"A number of R&D institutes and enterprises of the Dresden/ Chemnitz area have joined forces by establishing the Center of Excellence ""Ultrathin Functional Films"" in order to better make use of their experience. This experience is much diversified and essentially covers the whole range of nanotechnology, with ultra-thin functional layers and their various applications as a main subject. The envisaged novel applications are widely spread from the more ""traditional"" field of microelectronics to the rapidly developing overlap fields between physics, chemistry, biology, and medical sciences. Establishing the Center of Excellence ""Ultrathin Functional Films"" intensifies and deepens the connections among the partners with the aim to unite the diverse competence in order to launch R&D-projects in consensus between industry and science. The inclusion of experts of administration and financing in addition to those of science and technology is to pave the way for a smooth run from the very basic idea to industrial production, thus providing an environment that invites entrepreneurs in the field of nanotechnology and related fields. As a long-term vision, the Center of Excellence ""Ultrathin Functional Films"" should make a synergetic effect that turns the greater Dresden area into a ""Nano-Valley""."