The first ever Research Retreat of AK Daumann took place in Zeeland, Netherlands last week. After having a monday morning session on shared group values and our common mission with all group members, all members involved in research (PhDs, Postdocs and permanent staff) made their way to our accomodation. In preparation for the Retreat, pairs of group members had to organise two sessions in advance and over the next few days, we learned about methods commonly used in our group (HPLC, UVvis, XRay) as well as those we want to use more in the future (GC-MS, TIMS-TOF), and had workshops on commonly used softwares and digital tools (Origin, Gen-5, Diamond 5, AI-Tools). Further, we enjoyed a panel discussion by our panellist senior scientists (CEW, Guido, Lena) on the future of science and all focussed on our current writing project in a allocated Writing & Literature Research timeslot. After all this science, social activities were needed to replenish our energy stores and clear our brains: a barbecue evening, creative session on “Thinking outside the box”, beach walks, card games and yoga courses provided the necessary balance. Overall, we came back tired but full of restored enthusiasm, a strenghtened team spirit and with plenty of new ideas of projects and creative collaboration ideas!