In this paper, three main activities of our research group in the past decade will be introduced (1) non-linear processes on surfaces, such as chaotic and oscillatory behaviour; (2) the N-chemistry on noble metal surfaces; (3) multi-component catalysts consisting of noble metals and metal oxides (MO). Catalysis by gold will be discussed in some detail. Gold was formerly considered to be an uninteresting metal for catalysis. However recent results suggest that there may be "a golden future" for gold-based catalysts. Progress in each of these fields will be discussed. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.