Autumn in Freiburg means change. Freiburg embodies the change with all aspects: a change of colours in leaves from green to golden and to the shades of orange and yellow; the change in temperatures to cold, sunny, and foggy mornings. It also means harvest – the harvest of grapes, especially for this region. The supermarkets flaunt the fresh wine called Neuer Süßer (has many other names), and bakeries serve Zwiebelkuchen (a type of savoury onion and bacon pie).

For us, most notably, the autumn means the beginning of a new semester and the excitement of welcoming new students who’ll be the change and bring the change to wherever they are in the world by joining the solar energy revolution. We know that the transition from working to a student and studying while working is demanding. We want to do our best to support this process (one of the topics we discussed in our gathering).

After a busy year full of projects and deadlines, we had our first face-to-face team meeting in a long time over coffee and breakfast on a cold Freiburg morning. The meeting was semi-formal. We mostly caught up with each other’s lives and then talked a bit of a business, too – about the program’s future, the ways we want to improve, and the projects we’ll embark on. Although the whole team did not make it to the gathering, we had a lovely time, and we hope to get together again soon.

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