Mission:
A multidisciplinary research institute which bridges the boundaries between the physical sciences, emerging new sciences, and society in
– energy independence, health care, environmental sustainability, homeland security, and national defense;
– as a partner in Energy and Environment – with the Institute for the Environment 

Goals:
- Pool UNC materials sciences resources – manage shared research facilities that individual faculty research groups cannot sustain => CHANL.
- Encourage economic and technological development of UNC research discoveries in advanced materials science and nanotechnology.
– Provide concrete infrastructure for broader collaborations with NCSU and other North Carolina universities.
– Develop new educational opportunities for UNC graduate and undergraduate students in the multidisciplinary areas of advanced materials science and nanoscience