The objective of NanoNed is to generate a strategic impulse for the Dutch scientific and industrial knowledge position in nanotechnology.

NanoNed will:

· Maintain and strengthen the strong nanotechnology position of the involved scientific/industrial groups in the Netherlands;

· Ensure the future availability of well trained workers for Dutch knowledge driven industry;

· Strengthen the Dutch knowledge infrastructure through a comprehensive knowledge distribution/transfer approach, leading to industrial nanotechnology applications.

To this end the consortium partners of NanoNed have formed 11 interdisciplinary Flagship programs. Each Flagship is a vehicle for national cooperation between different partners including industry, and is lead by an independent scientific leader. The Flagships and their captains are:

· Advanced Nanoprobing (Speller, Nijmegen)

· Bottum-up Nano Electronics (Hadley, Delft)

· Chemistry and Physics of Individual Molecules (Feringa, Groningen)

· BioNanoSystems (Meijberg, Groningen)

· NanoElectronic Materials (Blank, Twente)

· NanoFabrication (Huskens, Twente)

· NanoFluidics (van den Berg, Twente)

· NanoInstrumentation (Bastein, TNO)

· NanoPhotonics (Polman, Amsterdam)

· NanoSpintronics (Koopmans, Eindhoven)

· Quantum Computation (Mooij, Delft)

Alltogether ca. 200 research projects have been defined, which corresponds to more than 1200 man years of research.

As a part of this initiative, NanoNed initiated NanoLab NL, a national nanotechnology facility. NanoLab NL combines the existing facilities of Twente, Delft and Groningen, and carries out a targeted € 80 million re-investment program in the coming 5 years, as part of the above-mentioned NanoNed initiative. The first € 18 million phase of this program had begun under the NanoImpuls initiative. NanoLab NL coordinates the use of the facilities, tariffs, investments and the cooperation with industry, with a special emphasis on Small and Medium-sized high-tech Enterprises.

One of the aims of NanoNed is to strengthen Dutch knowledge infrastructure through a comprehensive knowledge transfer approach, leading to industrial nanotechnology applications (processes, products, services, general industrial activities). Besides, attention will be paid to societal output and the innovation proces. To this end, a Valorisation platform has been established that will play an important role in realising the valorisation targets by coaching and monitoring. Besides, users' committees are installed within each flagship.