About NUSNNI Nanoscience and nanotechnology have been identified worldwide as the key to unlocking a new generation of materials and devices with revolutionary properties and functionalities. The technology has already seen commercial success in multi-billion dollar industries such as the electronics and information storage industry, petroleum and chemical industry and healthcare industry amongst others. The excitement over nanotechnology derives from the potentials associated with designing structures with dimensions right down to the fundamental building blocks of all materials - atoms and molecules. The state of nanotechnology now is comparable to the state of computer technology 40 years ago; this itself is strong motivation for many institutes and organisations to embark on nanotechnology research. The National University of Singapore(NUS) acknowledges the global trend that nanotechnology is expected to be a key technology. NUS, in tradition of spearheading cutting-edge research programs, has launched the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI) to promote this area of research. The objective of NUSNNI is: • To develop research human capital and long-term research capabilities in the strategic field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. • To galvanize and coordinate multidisciplinary research effort (across departments, faculties and with the RIs) in nanoscience and nanotechnology. • To help set research priorities and directions for high impact nanoscience and nanotechnology research. To do this, NUSNNI ties-up collaborative efforts between various disciplines within the university faculties and interested research partners. NUSNNI was established in January 2002 to provide the necessary support to facilitate efforts by faculties, researchers and students interested in pursuing this area of research. NUSNNI now involves more than 70 faculty and research staff from 20 research laboratories from different faculties of NUS. NUSNNI has defined strategic research focuses in nanoscience and technology, and helped its members secure internal and external research grants totally amounting to S$14 million. In addition to promoting research collaborations, NUSNNI has also launched various degree (PhD, MEng, BEng) programs for nanoscience and nanoengineering education with support from the Economic Development Board of Singapore.