Nanotechnology Education Refers To Molecular Level Education

The basic definition of Nanotechnology is that it refers to engineering of various functional systems at the level and scale of molecules. In other words, it is the ability to construct items from the bottom most division using a number of modern technologies and tools to construct high performance products.

However much of what is done today is not exactly nanotechnology in its traditional sense. The presence of various definitions of nanotechnology to suit different needs that sometimes conflict each other has resulted in enough confusion and has increased the inability to comprehend what the technology is actually all about.

It therefore becomes important to concentrate on the educational aspects and learn about nanotechnology in its complete sense. This article tries to bring out the various opportunities and sources for nanotechnology education.

Identifying the need for education in nanotechnology, many universities around the globe, especially Australia and Europe, provide a number of courses on the subject. The point to be noted is that nanotechnology is taught as a combination with other natural sciences such as physics, chemistry, math and molecular biology thus becoming a multi disciplinary natural science education.

The various courses or programs offered in nanotechnology are quite comprehensive in the form of Bachelor's Degree, Masters Degree as well as a doctorate in the form of PhD. Here is a brief idea on the courses offered in various countries. In Mexico there are two main universities offering Bachelor's courses, while in Europe, joint programs are available at the Masters level.

In Czech Republic, Ostrava and Liberec universities offer Masters and Bachelors degrees and in Denmark there are four universities offering programs at all the three levels. All the leading universities in the United Kingdom such as the Oxford, Leeds, Cambridge and Sussex offer variety of courses on nanotechnology including a few post graduate certification programs as well as online distance education programs .

The United States is also a major hub as far as nanotechnology education is concerned. Universities in New York, Florida, Louisiana, Dakota and Oklahoma offer B.S and M.S programs on the subject along with Masters, PhDs and Associate degrees. The other major centre for nanotechnology education is Australia with universities in Sydney, Queensland, Melbourne and New South Wales offering courses in nanotechnology at the Bachelors level.

In Asia, India seems to be the most important centre with a number of universities across the country offering Bachelors, Masters, PhD and the more beneficial Integrated programs at the famous IIT centers and others. Singapore also offers Engineering programs at the Bachelors level with nanotechnology as one of the options for specialization.

Apart from the above, countries such as France, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Italy and Norway also offer nanotechnology courses at various levels especially the Masters.

It is no more a difficult job to study the specialized subject what with a number of programs offered at various levels. Thus nanotechnology has become a specialized field of education available at plenty of centers globally!