May 2006

The III Nanotechnology Congress was held in Pamplona from 20 - 23 March

During four days in March, in the streets and bars of the Old Part of Pamplona you could hear conversations about ‘spins’, ‘squids’, ‘quantum moments’ and ‘elementary particles’ involving young people with black briefcases. Far from being the lexicon of a new urban tribe, these concepts and lively discussions reflect the dynamism of a science that has already become a technology. Over 300 Spanish and international researchers came together in Pamplona for the III National Nanotechnology Congress.

It is a forum where the latest and most innovative developments in 'nano' research were presented, especially around the manipulation of matter on the scale of atoms and molecules, and its consequences. It covers a wide range of disciplines from Physics, Chemistry, and Biology to Materials Engineering (among others). What they have in common is that "size matters". In this case, the smaller the object, the greater the chances of discovering new functions and even materials that do not exist in Nature. Hence, a nanometre represents the millionth part of a millimetre.

The Congress, which has helped to generate a considerable transfer of information between research centres, universities and industries, was organised by the Spanish Nanotechnology Network through the Phantoms Foundation and by the Government of Navarre through Sodena. Other collaborators were the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAM), the Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), the Universidad Pública de Navarra, the Universidad de Navarra, the CREBEC/Science Park of Barcelona (Universidad de Barcelona), the CEM (Spanish Metrology Center), Pamplona City Council and Caja Navarra.

There were over 70 presentations and 133 communications (poster-flash), among them advanced methods of nanofabrication, nanobiotechnology, nanochemistry, evaluation systems in the area of security, nanoelectronics, nanomaterials, force microscopes (SPM) and simulation on a nanoscale.