On May 20, 2025, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) announced the release of a report entitled Quadrennial Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (2025): Securing U.S. Global Leadership Through Renewed and Expanded Infrastructure. Requested by Congress as part of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, the report focuses on the infrastructure of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). The Committee on the Quadrennial Review of the NNI “recommends a new focus on renewing and expanding the nanotechnology infrastructure, including instruments, facilities, and people, so that the intellectual capital of nanotechnology can be converted into economic, social, and national security gains for the United States.” According to the report, this conclusion “reflects a consideration of the suitability of the nation’s existing nanotechnology infrastructure for current and emerging needs in academia and industry” and rests on the Committee’s “analysis of the existing nanotechnology infrastructure users in academia and beyond[,] as well as the existing barriers that limit the impact and accessibility of the infrastructure.” The report’s highest priority recommendations include:
- Recommendation 1.1: In the coming year, the National Nanotechnology Coordinating Office (NNCO) should conduct a census of accessible nanotechnology infrastructure sites (instruments, staff, facilities) and display findings on a public, web-accessible map that includes university, regional, and national resources. This information, which should be maintained annually by NNCO, will enhance the visibility, availability, and impact of these assets.
- Recommendation 1.2: Within two years, Congress should reauthorize the NNI as the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure and orient, with the appropriate funding, the NNCO and agency activity toward the renewal and expansion of infrastructure to serve existing and emerging nanotechnology research and development.
- Recommendation 2.4: Within the next two years, the NNCO should undertake a study to determine the level of resources needed to maintain state-of-the-art nanotechnology infrastructure. The study should include a timeframe, measures of success and efficiency, and accountability measures.
- Recommendation 3.3: Federal agencies that support nanotechnology infrastructure should within the next year, and periodically thereafter, prioritize investment in new capabilities that advance fabrication, materials synthesis, characterization, and data analysis to support emerging technologies to help the United States maintain its commercial edge.
- Recommendation 4.1: All agencies that fund nanotechnology infrastructure should include in their infrastructure evaluations measures of performance that capture the breadth and heterogeneity of the associated user bases.
- Recommendation 4.5: All agencies that fund nanotechnology infrastructure should increase program funding or provide a competitive travel grant program to include dedicated travel support for users and, where feasible, summer access for academics, researchers, and students who are not from R1 institutions.