The Athena Science Study Team (ASST) and the Athena Working Group and Topical Panel chairs met at SRON (Utrecht, The Netherlands) on February 21 and 22, to discuss the latest developments in the project and to plan ahead, looking towards the completion of Phase A.

They took advantage of the occasion to bade farewell to two members of the ASST: Dave Lumb (ESA Study Scientist) who retires (Matteo Guainazzi will replace him in the next few weeks) and Xavier Barcons, who will soon step down to become Director General of the European Southern Observatory. They were thanked for their substantial contribution to Athena and to its predecessors.