Cluster Hiring Initiative

Integrative NanoScience Institute (INSI)

Nanoscale molecular patterns on a metal surface: patterns of 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid molecules written on a Au film using an atomic force microscope (dip-pen nanolithography).

Nanotechnology is defined by the American Heritage Science Dictionary as "the science and technology of devices and materials…constructed on extremely small scales, as small as individual atoms and molecules."

FSU's Center for Materials Research and Technology (Martech) has played a critical role in establishing nanotechnology at the University. Martech faculty and associates in biology, chemistry, engineering, and physics have, over the last several years, collaborated to develop a recognized program in a rapidly growing area of nanotechnology that blends "hard" (metals and semiconductors) and "soft" (organic and biological) materials. The solid foundation in "bio-nanoscience" these researchers have laid has allowed Florida State University to compete strongly for the more than one billion dollars in research monies the federal government now commits annually to this field.

The Integrative NanoScience Institute (INSI) expands on this foundation and endeavors to make FSU a world-class leader in bio-nanoscience. By encompassing materials science, device engineering, synthetic chemistry, and molecular biology, the Institute is well positioned to develop new interdisciplinary programs, secure additional research dollars and, with projections that nanotechnology will be a trillion-dollar market in the foreseeable future, realize significant returns on the findings it is able to commercialize.

This focus on developing prominence in the interdisciplinary field of bio-nanoscience is sure to further raise the University's stature within international scientific societies. By contributing to the understanding of fundamental nanoscale phenomena and processes, and their utility in biological/organic/solid-state devices, the Institute is also primed to attract even more distinguished, senior-level scientists to FSU.

An electric biosensor:
(a) Scanning electron micrograph of a SnO2 nanowire field-effect transistor (FET);
(b) A SnO2 FET integrated with microfluidic channels for analyte delivery;
(c) Electrical responses of a biofunctionalized SnO2 FET to a protein solution.

Faculty

Biological Science: P. Bryant Chase
Chemical and Biomedical Engineering: Bruce R. Locke
Chemistry & Biochemistry / Martech: Joseph Schlenoff
Chemistry & Biochemistry: Geoffrey F. Strouse
Physics / Martech: Stephan von Molnar
Physics / Martech: Peng Xiong