Nanotechnology in Australia: trends, applications and collaborative opportunities

Nanotechnology is already having a profound impact upon major industries worldwide, including electronics, computers, communications, defence, energy, biomedical, transport and manufacturing. It has emerged as a critical field with the potential to impact nationally significant issues as diverse as health, water and energy.

Nanoscale science and technology is multidisciplinary, involving physicists, chemists, biologists, materials scientists, chemical, mechanical and electronics engineers and medical scientists.

This report characterises Australia's nanotechnology capacity and capabilities and makes recommendations to support nanotechnology research, addressing barriers to industry partnerships and commercialisation, international collaboration, and infrastructure and operational costs.

Recommendations

1. Produce a National Strategic Plan for Nanotechnology Research in consultation with the research community.
2. Allocate long-term funding to an integrated nanotechnology network that simultaneously represents research and industry needs.
3. Develop a single, centralised, national support mechanism for international collaborations and linkages at all scales.
4. Allocate funding for existing nanotechnology infrastructure and equipment, and in the long-term incorporate operational costs, such as maintenance and the provision of technical staff, into infrastructure funding models.
5. Continue to support basic research in nanotechnology while also encouraging ‘market-driven, problems-based’ research.
6. Establish a nanotechnology entrepreneurial fellowship scheme.
7. Maintain support and funding mechanisms for Australian-based nanotechnology collaborations, with dedicated schemes for postgraduate students and early-career researchers.
8. Continue efforts to integrate with research, industry and business in the development of science-based regulation and direct community engagement on nanotechnology issues.