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The Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI) at the University of Basel is a center of excellence for nanosciences and nanotechnology in Northwestern Switzerland. It was founded in 2006 as an initiative of the Canton of Aargau and the University of Basel to succeed the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Nanoscale Science and with a view to further developing and strengthening education and research in the nanosciences and nanotechnology in Northwestern Switzerland (Aargau, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn). The SNI is based on an interdisciplinary network of partner organizations and researchers who participate in basic or applied research projects and are involved in educating nanosciences students and doctoral students at the University of Basel. The SNI includes the Nano Technology Center at the University of Basel, which encompasses the Nano Imaging Lab and the Nano Fabrication Lab. These two service units provide academic institutions and industrial companies with services in the areas of microscopic imaging and analysis (electron microscopy and scanning probe microscopy) and nanofabrication.

SNI network
The researchers in the SNI network come from various departments of the University of Basel (including Biomedicine, the Biozentrum, Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Physics, and Environmental Sciences) and the Schools of Life Sciences and Technology of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland in Muttenz and Windisch, as well as from the "Paul Scherrer Institute", the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at "ETH Zurich" in Basel, the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) in Allschwil and the technology transfer centers in the Canton of Aargau, ANAXAM and Swiss PIC. The SNI also engages in collaborations in the area of knowledge and technology transfer with the Hightech Zentrum Aargau in Brugg and Basel Area Business & Innovation.

Education
The SNI organizes and coordinates the interdisciplinary bachelor’s and master’s degree program in nanosciences at the University of Basel, which has offered this practice-oriented program of education — the only one of its kind in Switzerland — since 2002. Students on the bachelor’s program first receive a comprehensive grounding in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics and can then choose from an extensive range of electives over the course of their studies. They gain an insight into current research projects from an early stage thanks to participation in various research groups and can familiarize themselves with various applications of nanotechnology during company visits. Students on the master’s program choose one specialization module from the fields of nanobiology, medical nanosciences, nanochemistry and nanophysics but their education remains otherwise interdisciplinary until the end of the master’s degree program. The course is intended to qualify students for future work at the interface between different disciplines, where they can help to solve outstanding societal challenges.

In 2012, the SNI expanded its commitment to education by founding a PhD School. Based at the University of Basel, this school has around 40 international doctoral students enrolled in any given year. These students are each supervised by two project leaders from the SNI network and primarily work on nanoscience topics in basic research. At the same time, the SNI team seeks to promote an exchange of ideas between the doctoral students in order to expand their understanding of different disciplines and subject areas.