Stefan Maier

Professor Stefan Maier holds the position of Head of School in Physics and Astronomy at Monash University. Previously, he served as the Lee Lucas Chair in Experimental Physics at Imperial College London (2007–2018) and built a new chair at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (2019–2022). His research focuses on nanophotonics, plasmonics, and metasurface engineering, with emphasis on optical trapping, nonlinear optics, and novel photonic devices.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Technical University of Munich
• M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Research Interests:

• Development of metamaterials and metasurfaces for light manipulation
• Applications of nanophotonics in sensing, imaging, and quantum technologies
• Optical trapping and plasmonic catalysis
• Nonlinear optical phenomena in nanostructured materials

Articles Trends: Recent work emphasizes bound states in the continuum (BICs), 3D nanoprinted optical platforms, and active metasurfaces with tunable properties. Key themes include hybrid nanophotonics, ultra-high-Q resonators, and plasmonic nanomaterials for energy applications.

Awards:

• ISI Highly Cited Researcher (2017–present)

Grants/Projects:

• Chief Investigator in the All-on-chip twisted light modulator project (2022–2025)
• Leadership in Monash’s nanophotonics research team

Labs/Teams: Directs a multidisciplinary lab at Monash focused on integrating 3D nanofabrication with optical physics, including collaborations in metafiber development and plasmonic biosensing.