A method for generating a structured surface on a substrate includes analyzing a substrate surface of the substrate and selecting, as a function of a condition of the substrate surface, method parameters including focus diameter, pulse peak power, pulse energy, point spacing, pulse length, pulse spacing and/or pulse sequence. The method further includes generating, by partial ablation and partial deposition via treatment with an intensive pulsed laser beam, surface structures having dimensions in the sub-micrometer range such that a multi-scale surface structure in the sub-micrometer and micrometer range adapted to intrinsically inhomogeneous properties of the substrate surface in the sub-micrometer range is generated. The substrate is an inhomogeneous substrate.