It has been a pleasure and an honour for me to be part of the assessment panel of the Science Foundation Ireland, an agency that promotes large-scale, well-funded projects. Its organization is incredibly good and its projects skilfully directed.

It was a gratifying experience to be part of this expert panel and I have learned a lot from all the members; Xiao-li Meng (Hardvard University), Derryck T. Reid (Heriot Watt University), Sophia Ananiadou (Manchester University), Tom Rodden (Notthingham University), Fiona M. Doyle (Berkeley University), Peter Ross (Napier Edinburgh University), Kay Römer (Graz University of Technology) and the rest of the SFI team.