I3N, the Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication received the status of Associated Laboratory

On November 16, 2006, the Portuguese minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Mariano Gago, has officially approved two new Associated Laboratories in the area of nanotechnology, I3N (Institute of Nanostructures, Nanomodelling and Nanofabrication), and INN (Institute of Nanotechnologies).

 Among other benefits, the status of Associated Laboratory provides these institutes, and their respective universities, with specific funding and special regulations to hire researchers, namely at PhD  level, as well as advantages in acquiring equipments and services. Concomitantly, this status requires their cooperation with the Portuguese Government in the implementation of specific objectives of the national science and technology policy. In the beginning of 2005 there were 21 Associated Laboratories, involving 38 research institutions and 1,452 PhD holders.

I3N results from a partnership between IPC, the Institute for Polymers and Composites of Minho University, CENIMAT, the Centre for Materials Research of the New Lisbon University, and FSCOSD, the Semiconductor Physics, Optoelectronics and Disordered Systems Unit of Aveiro University.

I3N, currently under IPC’s coordination, has as its founding purposes the study of polymeric systems with controlled micro- and nano-structure, the physical characterization of nanostructures, the multi-scale modelling of the behaviour of these materials, and micro- and nano-fabrication. At present it includes 181 researchers, 100 of which holding a PhD, that in 2006 alone (up to October) were responsible for 197 publications in refereed international journals, 2 of which in the prestigious journal Nature. Aside from this activity, the Research Units that comprise I3N are highly involved in initiatives to raise societal awareness of the importance of science, namely within the framework of the Ciência Viva program. They are also heavily engaged in R&D&I work with several national and international leading industries. The list of industry clients and partners includes Thales, Samsung, Lockheed Martin Aerospace, Ford Research and Innovation Center, Hewlett-Packard, MIT, Kemet, Essilor, Tyndall, Fiat, DSM Research, Shell Global Solutions, Yoplait, Repsol and Nestlé.

Although geographically distributed in 3 locations, in 3 university campi (Azurém, in Guimarães, Monte da Caparica, in Lisbon, and Santiago, in Aveiro), with a coordination that will rotate among IPC, CENIMAT and FSCOSD, and operating as a network, I3N will have a single and permanent headquarters at the Minho University building located at AvePark, the science and Technology park near Guimarães. There, along with administrative and basic infrastructures facilities, I3N will have a number of laboratories for joint collaborative projects between the 3 partner institutions.

Both I3N and INN, the other Associated Laboratory in this area, will be the pillars of the future Portuguese nanotechnology network, involving all the relevant national groups and researchers in the field, which will articulate and cooperate intensively with the new International Nanotechonology Laboratory to be located in Braga.