Introduction

"Carbon nanotube" research was born in 1991 and has since rapidly conquered an important place in the scientific community for both fundamental and applied research. Its established and durable scientific importance is due to the unique characteristics of these nano-objects, which concern a very broad range of scientific fields including physics, chemistry, life sciences, etc. This intrinsic multidisciplinarity necessitates organisation of research effort into networks able to gather together complementary expertise and create synergies.

In order to provide such favourable conditions for this area of research, in 1998 the CNRS founded a national network called the "GDR" ("Groupement de Recherche", literally "Research Group"), and in 2005, an international network (GDR-I) called "Science and Applications of Nanotubes" (Nano-I). Within four years, the group has built a real cohesive international scientific community with much added value compared to a standard partnership: training for small research teams and individual researchers, aid for collaborations and exchanges between teams in the group, knowledge sharing, extensive discussions during periodic general and thematic meetings organized by the group, organization of thematic schools for young researchers, international workshops and conferences, aid to students for attending these different meetings and promotion of their work. It has thus acquired a key international visibility, crowned by the organization in 2008 in Montpellier of the largest conference on nanotubes (NT08) up to now.

At a scientific level, the group has created the most favourable conditions for facing the increasing complexity of the research, in a highly competitive context within a rapidly evolving field. It has also been efficient in dealing with the emergence of research on a new kind of carbon nanostructure: Graphene. This nanostructure, linked to the nanotubes, is currently the focus of major interest at the international level, due to its specific intrinsic properties and its high potential for applications in nano-electronics and sensing systems.

At the end of this GDR-I, it became therefore evidently necessary to renew this international federative structure by including in its field the theme Graphene. The objective for this new group, entitled "Graphene and Nanotubes: science and applications" ("GNT") will be to exploit the international recognition and the cohesion of the community working on nanotubes for creating a network cross-linking research on nanotubes and graphene.

Its scientific activity will be based on three vital and emerging research themes, which develop knowledge of basic properties of individual nano-objects as well as their manipulation for developing devices linked to the industrial and socio-economical world.

The group gathers together an ensemble of French, European and Canadian partners who have played a major role in the activities of the previous GDR, and to which are added scientists of international reputation working on graphene. Activities of the group will be defined and developed in close interaction with a national organisation, also created by the CNRS in 2009, which gathers together the French community working on the same themes.