(By: Communication TUDelft)
The Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft will receive additional major funding to further advance its successful program in biological and quantum nanoscience. Provided by The Kavli Foundation, the Kavli Institute will receive $200,000 annually over ten years – funds that will be matched equally by TU Delft. These funds will supplement annual revenue already provided by the Institute’s endowment, which was first established in 2004 and increased in 2008.

Kavli Institutes
The Kavli Foundation supports the advancement of science as well as the increase of public understanding and support for scientists and their work. The Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft is one of 20 Kavli research institutes established at preeminent universities worldwide. Five of these institutes focus on nanoscience: the California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Cornell University, and the University of California, Berkeley in the USA, and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

“The support from the renowned Kavli Foundation is a welcome investment in research, and a strong recognition that the quality of Nanoscience in Delft is world class,” says Tim van der Hagen, president of Delft University. “I am very pleased that the Kavli Foundation decided to further increase its support.”

Connecting science
“These funds will enable us to award prestigious Kavli postdoctoral fellowships aimed at connecting our research in bionanoscience and quantum nanoscience, where I believe there are great opportunities,” co-director Prof. Lieven Vandersypen says.  The Institute plans to establish a new postdoctoral fellowship program for synergistic quantum-bio projects in Delft as well as other new initiatives. “With the revenues, we will also establish an annual Kavli Chair for a world-leading external visiting scientist,” Prof. Cees Dekker, co-director of the Kavli Institute in Delft, adds. “Prof. Amir Yacoby, a renowned nanoscientist from Harvard University, will be the first to hold the Kavli Chair.”

Outreach
The Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Delft also plans to enhance outreach activities, with workshops for scientists to help them increase the awareness of nanoscience with a broader audience. Another ambition is to attract ’artists in residence’ at the Institute in Delft – an opportunity for journalists or artists to stay at the institute and experience life at the lab, and translate that into articles, books, and arts.

Kavli Foundation
The Kavli Foundation was established in December 2000 by its founder and benefactor, Fred Kavli, a Norwegian business leader and philanthropist. It is based in Oxnard, California. Whereas the two previous gifts created and built an endowment that yields revenues of which Delft benefits yearly, the new funds will provide additional annual revenue to be spent on activities that are to the benefit of the Institute and its members.