The Kavli Foundation supports scientific research, honors scientific achievement, and promotes public understanding of scientists and their work. Its particular focuses are astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

The Fred Kavli Distinguished Lectureship in Nanoscience was deliverd at the 2012 MRS Spring Meeting by Thomas P. Russell, University of Massachusetts, Amherst . Dr. Russell's talk was titled "Big Things Come in Small Packages."