The Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery and Exploration (INDEX) – one of just three such nanoelectronics research institutes in the country – is located at CNSE's Albany NanoTech complex, home to New York’s Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology.

The creation of INDEX was announced January 3, 2006 by then-Governor George E. Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The INDEX institute focuses on cutting-edge research in the field of nanotechnology, including the development of nanomaterials, fabrication technologies, nanochip designs and architectural integration schemes for realizing the computer nanochip designs of the future. As part of this effort, a new 250,000-square-foot state-of-the-art building will be constructed, which will include a new 100,000-square-foot cleanroom wing.

The INDEX institute, under the leadership of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, partners leading university researchers from Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Purdue University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), with on-site corporate researchers from leading semiconductor companies such as Intel, Micron, AMD, IBM, Texas Instruments and Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.

Public and private funding supports the project, with New York State committing matching funds to help INDEX establish the scientific, technical and manufacturing infrastructure, as well as train the educated work force necessary to allow New York to compete globally in the field of nanotechnology. Extensive funding is also provided by the federal government, semiconductor equipment manufacturers and semiconductor material suppliers.

The institute is the result of a joint effort by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) to create the “Bell Labs for the 21st Century” through partnerships between the nation’s premier research universities and the world’s leading semiconductor research, development and manufacturing companies.