The program allows science and engineering undergraduate students to spend a summer in Japan, learning the language and culture and then completing research internships with Japanese nanotechnology laboratories, according to a press release.

"NanoJapan" won the 2008 Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education in the study abroad category, the release said. The award will be presented March 13 at a ceremony at the United Nations. The award is given by the Institute of International Education.

The program prepares students to work internationally and gives them an opportunity to study in another country while continuing to work in their major field, rather than taking time off to study abroad in an unrelated field, the press release said.

NanoJapan began in 2006.