Progress in technology has brought microelectronics to the nanoscale, but nanoelectronics is not yet a well-defined engineering discipline with a coherent, experimentally verified, theoretical framework. The NCN has a vision for a new, ‘bottom-up’ approach to electronics, which involves: understanding electronic conduction at the atomistic level; formulating new simulation techniques; developing a new generation of software tools; and bringing this new understanding and perspective into the classroom. We address problems in atomistic phenomena, quantum transport, percolative transport in inhomogeneous media, reliability, and the connection of nanoelectronics to new problems such as biology, medicine, and energy. We work closely with experimentalists to understand nanoscale phenomena and to explore new device concepts.