California NanoSystems Institute

California NanoSystems Institute
Name	California NanoSystems Institute
Formation	2000
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Leader title	Founding directors
Leader name	Mildred Dresselhaus; Paul Alivisatos

California NanoSystems Institute

The California NanoSystems Institute is a research cooperative and organized research unit headquartered in Los Angeles, with nodes at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Santa Barbara, that focuses on nanoscale science, nanotechnology, and molecular engineering. It collaborates with universities, hospitals, federal laboratories, and private firms to translate discoveries in materials science, optics, electronics, and biomedicine into applications impacting public health and information technologies. The institute engages in interdisciplinary work spanning condensed matter physics, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, and computational science.

Overview

The institute fosters partnerships among academic units such as University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Santa Barbara, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Science, UCSB College of Engineering, Caltech, Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Princeton University, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, San Diego, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, University of Texas at Austin, Northwestern University, Cornell University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, University of Cambridge, National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Science Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and European Research Council to advance nanoscience and promote technology transfer. It supports shared infrastructure including cleanrooms, cryogenic facilities, electron microscopy suites, and optical laboratories used by investigators from departments of Physics Department, UCLA, Chemistry Department, UCSB, Materials Science and Engineering, UC Santa Barbara, Bioengineering, UCLA, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCLA, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Biochemistry, UC Santa Barbara, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UCLA, and affiliated medical centers such as Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

History

Founded in 2000 under competitive selection by the University of California system and partners, the institute emerged during a national expansion of nanoscale research stimulated by policy initiatives such as the National Nanotechnology Initiative. Early leadership included scientists associated with institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley, and drew on infrastructure models from facilities such as Stanford Nanocharacterization Laboratory and Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility. The institute expanded through grant awards from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Energy, and through philanthropic gifts linked to foundations like the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, W. M. Keck Foundation, Simons Foundation, and donors including prominent entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara tech clusters.

Research and Facilities

Research themes include nanoscale electronics, two-dimensional materials, quantum devices, plasmonics, photonics, nanofabrication, biosensors, drug delivery, and soft matter. Laboratories host instrumentation comparable to facilities at Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and international centers like CERN and Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research. Core facilities include electron microscopes such as transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopes referenced by users from Materials Research Laboratory (UCSB), focused ion beam systems, and molecular beam epitaxy chambers used by investigators with ties to Bell Labs traditions and researchers affiliated with IBM Research. Projects have involved collaborations with industry labs including Intel Corporation, Qualcomm, Applied Materials, Tesla, Inc., Apple Inc., Google (company), Amazon (company), Microsoft, NVIDIA, Samsung Electronics, TSMC, LG Electronics, Sony Corporation, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman.

Education and Outreach

Educational programs connect undergraduate and graduate students from institutes such as UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, UCSB Materials Department, UCLA Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCSB Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology summer programs, MIT Summer Research Program, and national training efforts like National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program participants. Outreach initiatives engage schools in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, community colleges like Los Angeles Pierce College and Santa Barbara City College, professional societies such as American Physical Society, Materials Research Society, Optical Society of America, IEEE, American Chemical Society, Biomedical Engineering Society, and public venues including science museums like California Science Center and Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

Industry Partnerships and Commercialization

Technology transfer activities have spun out startups and licensing agreements with companies born from work analogous to ventures formed at Stanford University and UC Berkeley technology transfer offices. The institute works with incubators and accelerators including Y Combinator alumni, Plug and Play Tech Center, Techstars, university-affiliated accelerators, venture capital firms in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, and corporate partners in Biotechnology and Semiconductor supply chains. Commercialization pathways have linked to regulatory bodies and clinical partners such as U.S. Food and Drug Administration-interacting teams and hospital partners like Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for translational medicine projects.

Governance and Funding

Governance structures involve steering committees with faculty directors drawn from UCLA, UCSB, and advisory boards including leaders from National Research Council (United States), corporate representatives from Intel Corporation and Qualcomm, and philanthropists associated with Moore Foundation and Keck Foundation. Funding streams combine state allocations to the University of California, federal grants from National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, private philanthropy, industry-sponsored research agreements, and revenue from user fees for shared facilities. Administrative relationships involve university offices such as Office of the President of the University of California and campus research foundations.

Notable Achievements and Awards

Researchers affiliated with the institute have contributed to advances recognized by awards and honors including Nobel Prize in Physics-adjacent research groups, National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipients, MacArthur Fellows Program awardees, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, RCA Medal-level recognitions, Materials Research Society awards, IEEE Medals, Optica (formerly OSA) Awards, ACS National Awards, Breakthrough Prize-adjacent laureates, and election to academies such as the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Notable technology impacts include platforms for single-molecule sequencing, nanoscale imaging modalities, quantum dot and 2D material devices, and biosensor systems translated into startups and licensed products deployed in clinical and industrial settings.

Category:University of California research institutes