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Official course description.

Three compulsory modules: the wider context of nanotechnology; the fundamental science of nanotechnology; fundamental characterisation for nanotechnology. Three compulsory Oxford modules: introduction to bionanotechnology; nanomedicine: science and applications; clinical translation and commercialisation of nanomedicine. Approximately eighteen weeks of original research, written up as a dissertation.

Nanotechnology studies and controls matter whose important dimensions are on the nanoscale, conventionally about $1$–$100$ nanometres. A nanometre is $10^{-9}$ metres. The scientific interest comes from changes in behaviour at these dimensions, including the increasing role of surfaces and, in suitable systems, quantum confinement.^[ref]

For example, subdividing a fixed volume into smaller nanoparticles increases the exposed surface area, changing how much material can participate in a surface reaction. Nanostructures can also alter electrical conductivity, interaction with light and mechanical properties by controlling geometry rather than changing only chemical chemical composition. Useful nanotechnology therefore combines fabrication with measurements of structure and properties, such as electron microscopy or atomic force microscopy.^[ref]