2016 - All Press Releases

Nano: making a big deal out of the very small

London | Heidelberg, 15 June 2016

Springer Nature today announces the launch of Nano – a research solution offering highly-indexed and structured information on nanotechnology, drawn from high-impact journals and patents. Nano will be part of the new Nature Research portfolio of high-quality products and services for researchers.

Developed to meet the needs of researchers in academic, corporate and government environments, Nano combines the key features of a database and an abstracting and indexing discovery tool. Over 200,000 manually-curated profiles of nanomaterials and devices are available, containing information on properties, synthesis and applications. Trials are available from today.

Growing public and private investment into nanotechnology has led to an increase in research outputs, with related articles more than doubling over the past ten years. Nanotechnology is also of growing importance for a vast range of industries – from medicine to aerospace – in developing new products and applications. With nanotechnology becoming an inescapable part of people’s day-to-day lives, policymakers are paying closer attention to it, too.

This area of research, however, presents challenges. Dr. Omid Farokhzad, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, said: "Nanotechnology research and development has been rising on a sharp slope across virtually all scientific disciplines and industries. The result has been a rapidly growing body of information in disparate places that is not readily and efficiently accessible. Researchers need a multidisciplinary database that brings this vast body of data together in an organized and usable way in one place. Working together with other scientists to develop a research solution that can meet this need, through Nano’s External Advisory Board, has made me confident that this is a product that can deliver huge value to the research community."

Partnership and consultation have been at the heart of Nano’s creation. William Chiuman, Director of Product Management, Nanoscience and Technology, Springer Nature, said: “We have worked closely with academia and industry throughout Nano’s development, and we’ll continue to be guided by these external experts to ensure that Nano keeps pace with this dynamic field, and provides up-to-date, curated content, that will ultimately save researchers time and significantly extend their knowledge base.”

Nano is the first non-journal product to be launched by Springer Nature since it was formed in May 2015 by the merger of Springer Science+Business Media and the majority of Macmillan Science and Education, and will be part of the Nature Research portfolio. Steven Inchcoombe, Chief Publishing Officer, Springer Nature, said: “Nano is a product of the combined skills and talents of our new organisation. It exemplifies our ethos and ultimate aim of putting the needs of the researcher at the heart of everything that we do.”

More information about Nano is available at nano.nature.com.


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For more information contact:

Mark Staniland
Senior Communications Manager
T: +44 (0)207 014 6630
E: mark.staniland@nature.com

ENDS

Background materials

For more information about Nano, you can view our infographic and factsheet.

External Advisory Board member quotes for publication

Dr. Jens Kroeger, Chief Technology Officer, Raymor and NanoIntegris, said:

"Nano is an emerging and very powerful research tool. It allows researchers to obtain and compare the characteristics of the full spectrum of nanomaterials, as well as the composition and preparation methods for nano-enabled devices. It will provide nano-scientists with the clarity and deep understanding that the Mendeleev table once provided to chemists."

About Nature Research

Nature Research is a portfolio of high quality products and services across the life, physical, chemical and applied sciences, including journals, online databases and researcher services, which are dedicated to serving the scientific community. Nature (founded in 1869) is the leading weekly, international scientific journal and sits at the heart of the brand. Nature Research also publishes a range of Nature-branded research and reviews subscription journals, alongside leading open access multidisciplinary journal Nature Communications and other open access journals, including mega journal Scientific Reports and a range of partner journals known collectively as the Nature Partner Journals. Online, nature.com provides over 8 million visitors per month with access to Nature Research publications and services, including news and comment from Nature, and the leading scientific jobs board Naturejobs. Nature Research also offers a range of researcher services, including online and in-person training and expert language and editing services.

Nature Research is part of Springer Nature, a leading global research, educational and professional publisher. Springer Nature is the world’s largest academic book publisher, publisher of the world’s most influential journals and a pioneer in the field of open research. The company numbers almost 13,000 staff in over 50 countries. Springer Nature was formed in 2015 through the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media.

For more information, please visit nature.com and springernature.com and follow @nresearchnews and @SpringerNature