In June, our specially appointed assistant professor Jelena Muncan, has been promoted to an Associate Professor! We have asked Jelena to tell us about how she feels about it after her meeting with the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at Kobe University. “First of all,”, she said, “I feel a lot of gratitude, especially when I heard the Dean saying how our Department is making a great contribution to the University with our research and publications. This was really beautiful to hear that we make a difference and that our work is appreciated. And, I always feel very grateful to Japan and to Prof. Tsenkova for the opportunity to be able to work on something I love and to grow. It is now 5 years since I became a part of Aquaphotomics team in Kobe, and I can only describe this time as an immense growth in my knowledge, abilities and ideas. And I would also like to say that I am so grateful to be surrounded by incredible people; Prof. Tsenkova’s laboratory has always had amazingly talented and hard-working people, and it is such a pleasure to live in that atmosphere every day. I also have to say a big “THANK YOU” to Recella Co. Ltd. The company’s donation made it possible to establish the new Aquaphotomics Research Department and to proceed with our exploration of water”.