/ SNI INSight
Editorial
Dear colleagues and interested parties,
In August 2022, I took over as director of the Swiss Nanoscience Institute from Christian Schönenberger. The weeks that followed have been very exciting indeed.
In my first official act as director, I had the pleasure of extending honorary membership in the SNI to my predecessor, Christian Schönenberger. Over the past sixteen years, Christian’s commitment to the SNI has been unmatched; he made the institute what it is today – a recognized interdisciplinary center of excellence for nanosciences and nanotechnology. In the portrait included in this edition of SNI INSight, we take a look back at his career as a scientist and as SNI director.
You probably followed the news that this year’s Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three experimental physicists for their work on entangled photons. Entanglement is studied by many teams in our network, too. So, in this edition, we explore a few examples of the phenomenon, which Albert Einstein referred to as “spooky action at a distance”, that are being studied in our labs.
You will also learn about the work of several young, up-and-coming scientists in our network who have earned different awards over the past six months. Starting in this edition of SNI INSight, we will also be including a new guest column written by a nanoscience student. In this first column, Nicolas Jung writes about his time at Harvard University.
The dedication of our students and doctoral researchers is nowhere more evident than in the commitment of the group of students currently planning an international nanoscience student conference (INASCON), which is set to take place next year in Basel. I am also pleased to see that our efforts to generate interest in the nanoscience degree program have met with success. A survey of students revealed that the new specialization in nanomedicine is proving to be a real asset to the nanosciences master’s program.
Over the past few months, many of us have enjoyed the opportunity to gather together again in larger groups at conferences and meetings. We were also able to host a wonderful Annual Event at the SNI, convene for a Nano-Tech Apéro with industry representatives and hold numerous outreach events at which the SNI invited a wide audience to explore the exciting world of nanosciences.
At the moment, my new position has me learning constantly. I am having fun diving deeper into the organization of our unique network, and I am looking forward to working together with you in the years to come.
First. however I would like to wish everyone a relaxing holiday season and a great start to a healthy, peaceful and successful new year.
Martino Poggio
Prof. Martino Poggio, SNI director