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Partner Highlight: NanoDays 2026 - Small Science Still Going Strong

Christina Leavell, Arizona State University
Purple NanoDays logo - the Biggest Event for the Smallest Science

We could not be more thrilled to see all the NanoDays events happening in partners’ communities across the US! 

Still going strong, we thank you all for your continued efforts to engage audiences in the science of the small and use our resources with your learners, no matter what time of year.

 

Two individuals bend down to a telescope sitting on a table. One is looking in while the other watches and waits their turn.
Photo credit International Institute for Nanotechnology

Just a few highlights from NanoDays 2026 (March 28 to April 5, 2026)

 

The International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University in Illinois held “All Scout Nano Day” on April 11, 2026. This exciting event filled with hands-on science has inspired more than 1,600 Scouts over the past 20 years. Scouts learn about nanotechnology, watch live laboratory demonstrations, participate in interactive activities, and can bring their parents to a special session highlighting career pathways in science and engineering (learn more and see footage from past events).

 

 

 

An ad for NanoDays 2026, including a microscope, two cartoonish inidividuals dressed in lab coats, and the logos for both NanoDays and the Children's Museum of Virginia.

The Children’s Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth continues to work with staff and students at the Center for Materials Research at Norfolk State University to present NanoDays each year. In 2026, approximately 20 students engaged public audiences through hands-on activities, experiments, and demonstrations at the museum.

 

 

 

 

California Science Center in Los Angeles celebrated the science of the small all week long with fun-sized nanotech activities in their Life! Gallery each morning.

NanoDays 2026 ad from the California Science Center with the NanoDays logo at the top reading "The Biggest Event for the Smallest Science!"
NanoDays 2026 ad from the California Science Center reading "Celebrate the Small"
NanoDays 2026 ad from the California Science Center reading "Did You Know?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


National Nanotechnology Day 2026 (October 9th)

If you missed celebrating during NanoDays 2026, there’s still plenty of time to get ready for National Nanotechnology Day 2026, which is celebrated each year on October 9th (10/9 honors the nanometer scale 10-9 meters—or one billionth of a meter). 

Logo for the UMN Twin Cities' October 9, 2025 Nano Day event

Last October 9th the International Institute for Biosensing and Minnesota NanoCenter at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities celebrated NanoDay 2025 by bringing academia and industry together to explore how small science can create a big impact (read more about this event).

 


All Year Long

You don't have to wait until October, there are ways to integrate NanoDays activities into your public engagement efforts all year long! For ideas how to use NanoDays materials explore: