"Small" Science is Big in Washington

Nanotechnology — the ability to work at the molecular level, atom by atom, to create structures with fundamentally new properties and functions — continues to enjoy strong support in the White House, and bipartisan support in Congress, where a number of champions have emerged.

Launched as an Executive Branch initiative in 2001, the National Nanotechnology Initiative was initially funded at $421 million, and has grown steadily. This year, President Bush proposed increasing the current record $774 million investment in nanotechnology research by 9.5 percent to $849 million in FY 2004 (see table below). Though the appropriations process is still underway, it is likely that Congress will match or exceed the President’s request.

•		A National Nanotechnology Coordination Office;
•		Establishment of interdisciplinary nanotechnology research centers;
•		Establishment of a Center for Societal, Ethical, Educational, Legal, and Workforce Issues Related to Nanotechnology;
•		Grants to encourage interagency partnerships and leverage the expertise of State-supported nanotechnology programs; and
•		Funds to support development of university-industry-laboratory and interagency/state-led partnerships.
Companion legislation (H.R. 766, the Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003), sponsored by Rep. Sherwood Boehlert and 26 co-sponsors, passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority.
NNI Centers and User Facilities A variety of nanotechnology-focused research centers have been established, or are being formed, by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. The National Science Foundation has awarded grants for the establishment of six university-based Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers focused on information, medical, manufacturing and environmental technologies. The centers—with industry and national laboratory partners — address challenges and opportunities too complex and multi-faceted for individual researchers or small teams to tackle in shorter periods of time.       • The Center for Electronic Transport in Molecular Nanostructures at Columbia University       •   The Center for Nanoscale Systems in Information Technologies at Cornell University       •   The Center for the Science of Nanoscale Systems and their Device Applications at Harvard University       •   The Center for Integrated Nanopatterning and Detection Technologies at Northwestern University       •   The Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute       •   The Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology at Rice University       In addition, NSF has established a Nanobiotechnology, Science and Technology Center at Cornell University, and two NNI R&D user facilities:       •   National Nanofabrication Users Network (NNUN), comprised of Cornell University, Howard University, Stanford University, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of California — Santa Barbara       •   Network for Computational Nanotechnology, comprised of Purdue University, University of Illinois, Stanford University, University of Florida, University of Texas — El Paso, Northwestern University, and Morgan State University.
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