Tools for splitting, applying and combining data (plyr)
plyr is a set of tools that solves a common set of problems: you need to break a big problem down into manageable pieces, operate on each pieces and then put all the pieces back together. For example, you might want to fit a model to each spatial location or time point in your study, summarise data by panels or collapse high-dimensional arrays to simpler summary statistics. The development of plyr has been generously supported by BD (Becton Dickinson).

An Implementation of the Grammar of Graphics (ggplot2)
An implementation of the grammar of graphics in R. It combines the advantages of both base and lattice graphics: conditioning and shared axes are handled automatically, and you can still build up a plot step by step from multiple data sources. It also implements a sophisticated multidimensional conditioning system and a consistent interface to map data to aesthetic attributes. See http://ggplot2.org for more information, documentation and examples.

Make it easier to work with strings (stringr)
stringr is a set of simple wrappers that make R’s string functions more consistent, simpler and easier to use. It does this by ensuring that: function and argument names (and positions) are consistent, all functions deal with NA’s and zero length character appropriately, and the output data structures from each function matches the input data structures of other functions.