The Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology (ICN) (NanoCAT or Institut Català de Nanotecnologia) was established in 2003, at the initiative of the Catalan government and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Catalonia, with the aim of attracting international research talent to create a world renowned centre for nanoscience and nanotechnology research.
Research focused in the following areas:
Following collaborations between the ICN and the Spanish government's Centre for Research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CIN2), the ICN and the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) agreed to put their collaboration on an official footing and signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect in 2006.
This agreement was formalised in 2011, when CSIC representatives joined the ICN's board of patrons and then in 2013, when the ICN changed its name to the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2).