From his discovery of the most distant object in the universe and his proposal for the new radio telescope, LOFAR, to his fight against the budget cuts as Director of Leiden Observatory (1995 to 2003) and his newest educational programme, Universe Awareness, Miley has always pioneered groundbreaking projects, but not because he wanted to make a career, he says: 'I was just working on fun, exciting things. For me, that’s the most important part.'