Mission

The vision of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials is to foster collaborative, multidisciplinary research while respecting and stimulating the expertise and high quality of the individual groups. This should lead to ground-breaking results and excellently trained (junior) researchers. The associated research goal is to design, build, understand, and connect nanostructured and (bio)functional materials achieving unprecedented functionality. We focus on fundamental research but with an open eye for possible knowledge transfer to technology. We maintain –for more than 50 years– a flat, open-lab culture catering access to instruments, facilities, and knowledge throughout the institute and beyond. Our mission statement and its objectives reflect this vision. 

This mission comprises four specific objectives:

• To address fundamental and challenging questions in the fields of functional materials that are relevant to societal problems.
• To facilitate and encourage the transfer of knowledge and overall synergy of all disciplines relevant to materials research (physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering).
• To train new generations of researchers in cross-disciplinary approaches to research and to equip them with the diverse skills required by modern science.
• To maintain and strengthen our position as an internationally recognized, leading materials research and training institute.