Advances in nanofabrication techniques have made it possible to make devices in which superconducting electrodes are connected to non-superconducting nanostructures such as quantum dots. The properties of these hybrid devices result from a combination of a macroscopic quantum phenomenon involving large numbers of electrons ( superconductivity) and the ability to control single electrons, offered by quantum dots. Here we review research into electron transport and other fundamental processes that have been studied in these devices. We also describe potential applications, such as a transistor in which the direction of a supercurrent can be reversed by adding just one electron to a quantum dot.