ALT Dr. Kremena Burkhard, Ludwig Franzius Institute at LUH. My motivation: "During my PhD in Bulgaria and in the USA, I met my German partner (now husband), a researcher in the same field. I experienced German academia during my visits and later I moved to Germany. Professionally, Germany provides more opportunities than Bulgaria." My biggest challange/opportunity: "The lack of long-term job perspectives and permanent positions in academia on the postdoc level together with a high workload are major challenges. A huge opportunity is the supportive, non-hierarchical and high-quality academic environment at my current Institute." Advice to my past self: "Put priority on publishing your results and developing your own research profile. Look for mentors who are interested and supportive to your research and start developing project proposals together. Don’t accept too small positions (less than 0.5 FTE) for too long time." Picture of her in the right upper corner.