We held our Annual Meeting of 2025 on 23-24 October, following an exclusive two-day workshop for junior reseachers. An opportunity for project and programme teams to share updates and connect with each other, this was our first programme-wide meeting since the Kick-Off event in summer 2024. We were pleased to welcome members of the international Scientfic Advisory Board for the first time.

A highlight of the meeting were the two poster session during which all research projects and ENTAILab Measure 2 (CIRCLET) shared their project's purpose and progress. The sessions were lively, with many ideas exchanged and connections made.

Knowledge and ideas flowed throughout the event. The Junior Researcher Workshop before the Annual Meeting featured researchers from two projects who shared insights into their methods with their peers by way of hands-on learning. Patrick Schrottenbacher (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt) from FACES, provided insight into how Generative AI works. Frieder Rodewald (Universität Mannheim) and Sebastian Prechsl (Institute for Employment Research/IAB & LMU Munich) of Integrating Data Donation in Survey Infrastructure, explained the opportunities and limitations of data donation from the perspectives of both the participant and the researcher.

The final day of the Annual Meeting was dedicated to strategic discussion and reflection with our international Scientific Advisory Board on the programme's goals, progress, and future direction. One particularly valuable insight emerged: we will learn as much from the approaches that don't work as expected as we do from the successes -- because New Data Spaces' unique benefit is the focus on foundational research intended to explore innovative methods and as yet untested approaches. Discussions about the future of New Data Spaces for the Social Sciences revealed a clear priority: strengthening the bridge between individual research projects and broader impact.

We also explored requirements for a successful second funding period (2027-2030). The call for proposals for this next phase will be announced here on our website in Spring 2026.

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to this productive and enjoyable Annual Meeting, particularly our Scientific Advisory Board members for their valuable input. We are excited to see what comes next from our New Data Spaces research community.

Annual Meeting 2025 group photo, captured in the magnificent LIfBi building stairwell.