Abstract – Modern day policy making demands to include citizens in the decision making process and this is crucial before the introduction of any emerging technology such as nanotechnology, the science and art of manipulating things at the atomic scale. Even though there is no comprehensive governing regulation, there are already more than 1600 consumer products in the market and thousands more are in the pipeline. Some European countries have already initiated some steps to regulate it. However, before taking any such step, this is important to assess citizen’s view about this technology. This study aims at studying the knowledge, understanding, and perception of 490 students from four private higher education institutes of Malaysia. A questionnaire was distributed in this regard and it has been revealed that though there are some concerns as to the risk, a considerable number of students are aware of the term ‘nanotechnology’ (63.46%) and the presence of a number of consumer products in the market. More than 72% are in favour of its application and introduction in different sectors. However, the students do not possess sufficient knowledge about nanotechnology, and only 6% of the respondents claimed that they know this emerging technology very well, whereas, 49.38% replied that they know little and 33.26% only heard the term, but do not know about it.

Keywords – Nanotechnology and nanoscience, enabling and emerging technology, public perception, policy and regulation, risk and safety