The Nanomer project, launched in 2024 and coordinated by ENS de Lyon, continues its mission to advance nanoscience education, promote pedagogical innovation, and encourage international best practice exchange. Now gathering 16 partner institutions from Europe and Latin America, the project is developing diverse initiatives for students, teachers, and researchers.
The 2025-2026 academic year was marked by several concrete actions from ENS de Lyon. These initiatives aim to develop students' transversal skills, such as critical thinking and communication, while encouraging experience sharing and pedagogical practice exchange among educators.
Student mobility is a key activity of Nanomer. Through Erasmus+ grants, students and doctoral candidates from Latin America have been able to join French or Spanish institutions for research stays. In 2025, Sébastian Zangoni, a doctoral student from the University of Buenos Aires, conducted a research stay at the Chemistry Laboratory of ENS de Lyon, discovering new approaches and expanding his scientific network. In September 2026, Wara Echazu (Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia) and Yadira Collahuazo (Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Ecuador) also joined ENS de Lyon for three-month stays.
The project also facilitates exchanges between teacher-researchers. Galo Soler-Illia, a professor at the University of Buenos Aires and director of the Institute of Nanosystems, has been affiliated with the Chemistry Laboratory at ENS de Lyon since 2023. Invited to Lyon over the past three academic years, he has contributed to training through conferences and teaching, particularly on mesostructured and mesoporous materials. He has also explored new avenues for collaboration on master's internships and co-supervised thesis projects.
Collective events enrich the mobility programs, such as the Nanomer workshops. Following a first edition hosted by ENS de Lyon in November 2025, the 2026 workshop will take place in Castellón, Spain, at the Universitat Jaume I, bringing together students and doctoral candidates on mobility.
To evolve pedagogical practices, Nanomer organizes remote webinars and workshops. A webinar on teaching in the age of artificial intelligence, led by Anne Clavel from the Institut Français de l'Éducation, exemplified this interdisciplinary approach fostering innovation.
A resource library, developed on a Moodle platform at ENS de Lyon, hosts training videos and working documents, accessible upon request. Videos are also available on the Nanomer YouTube channel.
International cooperation is also supported by dedicated staff. In late June 2026, a Staff Training Week was held at Sorbonne Université, in collaboration with ENS de Lyon and the Universitat Politècnica de València. Colleagues from both continents exchanged on best practices, international mobility, and funding opportunities.
Karin Kim Lim, Head of International Cooperation and Partnerships at ENS de Lyon, spoke at this event on different typologies of international partnerships.
