Albert Einstein's close friends and colleagues from the Patent Office
  In the Patent Office Einstein hatched his most beautiful ideas, and there he spent his "Happy Bern Years". These wonderful ideas led to his miraculous year works of 1905. Einstein was not an expert in academic matters, and he was out of academic world. Neither did he meet influential professors, or attend academic meetings. He discussed his ideas with his close friends and colleagues from the Patent Office. In 1907 he finally got his foot into the academic doorway; Einstein became a privatdozent and gave lectures at the University of Bern. However, his first students consisted again of his two close friends and another colleague from the Patent Office. 
Galina Weinstein
physics.hist-ph