in response to environmental triggers can be fabricated by functionalization of a surface with stimuli-responsive polymers (SRPs). This article summarizes different approaches to the fabrication of “smart” surfaces and their applications. Recent results that demonstrate reversible micropatterning of proteins using a smart biopolymer as well as a simple, colorimetric assay to characterize the phase transition behavior of SRPs at the solid-water interface are highlighted. (A. Chilkoti et al., September 3, Adv. Mater. 2002, 14, 1243-1247)