Nanotechnology Research – Initiatives, Networks and Associations

Part of the EU 'New Emerging Science and Technology' Programme, SIBMAR aims at high resolution structural information of individual biological molecules by employing coherent low energy electron waves.

SustainComp is a large scale collaborative project financed by the European Commission. The project aims at developing new types of sustainable composite materials for a wide range of applications and has the ambition to integrate today's large enterprises on the raw material and end-use sides. (e.g. pulp mills and packaging manufacturers) and small and medium sized enterprises on the composite processing side (e.g. compounders and composite manufacturers).

SustainPack is the biggest and most important packaging research project ever undertaken. The purpose of SustainPack is to establish fibre-based packaging as the dominant player in the packaging area within a decade. It will achieve this by applying nanotechnology solutions to deliver lean and added value fibre-based packaging options for users and consumers.

The Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI) developed from the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Nanoscale Science and constitutes a priority program of the University of Basel.

The initiative is meant to encourage a dialogue with the Swiss nanotechnology community with a focus on commercialization.

The mission of the Tennessee Nanotech Alliance (TNA) is to create a collaborative effort across the State of Tennessee to identify the emerging opportunities and address the challenges of nanotechnology.

The National Program for Tera-level Nanodevices was launched as part of the 21st Century Frontier R&D Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2000, aiming to develop ultra fast, highly integrated, and ultra low-power nano devices to overcome the limits of current semiconductor technologies.

Terasem Movement is a not-for-profit charity endowed for the purpose of educating the public on the practicality and necessity of greatly extending human life, consistent with diversity and unity, via geoethical nanotechnology and personal cyberconsciousness.

The Texas Nanotechnology Initiative is dedicated to establishing Texas as a world leader in the discovery, development, and commercialization of nanotechnology. A consortium of Texas-based universities, industry leaders, investors, and government officials fosters communication, collaboration, and the sharing of resources.

The goal of the Texas Nanotechnology Workforce Development Initiative (NWDI) is to serve as a model for community colleges, universities, and anotechnology companies to develop partnerships to produce the nanotechnicians to supply the nanotechnology workforce necessary to create and deploy the new class of services and products being created by the nanotechnology industry.

(website in Thai only) www.thai-nano.com is a Thai website for students on all educational levels with information about nanotechnology.

The NanoTechnology Group Inc., a Texas non-profit corporation, operates as a Foundation to support the Global Consortium of members, which consistantly looks for solutions to facilitate and develop Global Nano Science Education as Virtual Classrooms online for student access as distance learning anywhere in the world.

NTI is a collaboration led by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Drexel University and The University of Pennsylvania. It is the first comprehensive model of its kind designed to facilitate the research, development and commercialization of nanotechnology's real world applications.

THREADMILL is a new Marie Curie Research Training Network (RTN) devoted to cross-disciplinary training and research at the interface between Supramolecular Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Nanoscience.

(in German only) TRACER - Toxicology and health Risk Assessment of Carbon nanomatERials - is a project to evaluate and assess the biocompatibility of carbon nanotubes along the value chain.

The UK MNT Network has been established by the DTI and the 12 Regional Development Agencies and Devolved Administrations working together, to provide a market-oriented focus for the facilities, people and organisations engaged in Micro and Nanotechnologies in the UK. As of April 2007 the MNT network has been rebranded the 'Nanotechnology KTN' network.

The Division of Microrobotics and Control Engineering (AMiR) has wide experience in joint research projects within international and German research programs related to versatile micro- and nanorobotics as well as to automated nanohandling and nanocharacterization. Most of the projects have been initiated and coordinated by AMiR, which clearly underlines the relevance of AMiR's contribution to the international research activities on these topics.

CAMCOR is a full-service, comprehensive materials characterization center available to research institutions and private industry. The CAMCOR facilities provide enabling infrastructure for research in chemistry, nanoscience, materials science, bioscience, and optics.

The Nanotechnology Taskforce has been convened by the University of Surrey to encourage open and well-informed public debate about the use and the potential of nanotechnology in the UK. The Task Force aims to promote the economic, social and environmental benefits of nanotechnology, while addressing concerns about safety and ethical issues.

The student-run Nanoclub aims to promote nanotechnology at the University of Toronto.

The IPSE program is at the cutting-edge of museum-university collaborations. The goals of the IPSE program are to: Educate the public and student populations about nanoscale technology through hands-on, interactive activities. IPSE offers a wide variety of nanotechnology education opportunities such as workshops to educators and often give demonstrations at museums and science fairs.

The Initiative on Nanotechnology and Society at the University of Wisconsin- Madison is an umbrella program, jointly sponsored by the nanoscience and engineering and social science faculties at UW-Madison, the initiative supports a range of programs and interdisciplinary research projects that explore societal, ethical, legal, policy, economic, and security issues surrounding nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology has both applications and implications for the environment. EPA is supporting research in this technology while evaluating its regulatory responsibility to protect the environment and human health. This site highlights EPA's research in nanotechnology and provides useful information on related research at EPA and in other organizations.

Veneto Nanotech was established with the objective to build international excellence in research, to foster the application of nanotechnology, and to support the development of start-ups in the focus sector.

The Virginia Nanotechnology Initiative (VNI) is a statewide consortium of Virginia's universities, federal labs, state agencies, and industrial partners, dedicated to promoting collaborative nanotechnology research, workforce development, technology transfer and commercialization.