Tianjin International Center for Nanoparticles and Nanosystems (TICNN) is a scientific research institution approved by the 46th Committee of Tianjin University in March 2016 and officially launched on July 22, 2018. As a newly founded international research center, TICNN has received fully support from Tianjin University executives and colleagues at all aspects. Since then, TICNN has successfully been granted multiple funding programs by National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key R&D Program, Key Program of Tianjin Natural Science Foundation, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, and China US International Cooperation Fund etc.
In 2019, TICNN has built the "Tianjin University - Mingshi Zhiyuan graphene (nano) material joint laboratory (天津大学-明石致远石墨烯（纳米）材料联合实验室)" with Mingshi Innovation and Technology Research Institute. In the same year, TICNN has established Tianjin University – 718 Yousheng joint lab (天津大学-七一八友晟联合实验室) with Beijing 718 Yousheng company. So far, TICNN has been awarded a total fund of more than 40 million yuan from the enterprises and government scientific research projects. In addition, TICNN students has received continuous scholarships supported by many enterprises, including Oxford Instrument Inc., Park Instrument Inc., 2018 Technology Ltd., Tianmei Hitachi High Tech Inc., Tescan China Ltd., SVG Tech Group, Zolix Ltd., etc.
Currently, TICNN has a research team consisted of 6 experts from 4 countries, with two full-time faculty members, including Prof. Lei Ma, Prof. Ramiro Moro, as well as 4 international affiliates, including Prof. Walt de Heer (USA), Prof. Bernd von Issendorff (Germany), Prof. Claire Berger (USA/France) and Prof. Zhigang Jiang (USA).
Since the official inauguration at Jul. 2018, TICNN has grown into a competitive international research center with strong background in scientific research and instrument development. Presently, TICNN has enrolled more than 50 master and doctoral students and 5 post-docs of which 3 have been selected as the "talents of postdoctoral international exchange program", and each has received 400,000 yuan of two-year National Postdoctoral research funding which provides excellent human resources and important post-doc reform experience for the school. By February 2022, TICNN has published more than 70 research articles (62 SCI, 48 Q2 and above), including Phys. Rev. Lett., Nat. Nanotech., Nat. Mater., Nano lett., Nat. Comm., ACS Nano, Anal. Chem., Appl. Catal. B, etc. and applied for more than 10 invention patents, 1 International Patent and 1 software copyright.
TICNN aims at building a world-class international research platform in the field of graphene electronics, cluster physics and chemistry, low dimensional condensed matter and their applications on energy materials and devices in order to cultivate research talents dedicate to contribute to pioneering research innovations and serve the country's challenging technical needs. We welcome both domestic and international collaborators to join our lab and work together towards greater success in the future.