The proposal covers the planned actions of a consortium consisting of five members. These are all research organisations, three of which are EU -based with one other being based in Russia and the final organisation being based in Japan. The consortium intends to establish a research programme which is aimed at the production of advanced structures that include colloidal assemblies, nanoparticles, oxides and metals in order to gain a fundamental understanding of their properties with the aim of using them for manipulation of light on the nanoscale. The planned work is described in detail in the form of three work packages (WP). The first addresses key roadblocks in the exploitation of nanophotonic materials and is entitled 'From ‘imperfect’ colloidal crystals to functional engineered nanophotonic architectures'. The second is entitled 'Metallodielectric colloidal crystal platform for plasmonic circuits and optical transformations ' and addressing key issues associated with novel device operation. The third is devoted to the idea of organising two Summer Schools, one in Europe and one in Japan, thus disseminating the most up-to-date knowledge available. The School(s) intend to cover the area of the interaction between light and a range of optically-active materials under differing conditions, while they will also focus on possible applications of these materials.