Modern polymeric materials and surfaces are a corner-stone of Europe’s economy and research activities. Materials with novel properties are therefore of great interest. Nature provides us with a rich pool of multifunctional materials that can act as concept generators for synthetic materials. The uppermost layer of plant leaves and flower petals, the cuticle, is a smart polymer composite which a variety of functions, ranging from controlled regulation of water permeability, to the formation of structural colour and sticky or non-friction surfaces. The overall aims of PlaMatSu are (1) to address the challenge of creating new functional polymeric materials and surfaces by studying structure formation and function-property relationships in cuticles and (2) to educate the next generation of scientists who have the necessary interdisciplinary knowledge for turning scientific results into innovation.