The University of Toronto will next year offer a nanoengineering undergraduate programme that combines chemistry, physics and materials science engineering.

Douglas Perovic, professor of applied science and engineering, says that the programme has already sparked a huge response. Students will be recruited from the university's engineering science course, but others can apply. The curriculum will open up four new professorships, as well as new positions in electrical computer engineering, physics and chemistry.

The new course involves seven university units: the materials science, physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, applied chemistry, mechanical and industrial engineering departments, and the institute for biomaterials and biomedical engineering. During the first two years, students will concentrate heavily on maths and physics, but in the final two years they will specialize in nanoengineering-type subjects. In the fourth year they will prepare a research thesis, as is done in masters programmes. In addition, they will be able to select groups of courses in their individual fields of interest.