About us

The Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI) developed from the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) “Nanoscale Science” and constitutes a priority program of the University of Basel. It combines basic science with application-orientated research. In various projects researchers focus on nanoscale structures and aim at providing new impact and ideas to the life sciences, to the sustainable use of resources, and to information and communication technologies. The University of Basel as the leading house coordinates the NCCR network of the involved universities, federal research institutes, industrial partners and the Argovia-network, which is financed by the Swiss Canton of Aargau.

The various research groups focus on the following seven subject areas:

• Nanobiology
• Quantum Computing and Quantum Coherence
• Atomic and Molecular Nanosystems
• Molecular Electronics
• Functional Materials by Hierarchical Self-Assembly
• Applied Projects in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
• Nanoethics

The various project teams are interdisciplinary groups made up of physicists, pharmacologists, biologists, chemists, physicians, computer scientists and engineers. Many of them work at the University of Basel, but some also work at partner institutions within the network.