The common theme of our research is the elucidation of the atomic level relationship between electronic structure and and chemical reactivity at solid surfaces or interfaces. This relationship holds the key to the understanding of phenomena that are affecting the work of many scientists and engineers, but usually are difficult to understand without the help of surface science. From a surface science perspective, seemingly disparate phenomena such as thin polyaniline films showing corrosion inhibition properties on steel and interfacial defects causing black spots in organic light-emitting diodes are closely related. As surface scientists, we tend to choose model systems of practical relevance to the research community which can be better understood by consequent application of surface analytical methods. Frequently, projects originate from conversations with colleagues and often start of as collaborations. However, successfully tackling these problems from a surface science perspective requires a unique analysis and independent scientific work.