In November 2013, we published a number of articles about nanoscience education. We asked scientists involved in education to discuss the challenges of teaching such a multidisciplinary topic, and we asked students to comment on their own education experience. We covered several aspects, but felt that the topic deserved more attention in the journal. From this issue we will be publishing each month a page — titled 'In the Classroom' — dedicated to nanoscience education.

The 'classroom' we have in mind here is a generic place of learning. We want to provide a venue for scientists involved in education to discuss their ideas and for students to share their learning experiences. We would also like to use this space, on occasion, to provide our own perspective.

For the first article, we asked Doug Natelson of Rice University in the US to share his thoughts on nanoscience education based on his experience as a scientist and teacher; and he provides a series of interesting pointers. No doubt some may disagree with his views on the topic, but we hope these points will, at least, be the start of further debate on the subject.

Although we intend to commission most of the articles, if you are interested in contributing to this section, please send us your ideas at naturenano@nature.com. While we won't be able to publish everything we receive, we'll do our best to accommodate the most original views and perspectives.