Germany doesn’t pause for Chinese New Year of course, but my boss seemed to know something about it and called for a meeting with my lab team today. The timing gave me an impression as if the meeting was some kind of an end-of-year review. I was in fact quite glad to sit down and talk to him, as this was only the second time in my first year of work! While most people would be quite sick of seeing, dealing with or arguing with their bosses or supervisors on a daily basis, our boss is hardly a visible figure. He spends a good part of his time travelling to all corners of the Earth, for different kinds of conferences and meetings with collaborators. And when he’s finally back in the home base, he’s too tied up with outstanding work. So unless he has to meet other big guns of the research institute, host important visitors, or deal with urgent grant applications or publications, he would much rather retreat into his own office. It’s actually a rarity to be able to meet and greet him aroun...