The kickoff meeting for the second funding period of the SPP 2244 program took place in Dresden. This event marked the beginning of a new phase for the SPP. At this meeting, the newly constituted Steering Committee for the current funding period was also elected. The Committee includes Ursula Wurstbauer from the University of Münster, Janina Maultzsch from FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Jaroslav Fabian from the University of Regensburg, Christoph Stampfer from our group, and Thomas Heine (Coordinator) from TU Dresden.