The research interests of our group are focused on the thermal stability and microstructure evolution of thin metal films and metal nanoparticles, on the nanoscale mechanical properties of materials, on diffusion along the grain- and interphase boundaries, and on the hydrogen storage in nanostructured metal hydrides. Current goals are to apply the mature concepts of Physical Metallurgy to the thermo-mechanical processing of metal nanostructures. In our studies we combine the measurements of nano-mechanical properties with microstructure characterization, mesoscopic modeling, and atomistic computer simulations. Recent achievements include the discovery of the extraordinary high strength of metal nanoparticles (Au, Ni, Ag and Mo) and its dependence on particle size, the new synthesis method of thermodynamically stable core-shell metal nanoparticles, and the new methods of fabrication of hollow metal nanostructures based on short-circuit diffusion. In the field of hydrogen storage we uncovered, for the first time, that nanostructuring with the aid of severe plastic deformation considerably improves the kinetics of hydrogen desorption from Mg-based alloys.