The GDRi iCEINT was made possible thanks to the long-term partnership between the group of Dr. J-Y Bottero from CEREGE (Aix en Pce-France) and the group of Pr. M.R. Wiesner from Duke University (Durham, USA) (previously RIce University, Houston, USA). On the american side the different laboratories belong to CEINT (Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology) created in 2008 with funding from the National Science Foundation and the US Environmental Protection Agency. On the French side the laboratories started to collaborate in 2002 funded by INSU (French National Institute for Earth Sciences and Astronomy) Under the ECCO program. All French partners are currently actively involved in many projects funded by the ANR (French Research National Agency) and the European Comission.
Our current knowledge of the fundamental interactions of nanomaterials with living systems and their potential effects on ecosystem function is in the formative stage at best. Some headway has been made in exploring the potential impacts of nanomaterials on human health. However, investigation of the roles of nano-scale objects as agents of evolutionary change, environmental perturbation, and their effect on ecosystem structure and function have lagged behind advances in fabricating, measuring and manipulating materials at the nano-scale. To remedy this situation, nanoscientists must be engaged with environmental scientists. But, leaders in environmental biology, biogeochemistry, ecotoxicology, and ecology must also look for ways to apply nanoscience to their own fields while interacting with government and industrial scientists to create rigorous methods and protocols that have scientific legitimacy across disciplines. This will facilitate broad acceptance and dissemination of common procedures needed to create a body of research that is both comparable and reproducible. Our international consortium provides the mechanism for accomplishing these vital tasks through an extensive, tightly networked array of scientists and labs representing a wide range of disciplines that are connected to society at large with exceptional outreach programs. Our overarching objective is to elucidate the role of nano-scale phases in ecosystems, their interactions with organisms, and the mechanisms by which they exert their influence.