Trends in Nanotechnology Knowledge Creation and Dissemination

Nanotechnology comprises one of the fastestgrowing research and development areas in the world (National Science and Technology Council 2006). Like many areas of scientific and technological exploration, nanotechnology exists on the borders between disciplines including physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, medicine, ICT and engineering. It has been nearly half a century since Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman advocated widespread nano-scale research by delivering his famous speech “There’s plenty of room at the bottom” in 1959, through which the nanotechnology concept first captured the world’s attention. Nanotechnology is a field prioritized and promoted by governments worldwide and is a subject of importance in all basic science and engineering fields, for sustainable economic development and has potential to provide comfort and safety for people everywhere. Nanotechnology is regarded as an evolutionary field which emerged from the increased miniaturization of microelectronics and microtechnology in research, abstract