A grant from the Kavlie Foundation creates a campus think tank for nanoscale research.

A $7.5 million grant to Cornell from Fred Kavli and the Kavli Foundation of Oxnard, Calif., will endow the newly established Kavli Institute for Nanoscale Science, foundation and university officials announced March 10 in New York City.

The institute will be based on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, where there is a nationally recognized concentration of nanoscale-related research. The Kavli think tank will aim to address the major challenges and opportunities for science at the atomic and molecular scale; to bring together the world’s seminal thinkers in nanoscale science; to foster a collaborative, multidisciplinary research community at Cornell; and to define a path for progress in creating significant new science.

“When you’re working at the forefronts of science—as our faculty, researchers, and students are in the Cornell Center for Materials Research, the Nanobiotechnology Center, the Center for Nanoscale Systems, and the Cornell Nanoscale Facility—there’s not always time to step back and look to the future,” said Robert C. Richardson, Cornell vice provost for research, who will serve as founding director for the new Kavli Institute at Cornell. “This institute will give us the opportunity to engage multidisciplinary groups in exploration of emerging themes in nanoscale science and technology—at this institution as well as nationally and globally. It is a testament to the wisdom and foresight of Fred Kavli and the Kavli Foundation that they chose to focus significant resources in this important scientific field.”

Announcing several new institutes at a March 10 news conference in New York’s Carlyle Hotel, philanthropist Kavli said: “My goal in establishing these institutes is to support research at the frontiers of science. I feel that it is especially important to pursue the most far-reaching opportunities and challenges and to seek answers to the most fundamental questions.”

At Cornell, the new institute will work to define the directions and scope of the fields of nanoscale science by sponsoring seminars, symposia, and related activities, said Richardson. He noted: “We aim to provide leadership to the scientific community regarding current and future directions of research in nanoscience.” He said the institute will develop a flexible mix of programs, based on an annual research theme, to explore fertile research avenues in nanoscale science.

—Blaine P. Friedlander Jr., Cornell News Service