Teixeira has been on the JPCM Liquids, soft matter and biological physics board since 2013 and studies the structure and phase behavior of liquids, liquid crystals at surfaces and interfaces and, the geometry and topology of liquid foams. The topical review he chose to highlight is “Hard-body models of bulk liquid crystals” by Luis Mederos et al 2014 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 26 463101 and is right at the heart of Teixeria’s research.