NANOSCALE conference series
Project Description
Update 2023-09-29
NanoScale is a scientific conference series focused on current topics of nanometrology, which takes place at changing venues in Europe normally linked to an NMI within EURAMET in a cycle of about 3 years (if possible organised in combination with other metrology meetings (TC-L or CCL WGs). The wrap-up activities include the support for publication of selected conference contributions in a special issue of the peer reviewed scientific journal MST or another appropriate peer reviewed journal.
At irregular intervals and when so considered fit, NanoScale presents the NanoKnight Award - the knight of dimensional nanometrology - to acknowledge larger and significant contributions to the development of the area of nanometrology of renowned experts in this field.
The NanoScale conference series is a follow-up of the conference series on Quantitative Microscopy, which had been organised by NMIs from TC-L of EUROMET as well, starting in the 90s
2014-11-01
- Organisation, selection of appropriate conference location, programme planning, execution and wrap-up of the scientific conference series NANOSCALE on current topics of nanometrology, which takes place at changing venues in Europe normally linked to an NMI within EURAMET in a cycle of about 3 years (if possible organised in combination with other metrology meetings (TC-L or CCL WGs). The wrap-up activities include the support for publication of selected conference contributions in a special issue of the peer reviewed scientific journal MST or another appropriate peer reviewed journal.
- Project partners: members of the NANOSCALE programme committee (NANOSCALE 2013 conference: Rob Bergmans, VSL (NL); Harald Bosse, PTB (DE); Joergen Garnaes, DFM (DK); Petr Klapetek, CMI (CZ); Antti Lassila, MIKES (FI); Felix Meli, METAS (CH); Gian Bartolo Picotto, INRIM (IT); Ruedi Thalmann, METAS (CH); Sébastien Ducourtieux, LNE (FR); Andrew Yacoot, NPL (UK); Tanfer Yandayan, UME (TR)).
- Organisation of the NanoKnight Award - the knight of dimensional nanometrology - to acknowledge larger and significant contributions to the development of the area of nanometrology of renowned experts in this field in irregular intervals.
The NANOSCALE conference series is a follow-up of the conference series on QUANTITATIVE MICROSCOPY, which had been organised by NMIs from TC-L of EUROMET as well, starting in the 90s.
Progress Report 2026-09-30
As conference proceedings, a total of 20 peer-reviewed scientific papers + editorial were published in a (virtual) Special Issue of the IOP-journal "Measurement Science and Technology" (MST). Publication was complete in March 2025. All NanoScale papers are conveniently accessible via the landing page: IOPscience - NanoScale 2023 The papers are also included in the printed regular issues of MST.
NanoScale 2026 will take place at NPL in Teddington/London, October 20th-22nd, 2026, jointly organised by NPL (UK, team around Andrew Yacoot) and PTB (DE) with the support of Helmholtz-Fund (DE), and again embedded in a Length Metrology Week with CC-L WG meetings.
As of 2026-09-18, more than 80 participants from 17 countries (11 European, plus Japan, China, Thailand, Australia, Canada, South Africa) have already registered, some more are expected to follow so that about the same number of participants as back in 2023 seems to be in reach.
6 Keynote Lecturers, mainly from hi-tech industries, are invited to give inspiring presentations meant as opening talks to the respective sessions, to inform the NanoScale community about anticipated future measurement challenges and metrology requirements in industries, to encourage NMIs to uptake these demands in upcoming research projects and collaborations.
A total of about 70 abstracts have been submitted. As the number of papers submitted for talks exceeds the available timeslots again, the Scie Comm has made a review based on a scoring system to give recommendations for talks and posters. A total of 32 talks will be accommodated, and about 40 posters will be on display throughout the conference (with 2 designated poster sessions).
Furthermore, a Special Session on Nanoscale metrology for and with advanced materials has been set up.
The conference proceedings will be published in a (virtual) Special Issue of the IOP-journal "Measurement Science and Technology" (MST) again, now called “Focus Collection” by IOP. Submission deadline will be announced at the conference (likely late 2026 or early 2027). After peer review, these papers will become available from a special NanoScale landing page of MST.
Publication can be expected to be completed by the turn of 2027/2028.
The host for the next NanoScale, possibly in 2029, might be chosen at the TC-L meeting in autumn 2027 (or 2028 at the latest).
Candidates are invited to contact the coordinators of this project, shown below.
For details and updates, please see www.nanoscale.de
Progress Report 2026-01-07
Gaoliang Dai (PTB) has taken over the coordination of this project from Uwe Brand (PTB).
Progress Report 2025-09-26
The call for hosting the next NanoScale (tentative date: autumn 2026, preferably in conjunction with EURAMET TC-L and CCL annual meetings again) received one positive response from NPL (UK, Andrew Yacoot). A preliminary check of terms and conditions of the involved partners was concluded successfully so that NanoScale can be organised in a similar way as before: by NPL (UK) and PTB (DE) with the support of Helmholtz-Fund (DE).
Due to more complex logistics and entry rules for the UK as a consequence of Brexit, preparations will need to start fairly early.
Once the dates are fixed, they will be communicated by the website*, various channels and mailing list (1st circular). Attendance fees will be communicated by end-2025, submission of abstracts via web-interface in spring 2026.
* For details and updates, please see www.nanoscale.de
Progress Report 2024-09-12
After a 4-year-break due to the pandemic, NanoScale 2023 took place in person again: The 9th NanoScale conference was jointly organized by VTT MIKES (FI) and PTB (DE) with the support of Helmholtz-Fund (DE) at Technopolis Ruoholahti, Helsinki, Finland, from October 10th to October 12th, 2023.
106 participants from 24 countries participated (from 13 EURAMET countries + 11 other countries in Asia, North America and Australia), i. e. about the same number as before the pandemic, which underlines that NanoScale continues to a be an appreciated format for exchange on nanometrology, encouraging the organizers to continue the conference series in a 3-year-rhythm.
A total of 83 presentations was given: 31 oral presentations and 52 posters (similar number as previously).
All submissions were included in the Book of Abstracts (305 pages) that was handed out to the participants upon check-in and was also provided digitally. As by far more abstracts for oral presentation had been submitted than timeslots available, the Scientific Committee reviewed all abstracts for talks based on a scoring system to decide whether these papers are accepted as a talk or as a poster.
NanoScale 2023 included Special Sessions on "High-speed SPM measurements of functional properties of nanostructures" and "3D roughness & dimensional measurements using optical 3D microsopy and optical distance sensors" (EMPIR projects 20IND08 MetExSPM and 20IND07 TracOptic).
Most participants took the opportunity to visit the labs of VTT MIKES on the Otaniemi campus in Espoo.
A peer-reviewed publication of full papers in a (virtual) Special Issue of the IOP-journal "Measurement Science and Technology" (MST) is arranged again. As so-called Transformative and Institutional Open Access Agreements have been concluded recently, most authors can publish in MST on an open access basis at no cost to themselves. The final deadline for manuscript submission was 2024-02-29. To date (2024-09-12), 14 papers have already been published, and some further are expected to complete the review process soon. All NanoScale papers are conveniently accessible via the landing page: IOPscience - NanoScale 2023
The papers are also included in the printed regular issues of MST.
The call for hosting the next NanoScale (tentative date: autumn 2026, preferably in conjunction with EURAMET TC-L and CCL annual meetings again) received one positive response from NPL (UK, Andrew Yacoot). A preliminary check of terms and conditions of the involved partners has concluded successfully so that NanoScale could be organized in a similar way as before: by NPL (UK) and PTB (DE) with the support of Helmholtz-Fund (DE). Due to more complex logistics and entry rules for the UK as a consequence of Brexit, preparations will need to start fairly early.
The proposal to host NanoScale 2026 at NPL will be presented at the EURAMET TC-L annual meeting in Oct. 2024 for discussion and decision.
For details and updates, please see www.nanoscale.de
Progress Report 2023-09-29
After a 4-year-break due to the pandemic, NanoScale 2023 will take place in person.
The 9th NanoScale conference is jointly organised by VTT MIKES (FI) and PTB (DE) with the support of Helmholtz-Fund (DE) at Technopolis Ruoholahti, Helsinki, Finland, from October 10th to October 12th, 2023.102 participants from 23 countries have registered (from 13 EURAMET countries + 10 other countries in Asia, North America and Australia).
This year’s Nanoscale will include Special Sessions on "High-speed SPM measurements of functional properties of nanostructures" and "3D roughness & dimensional measurements using optical 3D microsopy and optical distance sensors" (EMPIR projects 20IND08 MetExSPM and 20IND07 TracOptic). As by far more abstracts for oral presentation had been submitted until the deadline 2023-07-12 than timeslots available, the Scientific Committee reviewed all abstracts for talks based on a scoring system to decide whether these papers are accepted as a talk or as a poster. A total of 83 presentations will be given: 31 oral presentations and 52 posters.
All submissions are included in the Book of Abstracts (305 pages) that will be handed out to the participants upon check-in. Lab tours to the metrology labs of VTT MIKES on the Otaniemi campus in Espoo will be offered to the participants, too.
NanoScale intends to offer peer-reviewed publication of full papers in a (virtual) Special Issue of the IOP-journal "Measurement Science and Technology" (MST) again. As so-called Transformative and Institutional Open Access Agreements have been concluded recently, most authors can publish in MST on an open access basis at no cost to themselves. The tentative deadline for submission will be Decenber 2023, to allow authors more time for the drafting of their manuscripts. Once published, all NanoScale participants will be granted free access to all papers (incl. those that are not open access) of this Special Issue for a given time
For details and updates, please see www.nanoscale.de
Scientific Committee Members for Nanoscale Conference 2023:
Alexandra Delvallée (LNE, Paris), Andrew Yacoot (NPL, Teddington), Antti Lassila (VTT MIKES, Espoo), Bakir Babic (NMIA, Lindfield, Australia), Christian Kottler (METAS, Bern), Hans-Ulrich Danzebrink (PTB, Braunschweig), Marco Pisani (INRIM, Torino), Petr Klapetek (CMI, Brno), Richard Koops (VSL, Delft), Teodor Gotszalk (Wroclaw University of Technology, Wroclaw), Virpi Korpelainen (VTT MIKES, Espoo) and as external partner from APMP-region Bakir Babic and Malcolm Lawn (NMIA, Lindfield, Australia)
Progress Report 2020-10-06
The conference has been organised together with other NMI or university institutes working in the field of nanotechnology/-metrology in a cycle of 3 years since 2013.
- April 2013 Paris together with LNE, 95 participants including 22 non-European, 20 talks and posters
- March 2016 Wroclaw together with University of Wroclaw and GUM, 90 participants including 15 non European, 20 talks and 56 posters
- October 2019 Braunschweig (PTB), more than 103 participants incl. 20 non-European, 20 talks, and more than 60 posters.
In 2019 the Nanoknight Award was awarded for the second time since 2008.
Nanoscale papers were published in the IOP-journal "Measurement Science and Technology".
The next Nanoscale is planned to be organised at MIKES in 2023 (delayed due to Corona pandenic).
Progress Report 2019-09-29
The NanoScale conference series will stimulate the exchange of experiences between researchers, industrial users and metrologists in the fields of optical, electron and scanning probe microscopy as well as related techniques, to solve daily measurement challenges in the micro- and nano-world.
Main topics to be addressed in the field of instrumentation and methods, calibration and correction methods and application.
The conference is organised together with other NMI or university institutes working on the field of nanotechnology/-metrology in a cycle of 3 years since 2013.
- April 2013 Paris together with the LNE, 95 participants including 22 non-European, 20 talks and posters
- March 2016 Wroclaw together with the University of Wroclaw and GUM, 90 participants including 15 non European, 20 talks and 56 posters
- October 2019 Braunschweig, ~ more than 103 participants incl. 20 non-European, 20 talks, and more than 60 posters
Papers are published in the journal "Measurement Science and Technology" of the IOP.
In 2019 a call for a candidate for the Nanoknight Award has been announced for the second time since 2008. A candidate has been selected and will be awarded during the NanoScale 2019.