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NISE Network

NISE Network Image

The Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) project is a major National Science Foundation (NSF) initiative to form a national infrastructure that links science museums and other informal science education organizations with nanoscale science and engineering research organizations. This effort is intended to foster public awareness, engagement, and understanding of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. We invite you to find out more about the NISE Network by visiting the Nise Network Web site and joining the effort.

Participate in NanoDays 2010, March 27 - April 4

Approved by the NSF in the fall of 2005 this 5-year, $20 million initiative was created to bring the education and research communities together. Selected by the NSF, the three principal partners - the Museum of Science in Boston, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul - have joined together with a group of approximately 50 working partners and advisors to develop the NISE Net. (We invite you to read the Press Release regarding the NSF award.)

Advances in nanoscale science, engineering, and technology are revolutionizing medicine, computing, materials science, energy production, and manufacturing. Yet to the general public, these advances remain largely invisible and difficult to understand. NISE Net is designed to bring the education and research communities together in an effort to:

  • create new methods and approaches to communicate the work of nanoscale scientists and engineers
  • inform the public about the advances in the scientific research
  • capture the imagination of youth who may choose careers in nanoscale science and engineering

NISE Facts
For more information about the NISE Network please read our NISE Fact Sheet. Here you will find bulleted facts about the project, its intended outcomes, project deliverables, deliverables’ highlights and a listing of the NISE Partners.  In addition, we invite you to subscribe to the NISE Network newsletter by sending an email to subscribe-93689@en.groundspring.org.  (Archived newsletters are posted in the list of documents at the bottom of this page.)  

MRS Outreach Opportunities

MRS Role
Playing a major role in NISE Network, the Materials Research Society (MRS) links scientists interested in public outreach with informal science education projects, offers authoritative scientific information, and provides meeting venues for NISE Network activities.

NISE Network Collaborator
The NISE Network represents an excellent opportunity for MRS members to get involved in high-impact outreach projects in their own communities. MRS and the NISE Network are seeking nanoscale science, engineering and technology (NSET) researchers and graduate students to serve as subject matter experts. These experts will review scientific content as well as provide technical oversight and advice on NISE projects, products and programs. The NISE Network needs your NSET expertise, involvement and input to help create some unique project deliverables.  See the NISE Fact Sheet - Highlights of NISE Network Deliverables – for a listing of NISE project products.

NISE Network Collaborator Registration
Register here to participate as a NISE Network Collaborator and help shape the national public discourse and understanding of nanotechnology. Be part of the largest National Science Foundation award ever presented to the science museum community and join the MRS as it plays a major role to bring the education and science research communities together.

NISE Network Partners
For our NISE Network Partners who wish to access the NISE Network Collaborator database we have created the NISE Network Collaborator Search Form (Query Form). This form will allow " NISE Network Partners" upon receipt of passcodes to access the fields and associated data collected from the NISE Network Collaborator Registration Form and then to conduct a search for scientists interested in assisting with the NISE Network programs and activities.

To Receive Passcodes
To access this search form you will need a User ID and Password. To receive the ID and Password, access the Query Form and then click "Request for NISE Authorization". Type in the requested contact information in the body of the email - Name, Name of Institution, Position, Email Address and Telephone Number - and send via email. You will be processed and will receive an ID and Password within 2 business days for authorization to access the form. Once you have received your username and password you can proceed to access the Query Form fields to generate, print (excel spreadsheet) and/or save science advisor report(s). You can do this any number of times, each time creating a newly "customized" report for your special needs.

Current Materials Research Society Registered Users and Members
If you are already an MRS member and have received a User ID and Password by some other means such as applying for an MRS membership or registering for an MRS Meeting - you must still "first" send in a Request For Authorization Form. This form will be processed for you to be added to the User List! We will then send back authorization to you and it will contain your current Username and Password. After you receive the authorization then you can use these codes to access the query form.

Additional Benefits as a Query User
In addition, upon having received your new username and password you are now also accorded "special" MRS benefits as a MRS Registered User. You now have access to restricted MRS Web site science content and special privileges that may prove to be of interest to you and of beneficial use in your nano-programs. We invite you to view the list of MRS Registered User benefits.