The vast majority of microorganisms have not been cultured due to difficulties in identifying the right growth conditions for each species by employing bulk approaches. The aim of Stefano Pagliara research is to device approaches for microbe isolation, growth and characterisation, this allowing to understand how microbial cells interact with their natural environment both as a community and as individual cells. Stefano Pagliara obtained his PhD in Nanoscience from the University of Salento, Italy, in 2010 focusing on optical techniques for bio-sensing in microfluidic network. Afterwards, he joined the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge where he worked on molecular transport across biological membranes by developing a synthetic model system based on microfluidics and optical tweezers. Since 2014 he is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Biosciences, University of Exeter.