The fabrication and use of various nano-patterned substrates as templates in physics (growth experiments) and biophysics (adhesion of living cells) will be presented. Vicinal silicon surfaces which transform under thermal treatment into an array of parallel steps are used to grow high density, metallic nanostructures subsequently employed as a chemically neutral template to grow magnetic nanodots. SiC substrates are used to develop out-off-plane nanopatterning. In a different set of experiments, Ag(1 1 0) substrates are first functionalized with silicon nanostripes and serve subsequently as templates for the growth of one-dimensional cobalt nano-lines. Finally, porous alumina membranes are used as moulds to fabricate an array of ordered nano-pillars from photopolymers which subsequently serve to study the adhesion of living cells on nano-patterned surfaces. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.