Our doctoral candidate Pascal Mittenbühler returned to UPB on December 1st after a nine month stay in Japan. He conducted research at Shinshu University in Matsumoto, kindly hosted by Prof Itaru Sasaki. During his time in Japan, Pascal also visited many other locations and built collaborations there, including Hokkaido U, Waseda U, Nagoya U, Ritsumeikan, Kyushu U, the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Kyoto, Ehime U and Yokohama National U. A large part of his stay was financed by a research grant for doctoral candidates from the DAAD. Welcome back!