In view of the outlook of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have now decided that ICN+T 2021 will run as an all virtual event. While we’re disappointed not to be able to welcome you all to beautiful Vancouver, BC, we look forward to hosting an exciting, interactive, and widely accessible virtual meeting.

As chairs of the organizing committee of ICN+T 2021, we look forward to hosting an exciting virtual conference program highlighting ground-breaking advances in the field of nanoscience. To cover our global community, participating from various time zones, we will offer two live interactive sessions daily with panels and Q&A, alongside a flexible on-demand platform to view talks, posters, exhibitor content, and schedule live discussions with other participants. It will be different, but this moment provides us a unique opportunity to re-examine how we share our work and connect with each other.

With plenary talks to provide overviews of some of the major progress made in key areas in our field, invited speakers highlighting ground-breaking advances, and contributed talks spanning the breadth that our field encompasses, we hope you will find ICN+T an ideal venue to share and learn about advances in nanoscience and technology. We have selected seven cross-cutting areas to highlight as special focus topics where recent advances have provided new insight and new future directions, including a special category to share how many in our community have taken nano into the field to address challenges brought by COVID-19:

• EM fields & SPM: breaking speed limits and shedding light
  
• Artificially designed lattices: self-assembly and atomic manipulation
  
• 2D materials and non-trivial topological phases
  
• Materials x Quantum Information: qubit materials and devices, and applications of quantum computing for materials discovery
  
• Energy storage and harvesting: materials, devices and characterization
  
• Single molecule biosensing: concepts, devices and technologies
  
• Small lessons from COVID-19: nano-platforms for disease detection, intervention and prevention
  

As we assemble this exciting program, we look forward to welcoming you to exchange ideas and connect with colleagues on our virtual platform.

In the meantime, stay healthy, stay safe, and stay tuned for more details.

Sincerely,

The Organizing Committee,

Sarah Burke (Quantum Matter Institute, University of British Columbia) and Sander Otte (Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, TU Delft)