Nanoscience and Nanotechnology: National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategic Plan 2011, Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)

Nanotechnology is generating remarkable scientific and technological advances from the evolutionary to the extraordinary. These advances are enabling a broad spectrum of applications in electronics, medicine, energy, manufacturing, advanced materials, and other fields. Much of this advancement has been facilitated by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which since 2001 has coordinated goals, priorities, and strategies among Federal agencies and promoted groundbreaking interdisciplinary research and infrastructure development critical to nanotechnology innovation. Consistent with the NNI's vision of a future in which nanotechnology benefits society through a revolution in technology and industry, NNI member agencies have plotted a path forward in the 2011 National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategic Plan. Under the auspices of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET), NNI member agencies will use the plan to guide the coordination of their research, training programs, and resources. The 2011 NNI strategic plan embodies ten years of U.S. leadership in nanotechnology research and development and illuminates pathways for future breakthroughs. It also benefits from and builds upon recommendations from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and the National Academies, and incorporates a broad range of stakeholder input obtained through an unprecedentedly open and engaging process. The collective goals and specific objectives articulated in the Strategic Plan will support world-class interdisciplinary nanotechnology research, sustain and expand critical infrastructure, train and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, and support responsible development and transfer of nanotechnology into commercial applications to benefit the Nation's economy and the American people. As the PCAST noted in its 2010 review, the NNI has had a "catalytic and substantial impact" on the growth of nanotechnology innovation in the United States. This plan will help ensure that American leadership in nanotechnology innovation continues into the next decade and beyond.