Nanonews November 2008
WORDS FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dear colleagues,
Innovation starts with new insights in basic science that is transferred to new, better or cheaper products through new technologies. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology have already started the transition to industry and the first products based on nanotechnology are on the market. This fact asks for a stronger collaboration between the SNI and industrial partners in North-western Switzerland. The Board therefore focussed on the Nano-Argovia R&D funding program and on the i-net Basel Nano initative. Both are valuable and important networks to foster the fruits of our research and to increase the sustainability of our research. The public interest in industrial products based upon the research of nanoscientists gives rise to more need for information and the programs mentioned above will help to satisfy these needs. The upcoming events, especially the industry day held on the 20th May 2009 in Aarau will focus on these facts and I'm looking forward to an interesting dialogue with industry and with the public.
Best regards
Christian Schönenberger
EVENTS
Nano-Medicine Expo travels around
For the Science Days 2008, the biggest Science fair in Germany, we developed a special exposition on Nanomedicine, designed for pupils between 8 and 15.
Parts of the exhibition were used for a pupil study week we organised for "Schweizer Jugend forscht" and shown at the November "Café Scientifique". Especially the clever Nano Robot model that is able to detect and destroy dangerous viruses found the kids' undivided attention.
Picture: Tibor Gyalog and ex-Miss Schweiz Bianca Sissing at the Science Days
Uninacht 2008
From late afternoon of 19 September until midnight, the entire University of Basel was accessible to the public. The event was a tremendous success.
Together with the other departments of the Faculty of Science, we put together the “Campus Science” and presented our work as one single institute, offering a broad variety of presentations, games, lectures and exhibitions.
The Physics Department's Laborinth was designed as a kind of a treasure hunt for kids and parents. They had to find and collect letters in the labs of the institute in order to find the keyword. During the treasure hunt, the visitors learned a lot about the research that is done in Basel. The main topics were nanoscience and astrophysics, complemented by an interactive exhibition on the physics of light.
In the evening there were additional public lectures on carbon and its role as the chameleon of the nanoworld and on star development and star explosions. The lectures covered the whole scale of physics from the submolecular to the galactic. We counted more than 1'000 visitors to our Department.
Nano Science in the Snow 2009
The traditional workshop "Nano Science in the Snow" will be held in the Guesthouse Eigergletscher above "Kleine Scheidegg" from 14 to 16 January 2009.
Detailed information about the event as well as the registration form will be available from 15th November on the NIS Website:
www.nanoscience.ch/nis2009
NEW IN THE SNI
We are happy to welcome our new SNI members:
Since 01.08.2008:
Sandra Hüni, maintenance of our website
Since 01.10.2008:
MSc Brunner Jan Gerhard
NOMINATIONS
First Argovia Professors appointed
Martino Poggio from Stanford and Roderick Lim of the Biozentrum have been appointed the first Argovia Tenure Track Assistant Professors at the University of Basel.
The Nano Argovia initiative was launched by the authorities of the Canton of Aargau in 2006. It is strongly linked with the other research institutions in North-Western Switzerland and collaborates with industrial partners in that region.
Rod Lim will stay at the Biozentrum, where he has been working for a number of years.
Martino Poggio will join the Physics Department. He currently works as a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Probing the Nanoscale, a joint center of Stanford University and IBM Corporation, developing high sensitivity nuclear magnetic resonance force microscopy.
Both will take up their new responsibilities on 1 January 2009. Please join us in welcoming them and giving them all the assistance they might need.
Picture: Martino Poggio
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