David Ober, chairman of Ball State's physics and astronomy department, said nanoscience is the future of the scientific field.
At Ball State University, the future is now.
On Jan. 17, Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon announced that Ball State will receive a $1.5 million grant from the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund to create a nanoscience research center.
Ober describes nanoscience as the study of particles on the molecular level - or 1,000 times smaller than blood cells. While the benefits of such studies may be hard to find, Ball State professor Yong Joe, who is the principal investigator of the nanoscience program says nanoscience has cutting-edge applications in almost every branch of science.
"Nanoscience promises to be a dominant force in our society in the coming decades," Joe said in a press release.
Professor Ron Cosby, along with Mahfuza Khatun, completes the trio responsible for Ball State's nanoscience research. Cosby explained that the science can potentially fabricate new materials stronger than any known today. He also says the study has potential uses in the military. He says nanoscience can do everything from detecting dangerous chemicals such as anthrax to creating weapons "that are only science fiction to us now."
Nanoscience has so much potential that the federal government has asked for $710 million for research. In fact, Cosby said, about $3 billion was spent on nanoscience and nanotechnology worldwide last year.
With numbers like that, Ball State's $1.5 million might seem microscopic. Cosby disagrees.
"I would say that the total effort is a very significant effort," Cosby said. "It's a big amount for us."
The "total effort" to which Cosby is referring to is the collaboration of a number of universities. Ball State - with its grant in hand - is heading up an alliance with Purdue University, University of Notre Dame, Valparaiso University and Ohio University.
Purdue has experience in the nanoscience field. The university has received two grants, each worth between $10 million and $15 million. One is from the National Science Institution and the other is from NASA. Purdue is also constructing a $55 million nanotechnology center.
Ball State has a nanoscience and technology background. Joe, Cosby and Khatun have been training their students in and studying nanoscience since the early 1990s. Cosby also teaches a nanoscience class.
Ball State now has the first six month's worth of funding and will use it to initiate research, hire faculty and advertise to get students interested.
Cosby said this grant did not come from the work of himself, Joe and Khatun alone. Instead, he credits a large group of faculty and administration who support the nanoscience research, including Provost Beverley Pitts and President Blaine Brownell.
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