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Words from the editor
For the NCCR Nanoscale Science the holiday season has started with excellent news: we have just received the
information that the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) decided to continue its funding of our NCCR in
the second phase (2005-2008). This decision is based on the SNSF’s mid-term evaluation and the excellent
scientific assessment of the Review Panel. The Review Panel assessed our scientific work in May and was
impressed with the work done in the framework of the NCCR. The panel members appreciate the integration of
excellent groups from biology, physics and chemistry and our international competitiveness. We are now invited
to prepare the full proposal for our plans until 2008. For this second phase of our NCCR we will fully
implement the new project structure with five instead of ten projects.
Another highlight of the previous months was the first UniNacht in Basel. The department of Physics and
Astronomy participated in this premiere with talks, an exhibition at the Biocenter and the LABOrinth, an
interactive exhibition and quiz that took place in the whole Physics building. I should like to thank all
participants for their enormous effort in arranging the diverse and fascinating program and the enthusiasm
with which they presented our daily work to the public.
As we are active in a field that promises major advances in many areas of daily life like information and
technology and life sciences, those interactions with the public become more and more important for us. It
is our responsibility as scientists to share our results and goals and also to discuss the chances and
possible risks that are associated with our research. In this issue of nanonews you will find more examples
of our engagement in this respect. Additionally, we include for the first time a scientific cover story
describing the arthroscopic AFM developed within the NCCR project Nantechnology in Medicine, we welcome new
NCCR members, we continue the introduction of NCCR PhD students, we report about selected events of the
past months and we list references of recent publications.
I wish all of you enjoyable reading of these nanonews and should like to further encourage you to submit
topics and materials that should be published in future issues. I hope you all enjoy the last summer
weeks, and I am looking forward to a fresh start with the coming winter term.
Yours sincerely,
Hans-Joachim Güntherodt
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