Dear friends, colleagues and ISSI-BJ supporters more broadly,

As we are nearing the completion of yet another orbit around the Sun, this is the time of year when we can take the time to reflect on past achievements and look forward to a blank slate full of exciting opportunities. Many of us will take a well-deserved rest after a hectic year, while other colleagues may need to wait until the end of January before they can enjoy the festivities and family time traditionally associated with lunar new year celebrations.

This is also my opportunity to pay tribute to all the hard work undertaken by our team at ISSI-BJ. Without the dedication and enthusiasm of Lijuan and Francesca, in particular, none of our numerous International Team meetings, Forums or Workshops would have been possible this past year. Without the high-level oversight and administrative support from Xiaolong and Xiaoyu, ISSI-BJ would not have been able to support the large number of scientists we managed to host at our premises this year. We are indeed very fortunate in having such a dedicated team "on the ground"!

But none of this would have been possible without YOUR continued support! We need our community to engage with our activities to make them successful. Our next call for International Team proposals is due out in mid-January 2025, with a deadline for final proposals in March next year. Let us make this an exceptional round, with a record number of proposals from the ISSI-BJ diaspora – last year, East Asian proposals had not yet recovered to their pre-pandemic levels. I hope that this year will return us to "normal". Let's work together to surpass expectations!

For the first time this year, we are now also calling for five-day high-level Workshop proposals from our broader community. This is your chance to invite up to 50 global experts for a focussed meeting on a cutting-edge space science case, with significant financial and logistics support from ISSI-BJ. The deadline is 31 March 2025; get in touch if you need more information or have ideas!

Meanwhile, to those of you celebrating a festive period in late December, I wish you a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, a great Yuletide, a restful Yalda, or simply a peaceful break!

May the new year bring many new opportunities for growth and peace!

Richard de Grijs
(Executive Director, ISSI-BJ)