Professor Richard Layfield CSci CChem FRSC

The late Professor Paul O'Brien CBE FRS FREng. Back in 2007, he appointed me to my first permanent academic position in Manchester. Like many others, I miss his insight, wisdom and wit.

Stay curious, and don't pay too much attention to what people say or think about you. Not having all the answers is OK.

The advances in diffraction technology never cease to amaze me. On the near horizon, and already in a commercial setting, electron diffraction for determining the structures of nanocrystals is awesome stuff.

Chemistry comes in handy for overcoming environmental challenges, driving innovation and economic prosperity, and improving quality of life. We'd be in even worse trouble without it.

Teaching students is a huge privilege, especially when we consider how much they pay to study at university in the UK. Delivery of teaching that draws positive feedback from the students is a big reward.

Ensuring a balanced 'workload' can be challenging. It's easy to become overstretched in certain areas at the expense of others, and at the expense of family life. I'm fortunate to have achieved a decent balance in Sussex, which is due to a combination of good people management by the university and access to flexible working. Being able to say 'yes' or 'no' at the right time also helps!

If recent world events have reminded us of anything, it's the need to be resilient. The chemical sciences will always be an indispensable part of a resilience strategy at national and global levels, hopefully making us more secure as a society in the process.

How often do we read single-author research articles? Individuals can't excel at everything, and we learn new stuff by collaborating with people from different backgrounds.

It's too obvious to say dysprosium or uranium, so I'll say that my favourite is carbon, mainly because of the weird and wonderful ways it responds to being bound to metals.