NANO as a synonym for very small scale (1 nanometer is 0.000000001 meter) is a word that has now left the science reservation and entered the public consciousness. The field of nanoscience with its promise of amazing nanotechnologies is one of today’s most challenging, exciting, multidisciplinary and competitive fields, and one of the most highly funded. One might imagine it as a pretty specialized field, while in reality it is just the opposite. In NANO, the idea is to do something really big and important with objects that are really small. It is a field full of challenges that cannot be met by any one specialist of any particular scientific field. In order to be competitive in the global education and economy, Hong Kong universities and emerging nanotechnology companies need creative and competent personnel trained to cross borders between scientific fields. Being interdisciplinary by definition, NANO is the field of science and technology perfectly suited to provide this kind of training to natural science, health science, and engineering students. Moreover, this is the emerging field where the students from social sciences, humanities, business and media need basic knowledge, both in order to provide further education for the public about the scientific, technological and ethical issues of NANO and to be able to critically analyze decisions of policy makers and plan future important financial investments.

This course does not require and does not utilize any subject-specific knowledge (no math!). Two field trips will be arranged to visit modern nanotechnology facilities at CityU and at the Hong Kong Science Park.