The agreement between the Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information (NSQI) at the University of Bristol, UK, and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA in the USA, forges a link between two of the world’s foremost centres in nanoscience research.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Professor Paul Weiss, Director of CNSI, and by Professor Daniel Robert, Director of NSQI, at a ceremony held on the UCLA campus in the United States.
“This is a landmark event for CNSI,” said Professor Weiss. “It is our first MOU with a European institution and will provide access to advanced instrumentation and new approaches to nanoscale research. The joint research endeavors of CNSI and NSQI members will provide benefits of worldwide importance.”
Professor Eric Thomas, Vice Chancellor at the University of Bristol, echoed these sentiments: “This collaboration is a milestone for the University of Bristol and for the advancement of nanoscience research. It will allow our combined resources to apply nanotechnology to problems of global concern in energy, health and the environment.”
The MOU is the culmination of a series of research interactions beginning with collaboration between Professor Jim Gimzewski of CNSI and Professor Mervyn Miles of NSQI. Currently three members of NSQI are spending a week in residence at CNSI as part of a program funded by the British Research Council to encourage academic exchanges between UK and US universities.
“Current collaborations between individual members of CNSI and NQSI will be strengthened by this agreement” noted Professor Robert, who signed the agreement on behalf of the University of Bristol.. “It raises these partnerships to an institutional level, giving the researchers involved access to the full resources of UCLA and the University of Bristol. The MOU will accelerate the flow of people and ideas between the US and the UK.”
The Bristol Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information provides state-of-the-art specialised laboratories in which vibration and acoustic noise levels are among the lowest ever achieved, making the Centre one of the finest nanoscience facilities in the world. It also houses a unique, purpose-built environment designed to foster multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary interactions within a research a community drawn from across science, engineering and medicine.
The University of Bristol has identified nanoscience as one of its key strategic priority areas, recognising it will be critical to future economic developments, both in the UK and on the global stage. Scientists and researchers from NSQI are already working with academic and industrial partners in order to reap the benefits resulting from a better understanding of this challenging new discipline.
The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA is an integrated research center devoted to nanoscience and nanotechnology, operating jointly at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. Its mission is to foster interdisciplinary collaborations for discoveries in nanosystems and nanotechnology; to train the next generation of leaders in science, education and technology; and to facilitate partnerships with industry, fueling economic development and the social well-being of California, the United States and the world.
Research at CNSI is based on the assumption that scientific inquiry is borderless, superseding political boundaries, and is advanced through international partnerships and collaborations. The agreement with NSQI continues the efforts of CNSI to play an active role in the globalization of science.