Valentin R. Troll graduated from St Andrews University, Scotland in 1998 and received his PhD from the IFM-GEOMAR Research Centre at the University of Kiel, Germany, in 2001. Troll then lectured in volcanology and petrology at Trinity College Dublin (2001-2008), during which time he also habilitated at the Université Blaise Pascal Clermont-Ferrand, France in 2006. In early 2008, he took up the Chair in Petrology and Geochemistry at Uppsala University, Sweden, which he currently holds. Prof. Troll has worked on the volcanic phenomena of the Canary Islands since the late 1990s and has co-authored some 50 scientific articles on the geology, petrology, and geochemistry of the archipelago. Since 2008, he is an honorary research associate at the Intituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia in Rome, Italy, and since 2012 also at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.Troll is mainly active as a research professor at Uppsala University, but strongly believes that training young scientists, watching them grow and helping them to capitalise from experienced researchers is vital for securing the future of volcanology and petrology, as well as the future of our society as a whole.Troll was recognized with the “VMSG Award 2011? by the Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group, United Kingdom, the volcano section of the Geological Society of London) for “significant contributions to our understanding of magmatic processes over the last few years?. He also received a “Most Cited Paper Award? from the ?Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research? (Elsevier) for the period 2003-2007 and is an elected Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland and of Trinity College Dublin. From the latter institution he also holds an honorary M.A. degree for “outstanding service."