At the end of last year, my contract as the Editor-in-Chief of Applied Physics B—Lasers and Optics expired after about 17 years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you authors and editors for the long-lasting support and collaboration in the spirit of the journal and for the substantial improvement that the journal has experienced due to your support during the years. Thank you very much!

A very special thank you goes to Jutta Kaisig who has managed to process more than 1000 manuscripts per year not to mention her high expertise and happy spirit. Again, thank you very much!

January 2013

Frank Träger