Contributions to the theory of collision processes, the role of molecules in astrophysical environments and experiments involving high power lasers and synchrotron radiation were some of the topics discussed in the invited papers at the eighth national atomic and molecular physics conference held at Queen's University, Belfast, at the beginning of April. Professor D R Bates discussed a personal selection of outstanding papers on the theory of collision processes beginning with two papers published in 1927 by Thomas and Williams.