Initially, Institute of Advanced Energy Related Nanomaterials was organized at the University of Ulm as a temporary research unit for the period 2002-2004 in order to implement the research project "Sequence Design of Functional Copolymers". The funding of the project is coming from the Wolfgang Paul Award which was given in 2001 to Professor Alexei R. Khokhlov (M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Physics Department) by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The purpose of the Award is to carry out high-ranking and innovative research in cooperation with colleagues in Germany. Since 2005, after the end of Wolfgang Paul Award period, the funding of Institute comes from the projects of SFB-569 and DFG, as well as from resources of the University of Ulm (during 2005-2011 It was named Institute of Polymer Science).