Stefan Maier was born Germany in 1975. After studying physics at Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TU Munich), he received a Master of Science in Applied Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. In 2003, he obtained a PhD in Applied Physics at the same institute for work on metal nanoparticle plasmon waveguides. After a short postdoctoral period, he joined the University of Bath in 2004 as a lecturer. He is currently a Reader in the Department of Physics at Bath, and a member of the University's Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials CPPM.