The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of California at Santa Barbara (CNS-UCSB) is funded by the National Science Foundation and "serves as a national research and education center, a network hub among researchers and educators concerned with societal issues concerning nanotechnologies, and a resource base for studying these issues in the US and abroad."
[1][2] Nanotechnology (sometimes shortened to nanotech or nano) is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale.
[2] The Center aims to disseminate both its technological and social scientific findings on nanoscale science to policymakers and those outside the nano field, and to facilitate broader public participation in the nanotechnological enterprise.
It does this through public engagement between academic researchers with regulators, educators, industrial scientists, and policy makers, as well as community-based organizations and NGOs.
The Center’s education and outreach programs include students and people outside the nanotech field.