Research Resources
Research Resources for Nanoscale Science and Technology
At Penn State, research resources come in the form of funding, infrastructure, and the opportunity to collaborate in interdisciplinary teams.
In the decade from 1995 to 2005, the University's total research spending increased by 85 percent, to $638 million annually. Some 65 percent of research expenditures were in five interdisciplinary research fields with important connections to nanotechnology. These fields are materials, life sciences, the environment, social science, and defense. Four interdisciplinary research units support nanotechnology research; these are: the Applied Research Laboratory, The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Materials Research Institute, and the Penn State Institutes of the Environment.
The University has invested more than $75 million in nano-related facilities, equipment, and infrastructure. The flagship of this effort is the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility, which has operated since 1993 as part of the National Science Foundation's National Nanofabrication Infrastructure Network (NNIN).
Penn State NNIN infrastructure provides:
- $75M in capital equipment
- 10,000 square feet of clean room space
- 25,000 square feet of lab space
- 40+ professional staff, including 10+ PhDs
This facility is complemented by other nano and MEMS facilities, part of Penn State's distributed network for research across campus in nano and molecular level science and technology.
New Materials Research Building Underway
A new Materials Research building, scheduled to break ground in Spring 2007, will be a major addition to research at the nanoscale at Penn State. Designed for cutting-edge instrumentation in a variety of environments, this facility, in conjunction with a new Life Sciences building, will open up collaborative possibilities in the new and exciting field of nanobiomaterials. This joint $120 million project, co-funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is the largest in Penn State history.
To learn more about research resouces for nanotechnology at Penn State, please click on the tabs for Facilities, Centers, Map, and Funded Research on the left side navigation bar.