National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network Information

The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) is a collective of university-based open facilities that support the pursuit of research and development in all areas that can benefit from the rapid developments of the science, engineering and technology of the nanoscale. The facilities train and support nearly 4,700 users from academia, industry and federal laboratories. As such, NNIN offers unique strengths and opportunities for research in social and ethical issues (SEI) through the presence of its large academic and industrial community, the breadth of scientific directions being pursued, and the connections of the research and development being undertaken to issues of societal impact of technology and of human resources. With a goal of becoming the nation's first open-access research facility for the social scientific study of science, the NNIN maintains a commitment to facilitating SEI research on NNIN users and technologies. The network will open itself to outside SEI researchers for data collection, ethnographic study, experimentation, and other research. A fundamental objective of the federal SEI initiative is to develop national self-awareness and self-reflection regarding the impact of nanotechnology research.