The Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Technology (IAM) is a relatively new research endeavor at UNC. Its goals are to promote interdisciplinary research in the areas of physical and health related materials science.
We draw faculty and students from four core departments (Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy) and the Curriculum in Applied Sciences and Engineering (CASE). We build bridges between these departments and other units on campus including the School of Medicine, School of Pharmacology, the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, and the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI). We are a partner with the Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (C-CCNE) in developing nanofluidic and other devices for rapid nanobiomedical diagnostics, and smart nanoparticles for cancer detection, imaging, and therapy. IAM is a partner with the Institute for the Environment in the Energy and Environment initiative. In 2006 we opened our shared instrumentation facility – Chapel Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Laboratory (CHANL). Since then a steady stream of major surface analysis equipment has been added, aided by EPA and Army Research Office grants. In early 2009 CHANL opened its new 2200 sq. ft. cleanroom, which contains all of the equipment necessary for nanofabrication work at UNC. CHANL is serving researchers not only at UNC, but across the Research Triangle area, and provides a state of the art collection of instrumentation and training not possible in individual principal investigator (PI) laboratories.
Materials science at UNC was recognized in the last two Chronicle of Higher Education rankings as second or third in material science and engineering programs across the country in faculty scholarly productivity (despite not having a formal engineering program). In addition, the chemistry department at UNC has a longstanding position of leadership in research and training in the chemical sciences. The chemistry faculty includes 6 members of the National Academy of Sciences, one member of the National Academy of Engineering, a past President of the American Chemical Society, a Priestley Medal recipient, and numerous winners of other national awards in Chemistry. The chemistry graduate program is consistently ranked in the top 15, with certain areas such as analytical and polymer chemistry ranked at or near number one. The soft condensed matter group, housed in Physics, Chemistry and Applied Mathematics, has achieved a variety of distinctions, including major interdisciplinary funding from NASA, NSF, DOE and most recently NIH. The Computer Science program is routinely ranked at the top in visualization and graphics, and their faculty work closely with medical scientists in imaging and real-time visualization of experimental data. The Applied Mathematics program, while only 12 years old, has major funding for interdisciplinary research collaborations and training. This group provides computational modeling and simulation tools across the physical and biomedical sciences, with ongoing funded research projects.
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