The 2025 SKAO General Science Meeting, A new era in astrophysics: Preparing for early science with the SKAO, is being held this week in Görlitz, Germany, and on-line. Taking place just two years before the SKA telescopes will be tested on the first community-chosen targets, the meeting will bring together scientists from around the world to discuss the science opportunities that the Observatory will provide in its early years of operations. The meeting will include three days of plenary sessions, plus one and a half days of parallel sessions organised to maximise collaborative discussion between scientists. Presentations from the community willpreview early SKAO science, while special “Observing with the SKAO” sessions will share detailed telescope capabilities, operational policies and observer tools for planning SKAO observations. Görlitz will soon be home to the German Centre for Astrophysics (Deutsches Zentrum für Astrophysik; DZA), a new large-scale research centre that will enable top-level astronomical research, the processing of gigantic data streams from next-generation telescopes such as the SKAO’s, and the development of novel technology.