As part of a $250 million series of grants for nano research in 2004, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $69 million in five-year grants to create six new Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers (NSECs). The new NSECs, which complement the eight established since 2001, aim to bring together researchers with diverse expertise in partnership with industry and government labs. They comprise: โข Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems at the University of California-Berkeley ($11.9 million) for chemical and biological sensing, as well as high-density, low-power, low-cost computation; โข Center for High Rate Nanomanufacturing at Northeastern University ($12.4 million) to develop techniques for the electronic, medical, and automotive industries; โข Center for Affordable Nanoengineering of Polymer Biomedical Devices at Ohio State University ($12.9 million) to develop mass production methods for diagnostic and therapeutic nanodevices and structures; โข Center for Probing the Nanoscale at Stanford University ($7.5 million) to enhance measurement, imaging, and control of nanoscale phenomena; โข Center for Templated Synthesis and Assembly at the Nanoscale ($13.4 million) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to look at complex materials and building blocks for applications in gene mapping, nanophotonics, and nanosensors; โข Center on Molecular Function at the Nano/Bio Interface at the University of Pennsylvania ($11.4 million) for potential applications in nanoscale device manufacturing, drug delivery, and integrated chemical sensors. Collaborators include Germany's Technical University of Dresden, and the UK's Cambridge and Birmingham Universities. "The NSF's nanoscale science and engineering initiative supports high-risk/high-reward priority research themes aligned with societal needs," says Mihail Roco, head of the National Nanotechnology Initiative and chair of the National Science and Technology Council's Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology subcommittee. "Breakthroughs supported by the NSF are now moving to the next level." Each new NSEC includes programs to examine the societal, ethical, legal, and policy implications of nanotechnology. They will aim to develop public understanding of nanotechnology as it moves from the lab into society, to educate college and K-12 high school students, and to develop the workforce of the future.