Professor Maier's research interests are in plasmonics and nanophotonics – finding ways to confine and guide light in a controlled manner on the nanoscale, below the optical diffraction limit. The main means to achieve this lies in the exploitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), electromagnetic surface waves supported at the interface between an electric conductor and a dielectric. Advances in electromagnetic computation tools, nanofabrication and optical nanoprobing facilities have given rise to a new research field called plasmonics, aimed at achieving control over SPPs using nanostructured metals. Prominent applications lie in waveguiding, where plasmonics could close the size gap between electrical and optical integrated networks, and particularly in optical biosensing, exploiting vastly increased light/matter interactions in plasmonic field hot spots.