On April 26-28, Cleary presented a poster with key study findings during a workshop on nanotechnology education held at the University of Southern California.  The event was sponsored by the Center for Nanotechnology and Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).  On May 11, Cleary presented the poster at an NSF site visit at the Center for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State University.  Cleary also delivered an interactive presentation of the study findings at a session of the Nanotech 2009 conference in Houston, Texas, the largest nanotechnology event in the world.

The study, which identified over 50 formal degree programs with the term “nano” in the title, found that degree programs are, like the technology itself, in an emerging phase.  Programs are highly variable in terms of structure and content, and are not generally situated in areas of high nanotechnology research and patenting activity.  Rather, programs cluster in response to state and local policy initiatives.  Since other studies have revealed that employers prefer to hire nanotechnology workers who have earned degrees in traditional disciplines, the value of these new degrees in the current labor market is uncertain, though they may become more relevant as the field of nanotechnology matures.