Research in nanoscience and nanotechnology has grown rapidly in recent years and has provided numerous scientific and technological breakthroughs. The field has also, in some sense, changed the way in which a research topic can be tackled, unconstrained by traditional scientific disciplines. However, what effect have the developments in research had on the curriculum being taught in universities? And what sort of education do the nanotechnologists of the future need to succeed? Nature Nanotechnology asked a range of current, or recently graduated, masters and PhD students about their own experiences, and what, if anything, they would change about the current education system.