JSI is the largest research institution in Slovenia, covering the fields of physics, chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, electronics and information technology, nuclear reactor engineering and energetics. JSI is also intensively involved in post-graduate education via the Jožef Stefan Postgraduate School and the Universities of Ljubljana, Maribor and Nova Gorica.

The main activity within this project will be conducted at the Department for Materials Synthesis and the Department of Complex Matter. The research focus and expertise of the two departments is complementary and covers all aspects of materials chemistry and physics. The research at the Department for Materials Synthesis is focused on nanomaterials, including their syntheses, characterization, functionalization, colloidal chemistry, self-assembly, and the chemical, structural and physical properties of nanoparticles.

The research in the group Light and Matter within the Department of Complex Matter is focused on the physics of soft matter, from investigations of optical properties to hydrodynamic behaviour and self-assembly in thin films, of materials such as liquid crystals, elastomers, colloids and biological systems, using a variety of optical and surface methods.