SMALL PRINTS: What could you do with some of the world's thinnest materials? Perhaps come up with better ways to store energy.

Later this month, in the RDS/Intel Prize Lecture for Nanoscience supported by The Irish Times, Prof Valeria Nicolosi will explore the “nano-flatlands” of ultra-thin materials, which are just a single atom thick.

At that tiny “nano” scale, many common materials exhibit unusual properties, and Prof Nicolosi, who is an ERC research professor at Trinity College Dublin’s schools of chemistry and physics and the Crann research institute, will speak about the new frontiers that those properties open.

An application she will highlight is how working with these flat materials could lead to more efficient and more long-lasting ways of storing energy. “What we are doing has got huge impact at many different levels – progress, society, economy – creating benefits for the community at large,” she says.

Professor Nicolosi will present a free, public lecture, “Exploring the Nano-flatlands: New frontiers opened by the world’s thinnest materials” in the RDS Concert Hall on November 20th at 7pm, where she will be awarded an RDS medal.

Admission is free but advance booking is essential. See rds.ie/nanoscience, email foundation@rds.ie or call 01-2407263.