The Japanese garden in Vilvoorde, Belgium, symbolising eastward connections

As you can see in my previous post, where you can find an insightful map of my current global scientific network, my global network has only a limited connection with the east. While strong ties exist within Europe and across the ocean to both the Americas, getting to know – and collaborate with – colleagues in Asia has till now been more of a challenge.

Japanese cherry

Yet the future of our Eastern ‘trade route’ has recently been getting brighter. We met some great Asian colleagues, passoniate about the same topics. Collaborations are now being forged. These new collaborations now already add new, fresh insights to our way of thinking, while at the same time allowing me to dive deeper into the fascinating ecosystems in the east.

Definitely worth the effort!