For our first outdoor activity this year we decided to make a day trip to the Osterseen. We had a very nice walk around the lake which gave us plenty of time to interact with each other outside the lab. Luckily, we found nice sunny spot next to the lake where we enjoyed a picnic with lots of nice homemade food after our walk. Our day trip concluded with some ice cream and coffee at a local restaurant.

After having left us already over a year ago to start to work as a project manager, Franzi came back to defend her thesis; and she did a great job! As the only PhD student moving with Christian from Frankfurt to Munich, she contributed enormously in setting up the new lab and was key in transferring methods and knowledge to the new group members. We cannot thank her enough for all her efforts and wish her all the best for ...

Our first graduation party in Munich! It was a lot of fun to celebrate together with Susa her successful PhD defense. We are very proud of her and her accomplishments over the last years. It was great pleasure to have her in the lab and she will be dearly missed. We wish her all the best for her future.

Due to COVID-19, the Christmas markets were closed again. However, we decided to have a small Christmas party with some hot wine and home-made Christmas cookies outside our institute. Since it was quite cold, we were happy to have some hot ‘Glühwein’ to warm us. We had an awesome time getting ourselves into the Christmas spirit.

After almost two years of limited face-to-face scientific exchange, we were finally able to meet members of other labs in person again at the SFB autophagy retreat in beautiful Cavtat. There could not have been a better location for reinforced interdisciplinary interaction than the scenic landscape and sea of southern Croatia.

The late summer sun motivated us to go for a group walk along the Würm. Although it took us a while to reach it, the long walk was a good opportunity for the group members to enjoy each other’s company and bond with our new PhD students. The tour led us to Kraillinger brewery where it was time for some well-earned beers and evening snacks.

Despite a very bad weather forecast, we met for a hike in the Spitzingsee area. We further strengthened our team-building skills by taking turns to push the stroller up the steep path before we had a well-earned drink outside of ”ObereFirstalm”. We took a break from the rain inside for a very tasteful lunch and decided to prolong our stay for a walk around Spitzingsee lake where we were surprised by sunshine.

Also, 2021 started with many restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic. As soon as it was possible again, we got together for a lunch in the beer garden where we enjoyed good Bavarian food, ice cream and non-lab-related talks. Moreover, we met after work on a hot summer’s day to relish self-made cake and finger-food brought by half of the group who lost a bet. These were very fun group eventsand we are looking forward for the next ones.

2020 was an extraordinary year. As it was the case for many groups around the world, we had to restrict our lab work from time to time. For us it was also particularly awkward that we were not able to maintain our social activities. Fortunately, we were able to keep the lab and the most important experiments running. We already had a great start into the new year, with Susa’s paper being accepted in Molecular Cell. Let’s hope in 2021 ...