The University of Chicago Institute for Molecular Engineering

Argonne National Laboratory

The University's partner in founding the institute is Argonne National Laboratory, which the University manages for the U.S. Department of Energy. The new partnership, which includes a substantial presence at the lab, creates a powerful combination of research strengths crucial to the next generation of scientific discoveries. The institute benefits from leading scientists and engineers and the world-class facilities at Argonne, including the Advanced Photon Source, the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, and the Center for Nanoscale Materials.

Another benefit of the partnership with Argonne is the lab's experience in shepherding projects with the potential for industrial and commercial applications, such as Argonne's licensing of innovative battery technology for use in hybrid automobiles. The new institute has the potential to create new findings with commercial uses. University and laboratory leaders believe that intellectual property from the institute will help strengthen the Chicago-area economy, and lead to even more robust regional activity for cutting-edge engineering and biotechnology companies.

University Partners

The University's excellence in physics, chemistry, and molecular biology are a vital resource for the institute because molecular engineers explore nature at the nanoscale and build new materials and devices with atomic precision. Scientists in this sub-microscopic realm rely on deep expertise in these basic sciences in order to do their work. To facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration, the institute will share the Eckhardt Research Center with portions of the Physical Sciences Division and will also be closely located to the Biological Sciences Division, Pritzker School of Medicine, and University of Chicago Medical Center.