Nanoscience and Nanoengineering are the study of the unimaginably small objects that are measured in nanometers, a billionth of a meter. Nanotechnology is the manufacture of just about anything using individual atoms and molecules as building blocks. Duke's nanoscience initiative involves faculty in Arts & Sciences and the Pratt School of Engineering working at one of the scientific and technological frontiers of 21st-century research, with implications for computers, biology, electronics, optics, and material design.
Nanoscience and Nanoengineering research are a very broad fields encompassing a diverse set of disciplines including chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, physics, computer and electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, energy research and environmental science to name a few. At Duke University, a considerable number of faculty from various backgrounds and interested in many aspects of nanoscience and nanoengineering collaborate to best utilize their diverse research expertise. Duke is bringing interested faculty members together into a loosely organized network; The Duke University Network for Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (Duke N3) - this academic platform encompasses faculty interested in Nanoscience and Nanoengineering and provides opportunity to work together in more interdisciplinary collaborations with very different research backgrounds.