Editorial tive Committee, we approved the 昀椀ve new applied proj- ects recommended by the advisory committee, as well as 昀椀ve extensions. In addition to these diverse topics relating to SNI research, this edition of SNI INSight includes two guest articles from former nanoscience students. Alexa Dani reports on her master’s thesis in Groningen, and Gregory Zaugg on his master’s thesis at NASA — both of which are excellent examples of the opportunities available to those studying nanosciences in Basel. With that, I’d like to wish you all a happy holiday season and a good start to what will hopefully be a healthy and inspiring New Year. It’s a privilege to be part of this dy- namic, interdisciplinary network — and I’d like to thank you all for your excellent work and commitment to the SNI and to nanoresearch in general. I look forward to en- joying many further activities and interactions within the SNI network over the coming year. Dear colleagues and nanoenthusiasts, Kind regards, As the year draws to a close, I’m delighted to present an- other SNI INSight packed full of information on research from our network. This edition kicks o昀昀 with an inter- view on the arti昀椀cial intelligence known as AlphaFold, whose developers were recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry after their AI revolutionized the prediction Professor Martino Poggio, SNI Director of three-dimensional protein structures. AlphaFold is also used by numerous researchers within our network, and we look at a few examples in this edition. We then turn our attention to the topic of “nano and the environment.” Through a series of examples, we show how SNI projects are contributing to positive devel- opments in the environmental sciences and where there is a need for further research. In the previous edition of SNI INSight, we incor- porated a new section where we report on grants awarded to SNI members in recent months. With this information on wide-ranging research topics within our network, we hope to promote the 昀氀ow of information and collabora- tion within the network. Perhaps this will also provide us with some inspiration for joint research projects. SNI events such as the Annual Event and the NanoTec Apéro — both of which were held in the second half of this year — also provide ideal platforms for net- working and the exchange of ideas. For the Annual Event, we met at Lake Hallwil for the second time, and this year’s NanoTec Apéro was also held in the Canton of Aargau. Heartfelt thanks go to the team of the newly opened Park Innovaare, who hosted this event and paved the way for a fascinating, interdisciplinary dialog regarding Nano-Argo- via projects. New Nano-Argovia projects will also be launched in the coming year. Indeed, in the recent meeting of the Execu- SNI INSight December 2024 3