NFFA-Europe successfully carries forward its mission of strengthening and further integrating its Research Infrastructure, empowering scientists to explore new frontiers in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

As the NFFA-Europe Pilot project progresses into its fourth year, we take this opportunity to reflect on the significant strides made in enhancing and enriching our Research Infrastructure. This milestone allows us to look back on our journey, from a pioneering idea in 2008 – when the NFFA Design Study united five European research institutions – to our current status as a cornerstone of European nanoscience and technology.

Our initial initiative has matured into NFFA-Europe, an open-access platform that supports wide-ranging, multidisciplinary nanoscale research, from synthesis and nanocharacterization to theory and numerical simulation. Leveraging NFFA-Europe’s robust foundation of expert knowledge and top-tier facilities, the Pilot project is now pioneering a distributed research infrastructure model. This innovative approach provides harmonized, interoperable, and integrated services, enhancing our previous achievements and paving the way for future breakthroughs.

Supported by the Horizon 2020 initiative and the European Union, NFFA-Europe Pilot has expanded its offerings by introducing new techniques, adding new service providers, and welcoming additional partners. This expansion has furthermore opened the door to new industrial collaborations, ensuring that we continue to evolve and respond to the needs of academia and industry alike. Since September 2023, we have also embraced the digital frontier by providing virtual access to advanced online simulations, machine learning tools, data and metadata services, while streamlining our research proposal management system to ensure a more efficient user experience.

These developments reflect our ongoing commitment to integrating infrastructure services seamlessly and empowering researchers to think big and act synergistically, leveraging the full potential of our resources. We encourage you to explore these enhancements in detail within this and the previous edition of our newsletter, where you’ll find insights on how they can augment your research endeavors.

Today, NFFA-Europe stands as a premier platform that delivers a comprehensive suite of services and resources to researchers across Europe and beyond. With over 600 state-of-the-art instruments spread across 15 European countries and almost thirty access calls, our infrastructure has catalyzed significant scientific advancements, from quantum matter to novel nanomaterial growth protocols. 

Yet, NFFA-Europe is more than a hub of cutting-edge technology; it is a thriving community of scientists, engineers and innovators. Our collaborative and interdisciplinary efforts have nurtured a dynamic culture of creativity and exploration, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in nanoscience and nano-microtechnology. For a glimpse into these advancements, we invite you to delve into our scientific highlights in the dedicated section of this newsletter.

As we look to the future, NFFA-Europe remains dedicated to its mission of fostering innovation and excellence. With ambitious plans to enhance our virtual access capabilities and expand our integrated research infrastructure, we are poised to continue making significant contributions to the field of nanoscience for years to come.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to NFFA-Europe’s success. Together, we have crafted a leading-edge platform at the forefront of nanoscience research, and we look forward to the exciting discoveries and advancements that lie ahead.