Report - Annual Retreat in Bremerhaven

From September 29 to October 2 2025, the TRR 181 "Energy Transfers in Atmosphere and Ocean" with more than 80 project members gathered in Bremerhaven for our Annual Retreat - an exciting opportunity to share progress, foster collaboration, and deepen our understanding of complex climate processes.  

A central part of this exchange were the daily PICO and poster sessions, where each project has just two minutes to present their work - using one or two slides. After these pitches, there is more time for deeper conversations using the accompanying posters. These concise and interactive presentations allow us to highlight progress, engage in for scientific exchange, and align our efforts toward common goals. 

A special highlight was our intercultural awareness workshop, designed to emphasize the importance of effective communication across diverse cultural backgrounds.  Led by Christine and Sardar M. Kohistani from SAMIN.WORLD, the session focused on understanding cultural differences in scientific teamwork using Erin Meyer's "Culture Map".  It was a lively, interactive experience - allowing us to reflect on high and low context communication styles in different work-related situations. 

 Additionally, the retreat featured an inspiring keynote lecture from expert Felix Pithan from the Bremerhaven Alfred-Wegener-Institut, whose talk "Eternity in an hour: Understanding global climate through boundary-layer processes" exemplifies the diverse perspectives within our network. 

There was also an opportunity to visit two renowned institutions in Bremerhaven, the Klimahaus and the German Maritime Museum, to see how research on climate and the sea can be communicated to a non-scientific audience. We gained many new insights here. 

We are proud of the collaborative spirit and cultural awareness that fuel our work and look forward to continued progress together for the next three years.