NUANCE Fest 2025 Celebrates National Nanotechnology Day with Tours, Food, and Fun

On October 9, 2025, the NUANCE Center celebrated National Nanotechnology Day with its annual NUANCE Fest, an open-house event that welcomes new students, introduces external users to NUANCE’s shared facilities, and showcases the cutting-edge instrumentation that supports nanoscale research at Northwestern.

This year’s event featured guided tours of NUANCE’s core facilities, providing attendees with an inside look at the tools and spaces that power world-class materials and characterization research. Staff and facility managers were on hand to answer questions, explain capabilities, and assist users in becoming familiar with accessing instruments through NUcore.

Touring can make you hungry, so guests enjoyed a free pizza lunch and cupcakes before the raffle featuring prizes such as a puzzle of last year’s Art of Science image contest winner, a laser pointer, and a NUANCE T-shirt.

A highlight of the day was the announcement of the 2025 Art of Science Image Contest winners, recognizing the most visually stunning and scientifically compelling images captured using NUANCE instruments. Check out this year's winners.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back for NUANCE Fest 2026!
To learn more about NUANCE facilities, research opportunities, or upcoming events, visit our website or contact our staff at nuance@northwestern.edu.