A highly significant impact of the NNI has been the focused investment by the NNI-participating agencies in the establishment and development of multidisciplinary research and education centers devoted to nanoscience and nanotechnology. NNI agencies have developed an extensive infrastructure of over 60 major interdisciplinary research and education centers and user facilities across the country. Many such centers, with state of the art equipment for nanoscale S&T research, are designated as user facilities and are available to researchers from academia and the private sector, and to scientists at the national laboratories.

NNI Centers and Networks of Excellence

Government funds for nanotechnology research have created some of the most sophisticated nanoscience laboratories in the world. In addition to providing the facilities, the National Nanotechnology Initiative also has created programs to attract researchers across an array of disciplines and to facilitate discoveries.

Research at Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)





Centers and networks provide opportunities and support for multidisciplinary research among investigators from a variety of disciplines and from different research sectors, including academia, industry and government laboratories. Such multidisciplinary research not only leads to advances in knowledge, but also fosters relationships that enhance the transition of basic research results to devices and other applications. All agency centers and networks created under NNI auspices over the last seven years are