Recent topics include: Stellar variability and planet finding; 2-dimensional stellar evolution; the satelite galaxies of the local group; the evolution of the quasar population; 3-body interactions of supermassive black holes in merging galaxies; black holes in high-energy astrophysics: active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts; theoretical studies of galaxy and structure formation; near-field cosmology: resolved stellar kinematics of local group galaxies; active galactic nuclei; CaII quasar absorbers and their host galaxies; Lyman-alpha emission and the epoch of reionization; modelling origin of hot dust around sun-like stars; calibrating for the effects of charge transfer inefficiency in the focal plane assembly of ESA's GAIA mission; star formation thresholds in local face-on spiral galaxies and extra-galactic star formation; gravitational lensing; the search for occultations in the open cluster NGC 2362; preparation for the analysis of point sources with Planck.