I was really happy because Rolex did something that was almost impossible: to organize it during a pandemic, to do it at such a high level, and to provide this financial aid to all these people… I was really proud.

Yes, it's one of the things that I'm most proud of is the Iberian lynx was extinct. It was declared under extinction and with a new project funded by the European Union, Portugal and Spain started the process of recovering the Iberian lynx. And it took maybe 15 years to recover with the lynx being incubated first in a facility. And then finally there was a day where we have to feel sufficiently comfortable to release the first lynx and then to have the normal reproductive path in the environment. And it worked. Can you imagine? Even a species can be recovered. So, if there is a will, there is the way.

One does have to point to the fact that we did achieve an agreement, that we had that agreement endorsed by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland; that despite very considerable political difficulties since then, we have actually managed to implement the greater part of the political agenda of that agreement, and we have restored local parliamentary institutions in Northern Ireland, that we have a local administration in place which is working, maybe not working ideally, but is still actually there. Those are the significant political developments that one’s had a hand in and obviously, one would point to that as being the things that one looks back at with most satisfaction, but I realize that it’s still work in progress.

I think becoming a manager in the first place because my journey was different - the path to becoming a manager. That is the biggest achievement for me.

The great singer Um Kulthum (actually named Kawkab Elsharq – a superstar of the East) had a major influence on my appreciation of music. On the first Thursday of each month we listened to Um Kulthum's concert – "waslats" (three songs) – for more than three hours. During all of my study years in Egypt, the music of this unique figure gave me a special happiness, and her voice was often in the background while I was studying mathematics, chemistry… etc. After three decades I still have the same feeling and passion for her music.

We still don’t understand the way a protein folds the way it does. I mean it’s an amazing thing.

He really was a major force in my life…So he was always supportive of my decisions vis-à-vis education. And very generous…He was in many ways.

I like simplicity. To me, this is very, very important, whether I am dealing with science or dealing with people.

I’m hungry for knowledge…Knowledge, knowledge and I loved it.

I hear repeatedly, particularly in developing countries: "Applied research is what we need."