During the cozy get-together, the staff's children did not miss out: Santa Claus handed out presents to all of them. 2011 has been a very successful year for the National Educational Panel Study, notably the first data release of the Scientific Use Files of the adult cohort that will be made available towards the end of the calendar year. At numerous conferences and meetings the first main data release was announced in order to implement the core task of the NEPS as a facility of infrastructure to disseminate very detailed data concerning education acquisition and the development of competencies over the life course to the international scientific community.