Several of us from sweSRC attended the SKAO Science Meeting 2025 in Görlitz, Germany, during the week 16-20 June 2025. Under the motto “A new era in astrophysics: Preparing for early science with the SKAO”, attendees from all over the world shared and discussed — amongst other things — the latest results from pathfinder and precursor telescopes. The SKAO Office shared updates on the status of construction for SKA-Low and SKA-Mid, and on the anticipated timelines for when different functionalities of the two telescopes will become available.

During the parallel sessions, the different Science Working Groups got together for science talks, and discussed their needs and expectations towards the telescopes with SKAO staff. The meeting also gave teams a chance to coordinate their different chapters for the upcoming SKAO Science Book. Towards the end of the meeting we learned that the current Director General Phil Diamond will step down from his position within about a year, and it was announced that Prof. Naomi McClure-Griffiths has been appointed as Chief Scientist of SKAO.

In total, roughly 15 researchers from Sweden (previous or current) joined the meeting in person — a great representation considering the approximately 1.5%-share of Sweden in the SKA at a meeting that had some 350 in-person attendees.