EXC 4:  Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)

• Subject Area: Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2006 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 24040814

The Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) brings together research groups in the Munich area covering the fields of physics, biophysics, physical chemistry, biochemistry, biology, electrical engineering, and medicine. It merges their combined expertise on man-made and biological nanoscale systems into a coherent and focussed nanoscience cluster. While many individual nanoscale building blocks and components have been devised in recent years using top-down and bottom-up strategies, little is known about their integration into entire functional systems. The overarching vision guiding the research in this cluster of excellence will therefore be to design, fabricate and achieve control of a broad range of artificial and multi-functional nanoscale systems, and to unlock their potential for applications in fields as diverse as future information technologies, the life sciences, or combinations of both. To this end, it will be essential to gain a fundamental understanding of their properties and behaviour, which range from being purely quantum mechanical to being governed mainly by stochastic effects. Research areas dominated by quantum effects include single-electron and single-spin behaviour, nanophotonic experiments, and investigation of practical strategies for quantum computation. Complementary research areas address the exploration of extremely sensitive nanosensors and -actuators, both artificial and natural single-molecule machines, nanoscale objects in live cells, and drug delivery nanosystems. Experimental studies and technological developments will be complemented by in-depth theoretical investigations of increasingly complex nanosystems in order to create a broad and deep knowledge base, and to establish an exciting research environment. The highly interdisciplinary nature of this cluster of excellence ensures cross-fertilisation and synergies, an internationally competitive research programme, a uniquely fertile environment for a stimulating graduate education, and establishes ideal conditions for technological innovation. A major structural goal of the NIM-cluster will be to establish itself as the most attractive nanoscience research site in Germany for young scientists who have excelled in their work at an international level. To this end, special emphasis will be placed on ensuring early independence of outstanding junior scientists, offering them internationally competitive startup packages and tenure track professorships that will give them a long-term career perspective.

• DFG Programme: Clusters of Excellence
• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Co-Applicant Institution: Technische Universität München (TUM); Universität Augsburg
• Participating Institution: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; Deutsches Museum (DM); Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ); Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie (MPIB); Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik (MPQ)
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Thomas Bein; Professor Dr. Jochen Feldmann, until 10/2015
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr.-Ing. Markus-Christian Amann (†); Professor Dr. Andreas Bausch; Professor Dr. Immanuel Bloch; Professor Dr. Dieter Braun; Professor Dr. Juan Ignacio Cirac; Professor Dr. Patrick Cramer; Professor Dr. Oliver Eickelberg; Professor Dr. Jonathan J. Finley; Professor Dr. Erwin Frey; Professor Dr. Hermann E. Gaub; Professor Dr. Rudolf Gross; Professor Dr. Alexander Walter Holleitner; Professor Dr. Peter Hänggi; Professorin Dr. Katharina Krischer; Professor Dr. Heinrich Leonhardt; Professor Dr. Gerhard Rempe; Professor Dr. Matthias Rief; Professorin Dr. Christina Scheu; Professor Dr. Friedrich Simmel; Professor Dr. Martin Stutzmann; Professor Dr. Ernst Wagner; Professorin Dr. Eva M. Weig; Professor Dr. Achim Wixforth