Synthetic polymer hydrogels are valuable matrices for biotransformations, drug delivery, and soft implants. While the bulk properties of hydrogels depend on chemical composition and network structure, the critical role of interfacial features is often underestimated. This work presents a nanoscale modification of the gel-water interface using polymer brushes via a straightforward "grafting-to" strategy, offering an alternative to more cumbersome "grafting-from" approaches. Functional block copolymers with photoreactive anchor blocks are successfully self-assembled and UV-immobilized on hydrogel substrates despite their low solid content (<
30 wt %). This versatile technique works on both bulk- and surface-immobilized hydrogels, demonstrated on poly(hydroxypropyl acrylate), poly(