u/AppearanceNo345

I have a trip to China planned for June 19th. I also intend to apply for a Schengen visa for Spain on June 9th, with my travel to Spain scheduled for June 29th.
I would like to clarify whether it is possible to temporarily retrieve my passport during the visa processing period. Specifically, is there any option to collect my passport for a short period (for about a week) while the application is being processed, and then return it to the consulate/Visa Application Centre?
Is such a facility available in the Schengen visa application process through Spain?
Thank you in advance.

Hello everyone,

I have a PhD in mathematics and am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the UK. My research is in number theory, and more broadly in discrete mathematics.
I have also participated in national-level math olympiads (though not at the international level), and I have around 10 papers, some of which are published in well-regarded journals.
I am seriously considering transitioning into the quantitative finance industry, specifically into a quantitative researcher role, although I have not yet started the application process. My coding skills are solid: I have a good understanding of data structures and algorithms and have solved many problems on LeetCode.
Today, I had a phone call with a recruiter from London. She asked me some standard introductory questions, and we briefly introduced ourselves. She also asked about my expected salary, but I chose not to give a specific number. I explained that I did not want to quote an explicit figure since, as far as I understand, compensation depends heavily on the role, the firm, and other factors.
In turn, I asked her about typical compensation for someone with my background. She mentioned that a typical package might include a base salary of around £120K, a sign-on bonus of about £40K, and an annual bonus of roughly 30–50% of the base, depending on performance.
My question is the following: I do not have a clear picture of compensation for entry-level roles, but I have the impression that these figures might be somewhat low, especially for someone with a PhD. I may be mistaken, so I would really appreciate it if anyone could provide a clearer picture.
In particular, if I am asked about my salary expectations in the future, what range would be reasonable to quote given my background?
Thank you very much.