Nanotechnology in Australia--A network of interactions

This paper present the ARC nanotechnology network looks to enhance the collaboration and information exchange to benefit research productivity for nanotechnology. Australia is a large country-greater in area than the United States-and with a population of only about 20 million people, so interactions over large distances are important. This has been recognized by the government through the Australian Research Council (ARC), which funds nearly all major research in Australia, apart from health and medical research, which has a separate funding organization. In 2004, the ARC established a set of research networks, one of which was the ARC Nanotechnology Network (ARCNN), the objective of which was to enhance collaboration and information exchange in a large variety of fields for the benefit of research productivity. The existence of ARCNN, which is administered from the Australian National University in Canberra, has made possible an overview of what is happening in the field today.