Home MESA+ Institute | MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology

realizing grand solutions with the extremely small

The MESA+ Institute is a leading nanotechnology research institute. Focusing on key enabling technologies (KETs) - photonics, fluidics, hard materials, soft materials and devices, combined with responsible research & innovation - and the convergence of these to realize disruptive innovations in the areas of most societal challenges. Our main contributions are on the Health, ICT and Sustainability areas.

Embracing a cross-disciplinary approach and benefiting from the MESA+ NanoLab, over 500 researchers deliver high quality, frequently ground-breaking research. MESA+ actively seeks for collaboration with external partners providing an excellent setting for consortium formation. Next to our excellent scientists and facilities, we offer a strong regional ecosystem that creates the breeding ground to let ideas blossom and grow to relevant, successful solutions and businesses.

A Grand Future with Small Nanostructures

Nanotechnology impacts many aspects of our lives. The Netherlands is a leading player in this exciting field. Key to safeguard this position is to keep engaging talent and develop our infrastructure network, organized in NanoLabNL. NanoLabNL provides an open-access infrastructure for R&D in nanotechnology. It combines facilities in Twente, Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen and Amsterdam. MESA+ chairs the NanoLabNL initiative.

MESA+ top publication: ‘Wall roughness induces asymptotic ultimate turbulence’ - Nature Physics

When gold nano particles in water are illuminated by a laser, they get very hot: well above the boiling point of water. The formation of vapour bubbles caused by this, is well-known. New experiments, however, using a very high speed camera, now show that before this, a bubble is formed that is much larger and, subsequently, explodes violently. For energy conversion of the particles to the liquid they are in, this discovery of early phase dynamics is very important. Researchers of the University of Twente and the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands now publish these new results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS).

Our NanoLab in 360°

MESA+ has a 1250 m2 state-of-the-art NanoLab which consists of a Cleanroom and Analysis facilities. Research on the nanometre scale needs a laboratory with extreme specifications, whereas the NanoLab is constructed to meet such high standards. Any influencing effects from the environment, such as vibration and electromagnetic disturbances, are virtually non-existent. The environmental conditions inside the building, such as temperature, humidity and the influence of light are extremely stable. Discover our NanoLab in 360°!

Photo contest

The winner of the photo contest of the second quarter of 2018 is this picture: 'Balance of Raspberries'. It was made by Baybin Ilhan from the Physics of Complex Fluids group. Click the picture to see more photos.

Facts & Figures 2017

For MESA+ 2017 was a scientifically interesting and successful year, and a year of looking ahead to the future. With a new focus on the institute's long-term strategy, we have given an impulse for growth and development in the upcoming years. Because we believe that nanotechnology offers nearly endless opportunities for answers to the grand challenges we are facing.

Recent

'We need smart combinations for next generation photonics'

David Marpaung in Nature Photonics

Light connects two worlds on a single chip

For the first time, researchers of the University of Twente succeeded in connecting two parts of an electronics chip using an on-chip optical link. A light connection can, for example, be a safe way of connecting high-p…

Lab-on-a-chip helps search for human DNA at crime scenes

Thanks to the work carried out by University of Twente PhD candidate Brigitte Bruijns, crime scenes can now be inspected on the spot for the presence of human DNA. In her PhD thesis, she describes a lab-on-a-chip that r…

Oil droplet starts moving by itself on a very cold surface

An oil droplet that is placed on a very cold fluid surface, will start moving and keep on moving in straight lines, for many minutes. Even if the drop, initially at room temperature, freezes, this movement continues. Th…

Leibniz Prize 2019 to be presented to Matthias Wessling

Prof.dr.ing Matthias Wessling. Photo credits: RTWH AachenProf.dr.ing. Matthias Wessling has been announced as winner of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2019, Germany's most prestigious research prize. Matthias is cu…

More news