Nanoscale research is commonly associated with applied research, defined here as research whose achievements are evaluated for their practical utility. In opposition to this reduction, I defend the idea that many objectives in nano-scale research are not evaluated by practical values, but rather by genuine epistemic values common to other fields of research. The distinction between cognitive and epistemic values allows us to understand how distinct objectives evaluated separately can be entangled in a common inquiry. Analytical categories drawn from the cognitive and epistemic distinction are used, in order to define objectives and values specific to nanoscale research. These categories are then applied to a specific scientific project organized around one general objective (detecting the herbicide paraquat) and a method for developing sensors (by the production of nano-channels, between 2 and 50 nm).