NSF Funds 6 Nanotech Research Centers

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 22 -- The National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced awards of $69 million over five years to fund centers in nanoscale science and engineering at University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley), Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.), the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio), the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and Northeastern University (NU), Boston.

These awards complement eight centers established by the NSF since 2001 and are part of a series of NSF grants, totaling $250 million, for nanoscale research in multiple disciplines in fiscal year 2004.

The new centers will address a variety of research topics, including nanomanufacturing, nanobiotechnology, electronics and medicine and will include programs focusing on work force development, training, societal implications of the research and advancing public understanding of science and engineering. Awards are as follows:

UC Berkeley's Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems (Alex Zettl, director), $11.9 million. The center is a collaboration among UC-Berkeley, Caltech, Stanford, UC-Merced, industry and the national laboratories. Research is focused on the science and engineering of nanomechanical systems that are likely to have applications in chemical and biological sensing and high-density, low-power, low-cost computation.

NU's Center for High Rate Nanomanufacturing (Ahmed Busnaina, director), $12.4 million. NU will partner with the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, the University of New Hampshire and Michigan State University to develop novel high-rate/high-volume, precise nanomanufacturing techniques that are expected to impact the electronic, medical and automotive industries.

Ohio State University's Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymer Biomedical Devices (L. James Lee, director), $12.9 million. The center seeks to develop polymer-based, low-cost nanoengineering technology that can be used to produce nanodevices and structures for next-generation medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

University of Pennsylvania's Center on Molecular Function at the Nano/Bio Interface (Dawn Bonnell, director), $11.4 million. Research is aimed at the interface of nanotechnology and biology at the molecular level with potential applications in nanoscale device manufacturing, drug delivery and integrated chemical sensors.

Stanford University Center for Probing the Nanoscale (Kathryn Moler, director), $7.5 million. This partnership among Stanford, IBM and other industry researchers addresses the development of novel nanoprobes and their application in answering fundamental questions in science and technology. The center expects to enhance the capabilities of the nanotechnology community to measure, image and control nanoscale phenomena.

University of Wisconsin at Madison Center for Templated Synthesis and Assembly at the Nanoscale (Paul Nealey, director), $13.4 million. The center addresses the self-assembly of complex materials and building blocks, including biological materials, at the nanoscale. Potential applications are in the areas of gene mapping, nanophotonics and nanosensors.

For more information, visit: www.nsf.gov