CBEN:

The Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) was created in September 1996 by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF created the center to develop new areas of research and to help establish a nanotechnology workforce.

The Center aims to transform nanoscience into a field with the impact of a modern-day polymer science, CBEN focuses on research at the interface between "dry" nanomaterials and aqueous media such as biology and the environment, developing the nanoscience workforce of the future, and transferring discoveries to industry. They have established an integrated set of programs that aim to address the scientific, technological, environmental, human resource, commercialization, and societal barriers that hinder the transition from nanoscience to nanotechnology.

Vicki Colvin, an associate professor of chemistry, and Rick Smalley, a joint recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, direct the center’s long-range vision.

For more information about the initiatives in CBEN please visit their Web site at:

http://cben.rice.edu/