Recent replies to "How to get into nanotechnology field?"

Reply from Ai Lin Chun

Ai Lin Chun — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 02:47:32 -0000

Greetings Nikolay,

Usha makes a good point. Going to conferences is a good way to identify the research that might interest you and talk to the researchers themselves. I write stories about collaborations and frequently find that it is the students that initiate and bridge many successful collaborative projects. Here’s an example story.

Reading the articles at the back or the simpler ‘front half’ materials such as News and Views, Research Highlights in Nature Nanotechnology is also a good way to gauge where you want to go after your Ph.D. Since you mentioned molecular machines, our Feb issue has a few interesting pieces on this. You might want to check them out.

Nature also has a job advertisement section in the back pages of the print copy or online. Browsing these might also give you a sense of what jobs are offered in what area.

Finally, why don’t you do some research and tell us which article you have read so far (either on molecular machines or other nanotechnology-related article) has interested you the most? And why?

Challenge yourself to write a short summary of the area to see how comfortable you are in the language of that field.

Tell us what you envision yourself doing once you have accumulated knowledge in the field of your interest.

I’m looking forward to reading this. As always, if you have questions, post them on the forum.

Reply from Usha Hemraz

Usha Hemraz — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:24:44 -0000

Hi Nikolay,

I am currently doing my PhD in Chemistry with focus on nanotechnology. When I started my graduate studies, I had no clue what nanotechnology was all about. It was a little difficult in the beginning and there is a lot of learning. When I started, all I knew was Organic chem, but today I am happy that because of my new venture, I got to learn so many new techniques, specially instrumentation and microscopy.

If I was you, I would totally go for it. I recently attended the Materials Research Society (MRS) conference in Boston and there was a number of symposia dedicated to nanotechnology/biological applications. I will suggest you look at the MRS fall meeting 2007 website so that you can have a better idea on what interest you most. A number of active researchers in the field of nanotechnology presented their work there. I hope this helps!

Good luck,

Usha

Reply from Nikolay Pchelintsev

Nikolay Pchelintsev — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:28:55 -0000

At present I develop various immobilization techniques for disposable amperometric biosensors based on screen-printed carbon electrodes.

This area is pretty much developed and I think that even exiting discoveries (should they happen) will not significantly change our life. In contrast, I feel that it is nanotechnology that can dramatically improve the mankind being.

I’d really like to work on nanoscale (or even molecular-level) machines with pre-programmed properties. I hope that my knowledge of enzymes function and organization could help in the development of such artificial devices.

Reply from Ai Lin Chun

Ai Lin Chun — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:38:27 -0000

Hello Nikolay,

Thanks for your question. Could you please describe briefly what you do now and why you want to switch to nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology is a huge area and so it would be good if you could pin down a few things that interest you.

The more specifics you give, the easier people can comment on this.