National Center for Nanoscience and Technology

What National Center for Nanoscience and Technology does

National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) is China's premier state-level research institution dedicated to nanoscience and nanotechnology, co-founded in December 2003 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). The institution operates five key research laboratories — Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication; Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology; Biological Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety; Artificial Intelligence for Nanoscience; and Nanofabrication — plus a Nanotechnology Development Division providing open-access platforms (Nano-Measurement, Nanofabrication, Nano-Biology, and Nanosystem Labs) including a ~1,500 m² Class 100/1000 clean room. Research output spans nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine, nanoelectronic devices and integrated chip engineering, sustainable energy nanomaterials, nanofabrication and manufacturing, nanoscale characterization, and computational nanoscience, with peer-reviewed breakthroughs in dual-site MOF catalysts, DNA nanocarrier-based intranasal RSV vaccines, procoagulant platelet hemostasis agents in multicenter clinical trials, electrically programmable circularly polarized 3D displays, and medium-entropy MOF-integrated catalytic distillation.

The business model is non-commercial: NCNST operates primarily on government research appropriations from CAS and MOE plus competitive grants, with no disclosed commercial product revenue and no public financial reporting. Its go-to-market is community-led — recruiting through joint Master's and PhD programs co-supervised with leading Chinese universities, attracting international researchers via TWAS, ANSO, and CAS-PIFI fellowships, and convening the global nanoscience community through the biennial ChinaNANO conference and the Director's Forum. Primary "customers" are academic researchers, graduate students, and visiting scientists; secondary stakeholders include industrial partners, government agencies, and standardization bodies that NCNST serves through its secretariat role for SAC/TC279 and CNAS/TC/SC14 (China's national nanotechnology standards committees) and through ISO/TC229 contributions.

Name

National Center for Nanoscience and Technology

Legal name

National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China

Website

https://english.nanoctr.cas.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

China's premier state-level nanoscience research institution, co-founded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Education in 2003, conducting fundamental and applied nanotechnology research across five laboratories and hosting China's national nanotechnology standards secretariat.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nanoscience Research Institution

NAICS

Research and Development in Nanotechnology (541713), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Engineering & Technology Institutes (Comprehensive) (EDAHAEAA)

Keywords

• Nanoscience research
• Nanotechnology development
• Nanomaterials fabrication
• Nanomedicine research
• Nanotechnology standardization

Headquarters

HQ city

Beijing

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government research funding and institutional support: NCNST is a state-level research institution co-founded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Education. As a public research organization, it operates primarily on government funding, grants, and institutional support rather than commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

NCNST is China's premier state-level research institution conducting fundamental and applied research in nanoscience and nanotechnology. It operates specialized research laboratories and open-access technical platforms, trains graduate students, develops nanomaterials/nanomedicines/nanodevices, and leads national and international nanotechnology standardization.

Product overview

The National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) is a premier research institution, not a commercial product company. It operates as a platform of research laboratories and facilities, including the Division of Nanotechnology Development (providing Nano-Measurement, Nanofabrication, Nano-Biology, and Nanosystem Labs), the Nanofabrication Laboratory (clean-room facility), five specialized research laboratories (Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, Biological Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, Artificial Intelligence for Nanoscience), and graduate education programs. These operate as interconnected research infrastructure supporting academic research rather than commercial product offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ChinaNANO: International Conference on Nanoscience and Technology, China - the flagship biennial conference organized by NCNST, one of the world's most influential conferences in the field.
• PIFI

Products and services

• Division of Nanotechnology Development (DND) Public technology platform providing state-of-the-art resources including Nano-Measurement Lab, Nanofabrication Lab, Nano-Biology Lab and Nanosystem Lab, serving researchers from basic research and applied research to industry.
• Nanofabrication Laboratory (NFL) Clean-room facility (~1500 m2) supporting fabrication of novel nanostructures and nanodevices, focusing on nanosensors, novel optical nanodevices, optical manipulation, and key integration technologies.
• Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication Research lab focused on controllable preparation of hierarchical nanostructures, functionality manipulation, fabrication, integration and application of nanostructures in nano-/micro-systems.
• Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology Research lab dedicated to measurement science and standardization for nanotechnology, including development of sensitive measurement schemes, improvement of measurement accuracy, and establishment of metrological traceability.
• Laboratory for Biological Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety Research platform exploring biological effects of nanomaterials and nanosafety, focusing on biomedical effects, nanosafety, chemical mechanisms, and nanodrug development.
• Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence for Nanoscience Research lab dedicated to multi-scale theory and computational research of nanostructured materials and biological systems, including nanocatalysis, nano-drugs, and precise self-assembly.
• Graduate Education Programs Master's and Ph.D. programs offered in conjunction with top Chinese universities, with co-supervision by NCNST faculty and partner university professors across nanoscience disciplines.
• ChinaNANO International Conference Flagship biennial international conference on nanoscience and technology organized by NCNST, featuring 600+ invited presentations, 15 research topics and 7 plenary speeches, plus an industry exhibition.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.7% urea removal rate from concentrated wastewater using ME-MOF-integrated UOR-MD system, with net profit of $2.9 per cubic meter treated vs. $0.63 loss for conventional Anammox processes
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Prof. Paolo Fornasiero, University of TriesteminorOthers · 20 July 2026Prof. Paolo Fornasiero, Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at University of Trieste and Vice-rector for Research, will deliver an academic report at NCNST on July 20, 2026, on sustainable catalysis and CO2 photocatalytic conversion. He is Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and Academia Europaea.
• Prof. Alberto Bianco, CNRS, FranceminorOthers · 8 July 2026Prof. Alberto Bianco, Distinguished Research Director at CNRS Strasbourg, will deliver an academic report at NCNST on July 8, 2026, on engineering amino acid-based nanoparticles for targeted cancer therapy. He has published 390+ articles with h-index 105.
• Prof. Dong-Ha Kim, Ewha Womans University, KoreaminorOthers · 6 July 2026Prof. Dong-Ha Kim, Distinguished Professor at Ewha Womans University, will deliver an academic report at NCNST on July 6, 2026, on engineering light-matter-spin interactions from surface plasmon resonance to chiral spin photonics.
• Weizmann Institute of Science, IsraelcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026NCNST and Weizmann Institute of Science held a virtual coordination meeting in February 2026 to finalize arrangements for an NCNST delegation visit during NanoIL 2026. Discussions focused on future collaboration directions including joint working documents, technology transfer experience sharing, and future visits of WIS leadership to China. The partnership aims to revitalize long-standing cooperation.
• Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymer Materials of Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPM RAS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2026NCNST and ISPM RAS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on June 24, 2026, agreeing to pursue complementary collaboration in energy conversion and biomedicine. Both institutes will hold regular academic exchanges in frontier areas such as organic electronics and photonic functional materials, deepen practical cooperation in personnel visits, joint research, and collaborative project applications.
• Royal Society of Chemistry, United KingdomminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 June 2026Royal Society of Chemistry is listed as an overseas partner, with NCNST maintaining an active relationship including publication support and academic exchange.
• Institute for Multiscale Matter and Systems (IMMS), Ewha Womans University, KoreacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 March 2026NCNST and IMMS signed an MOU on February 13, 2026, agreeing to organize bilateral seminars focusing on chiral nanomaterials, AI-driven automated laboratories, and multiscale characterization techniques, with further deepening of collaboration in personnel exchange, facility sharing, and joint technology development.
• Cambridge University PressminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 17 November 2025Cambridge University Press delegation visited NCNST in November 2025. Prof. David Haddleton presented research on real-time monitoring of polymerization using benchtop NMR. Dr. Liz Dunn introduced Cambridge's materials science journals and open access publishing. The visit laid groundwork for potential collaboration in publishing and academic knowledge dissemination.
• White Paper: China Nanotechnology Industry (2025)coreOthers · 7 November 2025NCNST released the White Paper on China Nanotechnology Industry (2025) at the Nanotechnology Industry Forum, presenting key metrics on China's 464,000 authorized nanotechnology patents (43% global share), 34,500+ nanotechnology enterprises, and 9.92 million professionals. The white paper identifies development trends and future directions for China's nanotechnology industry.
• Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), BrazilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 October 2025NCNST and UFPR have collaborated since 2008, including high-level exchanges, student training, and joint research initiatives. A proposal to establish a China-Brazil Joint Research Platform on Nanotechnology has been made. Collaboration explored in green energy, nanomedicine, agricultural technology, and synchrotron radiation applications. A joint online seminar was held in June-July 2026.
• Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil - Joint Online SeminarcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 October 2025NCNST and UFPR conducted a joint online seminar on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from June 30 to July 2, 2026, covering three topics: Photovoltaic Devices, Nanomaterials for Agriculture and Disease Therapy, and Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy and Catalysis. A MoU signing ceremony was held during the seminar.
• Isfahan University of Technology (IUT), IrancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 October 2025NCNST and IUT engaged in collaborative discussions in October 2025. Over the past eight years, NCNST has trained eight outstanding Iranian students, many of whom returned to Iran contributing to research and education. A joint research project on anti-cancer drugs has achieved significant results. Both parties see broad prospects in clean energy, disease diagnosis, and traditional medicine.
• Research Ireland (formerly Science Foundation Ireland)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 September 2025A joint seminar on NSFC China-Ireland Collaborative Project was held at NCNST in September 2025, showcasing three collaborative projects (2017-2021) between NSFC and Science Foundation Ireland. Dr. Roisin Cheshire from Research Ireland expressed strong interest in expanding collaboration into new fields. Both sides explored expanding NSFC-Research Ireland cooperation.
• National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), ThailandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2025NCNST and NANOTEC signed a new five-year MoU in September 2025, building on their collaborative relationship. The partnership includes joint research projects, talent cultivation, and scientific exchanges in nanomedicine, detection technologies, and sustainable development. The MoU was witnessed by CAS and Embassy of Thailand representatives.
• Multiple international research institutionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 August 2025NCNST maintains substantial collaborations with research institutions across Germany, France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, South Korea, and Japan. It actively contributes to nano-related standards development at ISO and IEC. It also collaborates domestically with Peking University, Tsinghua University, and other premier universities.
• 6th Director's Forum on NanotechnologycoreOthers · 29 August 2025NCNST hosted the 6th Director's Forum on Nanotechnology bringing together nearly 40 directors and leading scientists from China, US, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Israel. The forum focused on AI-driven nanotechnology research and identified key emerging trends including intelligent nanomaterial design, AI-optimized drug delivery, and smart nanofabrication.
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)coreOthers · 1 January 2025NCNST serves as China's primary institution contributing to international nanotechnology standards development at ISO/TC229 and IEC/TC113. Through SAC/TC279, it has published 11 ISO standards and has 18 ISO standards projects underway.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST): Korean government-funded applied research institute with comparable mandate spanning materials, nanotech, and biomedical devices; similar funding model and industry-partnership orientation.
• Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research: Flagship German research institute for fundamental materials and nanoscience; comparable in scale, publication output, and international postdoctoral talent pipeline.
• Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS): Sister CAS institute with overlapping capabilities in molecular-scale materials, polymer chemistry, and nanocatalysis; comparable funding model, talent depth, and publication footprint.
• National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan: Japan's premier state-level materials and nanotechnology research institution, operating similar key-lab structures, standardization roles, and international collaboration networks in nanoscale science.

Regional players

• Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB): German government research center combining synchrotron-based nanoscale characterization with materials research, paralleling NCNST's integration of measurement science and standardization.
• KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology): Korean state-supported science and technology university with strong nanoscience and nanoelectronics programs; comparable in graduate training model and applied nanoscience translation.
• National University of Singapore (NUS) - Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Initiative: Singapore's leading university-based nanotechnology cluster with strong translational pipeline in nanomedicine and nanoelectronics; comparable regional benchmark in Asia-Pacific nanoscience competitiveness.

Direct peers

• Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO), CAS: CAS-affiliated sister institute also dedicated to nanoscience and nanobiotechnology research with comparable laboratory infrastructure and graduate programs, making it the closest domestic peer to NCNST.
• Center for Nanoscale Materials (Argonne National Laboratory): US Department of Energy user facility providing open-access nanofabrication and characterization tools to academic and industrial researchers, directly analogous to NCNST's Nanotechnology Development Division.

Others

• CNRS - Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay (ISMO): French national research unit focused on molecular and nanoscale science; collaborates with NCNST through visiting-scientist exchanges and shares comparable publication intensity in nanophotonics and catalysis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nanocenter_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-center-for-nanoscience-and-technology
• Facebookfacebook.com/NCNST4U

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about National Center for Nanoscience and Technology