Events
From September 9 through 11, the first international Nano Conference and Nanofair took place in St. Gallen,
Switzerland. During the three days about 650 participants attended the conference, whereas 4,500 visitors
participated in the conference and enjoyed the close contact between science and business. The NCCR Nanoscale
Science successfully participated in the event with an own booth excellently planned by Peter Reimann. Topics
presented ranged from “Research and Industrial Applications” and “Education in Nanoscience” to “New Companies
and Spin-Offs”. Additionally, NCCR members gave several key note lectures during the conference.
Photo Gallery
Nanofair St. Gallen 2003
  
Comments:
Tibor Gyalog (responsible for the section "Education in Nanoscience"):
“The Nanofair was a perfect platform for science-to-market in nanotechnology.“
Peter Reimann (responsible for “Research and Industrial Applications”):
“I like the combination of congress and fair. Science and technology are combined. Overall it was a
really positive event for us."
On September 13 and 14, 2003, about 120 scientists from Switzerland and the US gathered for the third
Swiss/US-Nanoforum in Basel. More than 70 talks and poster presentations focused on this year’s topics
“Nanomechanics and its Applications” and “Single-molecule Research”. All participants appreciated the
lively and fruitful discussions during the intensive two-day meeting.
Photo
Gallery 3. Swiss / US - Nanoforum 2003
More about the
event (participants, abstracts and more)
On September 22nd, the Institute of Physics at the University of Basel hosted this year’s annual meeting of the
ErfindungsVerwertung AG (EVA) where representatives of companies co-founded by EVA, technology transfer offices,
universities, Wirtschaftsförderung, and financial institutions met. Prof. Güntherodt as the key note speaker
talked about “Nanotechnology as chance for new start-ups”. Nanosurf, Concentris, and SwissProbe, three
nanotechnology - startups with roots at the Institute of Physics, introduced themselves by presenting the
different stages within their founding process.
More about EVA
Towards the end of September, the participants of the “Studienwoche Informatik” organized by the foundation
“Jugend forscht” presented their results at the University of Basel. The young researchers selected among others
nanoscale science as their topic and modelled nanoscale objects three-dimensionally. Dr. Martin Guggisberg who
chaired the event was impressed by the enthusiasm of the participants and by what has been achieved: “The younger
generation of students has grown up with Information Technology. They use these technologies in a natural way to
explore phenomena in different areas. Elena and Olivia were so addicted to their nano visualization project that
they regularly missed dinner at their hostel.”
More ...
During the fourth Science Days at the Europa-Park Rust from 16 to 18 October 2003, the NCCR Nanoscale Science
presented the complex topic nanotechnology to a broad audience. The Science Days in Rust have become the largest
yearly science festival in Germany. Under the motto “Technik und Wissenschaft zum Anfassen” eight scientists from
the University of Basel gave more than 10’000 visitors an insight into the world of atoms and molecules.
Live-measurements with different scanning probe microscopes were carried out, information material was distributed
and animated movies were shown. The main interest lay on interactive models and demonstration experiments, which
fascinated numerous pupils.
On October 20 and 21, 2003, the members of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) visited Basel to review the
performance and achievements of the NCCR over the past twelve months, and to give some advice on how the NCCR
Nanoscale Science can further improve its scientific output. Dr. Don Eigler, chairman of the board, summarized
last year’s achievements by clapping his hands. Overall, the board was impressed with the progress that was made
and by the “much more adventurous atmosphere”. Concerning the organization, all SAB members welcomed the idea to
restructure the NCCR into four projects, as they expect increased communication between the different disciplines
and institutions. For the next SAB meeting in 2004 they would like to keep the informal discussion atmosphere of
this year but would appreciate a more structured poster session.
The Office for Technology and Know-how Transfer of the University of Basel organized a Transfer Day on 4th November
2003. Hundreds of students and researchers took the opportunity and informed themselves in workshops and
project-specific information booths. The goal of the meeting was to inform members of the University about all
aspects and possibilities of technology transfer and to motivate scientists to look at their research results also
from a commercial perspective.
More ...
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