Nanotech network proposed

<FONT SIZE=2>&#009;The National Science Foundation has released a solicitation to establish and manage an integrated national network of nanotechnology laboratories. The competition, open to academic institutions, could be worth $70 million over five years, with an option for another five years. </FONT>

The National Science Foundation has released a solicitation to establish and manage an integrated national network of nanotechnology laboratories. The competition, open to academic institutions, could be worth $70 million over five years, with an option for another five years.

Established to support the President's National Nanotechnology Initiative investment strategy, the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network will provide researchers the means to tap into leading-edge nanotechnology fabrication and characterization tools and other instruments in remote facilities.

Nanotechnology, or the technique of building submicroscopic devices from individual atoms, has become a top federal priority in recent years. The administration's fiscal 2003 budget calls for $710 million of federal investment in nanoscale science, engineering and technology.

The fiscal 2002 budget had approximately $604 million, according to the National Nanotechnology Initiative

program office, online at http://

www.nano.gov.

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