World-leading nanoscience institutes join forces

2 March 2010

Prof. Weiss and Prof. Robert signed the MOU on 2nd March 2010
Image by David Lundberg

On March 2nd the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA and the Centre for NanoScience and Quantum Information (NSQI) at the University of Bristol signed an agreement for research collaborations and educational exchanges in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Prof. Paul Weiss, Director of CNSI, and by Prof. Daniel Robert, Director of NSQI at the California NanoSystems Institute, Los Angeles, USA. The document forges a link between two of the world’s foremost centers of nanoscale research allowing their combined resources to apply nanotechnology to problems of global concern in energy, health, and the environment. 

The MOU is the culmination of a series of research interactions beginning with collaborations between Prof. Jim Gimzewski of CNSI and Prof. Mervyn Miles of NSQI.  The University of Bristol participated in a workshop on nanotechnology held at CNSI in 2009. Currently three members of NSQI are spending a week in residence at CNSI as part of a program funded by the British Research Council to encourage academic exchanges between UK and US universities.

This agreement continues efforts by CNSI to play a leading role in the globalization of science. These activities reflect an assumption that scientific inquiry is borderless, superseding political boundaries, and advances most rapidly when coupled with international partnerships and collaborations.  Since its founding in 2000, CNSI has formalized  links with a wide range of academic institutions and research facilities, including the University of Tokyo, University of Kyoto, Kyushu University, Yonsei University, Seoul National University, KAIST, National Institute of Materials Science and the Technical University of Munich.  In addition, CNSI has been the venue for international conferences, symposia, and workshops dealing with nanoscience and nanotechnology. In October it will be the co-sponsor of a symposium on nanobiotechnology held in Munich, Germany.

Prof. Paul Weiss, Director of CNSI and Prof. Daniel Robert, Director of NSQI
Image by David Lundberg

The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA

CNSI at UCLA is an integrated research center operating jointly at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara whose mission is to foster interdisciplinary collaborations for discoveries in nanosystems and nanotechnology; to train the next generation of scientists, educators and technology leaders; and to facilitate partnerships with industry, fueling economic development and the social well-being of California, the United States and the world. The CNSI was established in 2000 with $100 million from the state of California and an additional $250 million in federal research grants and industry funding. At the institute, scientists in the areas of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, mathematics, computational science and engineering are measuring, modifying and manipulating the building blocks of our world — atoms and molecules. These scientists benefit from an integrated laboratory culture enabling them to conduct dynamic research at the nanoscale, leading to significant breakthroughs in the areas of health, energy, the environment and information technology.

Susan Rubin, Managing Director of CNSI; Andre Nel, Chief Division of NanoMedicine, CNSI; Paul Weiss; Daniel Robert; Kacey Bonner, Science and Innovation Associate, British Consulate LA; Dame Barbara Hay, Consul-General LA; David Wild, Deputy Consul-General LA.
Image by David Lundberg