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Nanoscience & Materials Science

Nanoscience is the science of very small matter, typically of sizes of less than 100 nanometres (nm). It is a platform science that includes physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, medicine and pharmacology.

Material science is concerned with manipulating the properties of matter to create useful materials with novel functionalities that can be exploited for a range of applications. Nanoscience is the ultimate in material science, and involves the engineering of matter at the level of single atoms or molecules. Because of the importance of materials in all walks of life, nano and materials science strongly impacts the Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) sector as well as Medical Devices, Sensors, Biotechnology, including the development of new ranges of “smart” or “intelligent” materials.

CRANN’s scientific challenge is to develop new nanomaterials (e.g. Graphene) with improved mechanical, magnetic, optical or electrical properties and their subsequent application in electronic, medical devices, sensors or new drug delivery systems. CRANN specializes in novel materials, nanoelectronic devices, metrology & characterisation, nanobio and photonics.

Research Institutes / Centres

CRANN

CRANN, an SFI-sponsored research centre is Trinity’s flagship Nanoscience Research Institute, working at the frontiers of nanoscience, developing new knowledge of nanoscale materials, with a particular focus on new device and sensor technologies for the ICT, biotechnology and medical technology sectors, and with a growing interest in energy related research. CRANN brings together 37 Investigators based across multiple disciplines with a strong track record of successful collaboration with industry and of licensing intellectual property to companies for commercial application. The Advanced Microscopy Laboratory (AML) houses Ireland’s most advanced microscopy instrumentation.

AMBER

AMBER is an SFI-sponsored national center hosted at Trinity College and bringing together Ireland's leading material science researchers working across the disciplines of Physics, Chemistry, Bioengineering and Medicine with an international network of collaborators and companies. Through this collaboration AMBER will support advanced manufacturing in the ICT, medical device and industrial technology sectors.

Commercialisation

Adama Innvoations Ltd. was spun out from CRANN by Principal Investigator Professor Graham Cross in 2013. The company uses a simple and cost-efficient process for imprinting patterns at a scale invisible to the human eye on to materials and hard surfaces.