Nanotech Research Center Expanded

The Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has received a $20 million, five-year NSF grant to expand its examination of the interaction between nanoparticles and the environment. The center, led by chemistry professor Robert Hamers, is teaming up with several other research sites to look at how nanoparticles and molecules interact in living systems. “The purpose of the center is to explore how we can make sure these nanotechnologies come to fruition with little or no environmental impact,” Hamers says. “We’re looking at nanoparticles in emerging technologies.” The collaborating research centers include smaller colleges such as the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; historically black universities such as Tuskegee University; research universities such as Johns Hopkins University; and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The University of Wisconsin award brings the number of NSF-funded Centers for Chemical Innovation to nine fully operating centers. The centers focus on core research challenges facing chemistry. Georgia Tech’s Center for Chemical Evolution was also renewed in the most recent round of funding.