasts, Vladimir and his students had the real adventure in Madagascar and Cameroon! I wish I had photos of that but I’m sure you can imagine the excitement!
Of course, science wasn’t all of our only activities.
We had fun, too! One highlight was tasting our group head Torsten’s homemade food at the summer party. Sadly, I wasn’t there to enjoy it. And like every year, we travelled together to the beautiful and historic town, Røros for our autumn retreat. Highly recommended if you’ve never been!
After the retreat, our group grew a bit, and Gabriela joined us. She is now working eagerly on the “Christmas tree worms” of Norway. Though, it won’t be finished by Christmas, we have to wait for some nice photos of them for the next year’s Advent Calendar. And, our most recent and ongoing activities to the last days? Christmas parties. Yes, plural! One is never enough for us.
Our longest-standing group member, Lutz, shared with us that he intends to retire early next year. His absence will be definitely felt, yet we hope he will visit us time to time.
As my closing words: when colleagues become friends, the time we spend together becomes part of living, not merely part of working.
Happy Christmas!
