SCIEX and ETP Symposium Inc. Create Bill Davidson Graduate Student Travel Award

The $2,000 prize will be awarded to a graduate student selected by ETP’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) for promising research in novel tool development, including, but not limited to, mass spectrometry.

SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, and ETP Symposium Inc. (ETP), a non-profit corporation committed to organizing educational seminars and forums intended to assist development of technologies for life sciences,today announced a call for applications from students in Canadian universities or post-secondary institutionsfor the firstBill Davidson Graduate Student Travel Award. SCIEX is sponsoring this award through its  SCIEX Academic Partnership Program.

The $2,000prize will be awarded to a graduate studentselected by ETP's Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) for promising research in novel tool development, including, but not limited to, mass spectrometry. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2013.  This prize will be awarded on a biennial basis, to be used by the recipient to pay for travel and accommodation required to participate in the biennial International Symposium on Enabling Technologies.

ETP and SCIEX will present the award on April 30 during the 7^th International Symposium on Enabling Technologies (ETP 2013) in Toronto.  The winner will receive a checkfor $2,000 and be asked to give a 30-minute presentation on his or her work.

"The Bill Davidson Graduate Student Travel Award is intended to support future leaders in analytical tool development andto providean opportunity for the next-generation of scientists to get their work out there, build contacts in the analytical tools industry and showcase their research," said Janette Champ, President, ETP Symposium Inc."We are seeing an increase in the development of novel tools for bioanalytical science, such as LC/MS/MS, and we would like to keep it going for decades to come.  Those students in graduate programs today doing research to improve small and large molecule analysis have the potential to develop into leading forward-thinkers in this thriving field of analytical instrumentation."

To commemorate today's announcement, Dr. Bob Boyd, the chair of ETP's Scientific Advisory Board, will formally introduce this award at the Tandem Mass Spec Conference this evening.  Graduate students will be encouraged to submit applications starting on December 1. 

"As a global leader in analytical technologies, we are proud to be sponsoring this new award," said Ron Bonner, Principal Scientist, SCIEX.  "SCIEX has a rich history of innovation in analytical instrumentation over the past three decades and we are actively supporting up-and-coming researchers.  Our support of this Bill Davidson Award reflects the type of commitment we have to foster academic research, such as the breakthrough research by young investigators we support through our SCIEX Academic Partnership Program."

Bill Davidson was a key contributor to the success of SCIEX.  He joined Sciex in 1978 and rose to become vice president of the research group.   His vision and leadership helped shape the development of groundbreaking instrumentation in the early days of mass spectrometry, including the API III which changed the way drug discovery was done in the late 1980s.  He consistently demonstrated a commitment to developing young talent throughout his memorable career, creating a learning environment for scientific discovery.  

About the SCIEX Academic Partnership Program

Through the Academic Partnership Program, SCIEX is providing grants to young investigators for promising research that illustrates exemplary use of mass spectrometry. The APP is a multi-faceted program designed to simplify the grant-writing process for researchers and provide access to technical expertise and support for advancing research in proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics.  To help unlock the secrets of diseases and areas of biology that need further exploration, SCIEX is partnering with academic researchers, with special emphasis on up-and-coming, young investigators in universities and non-profit research institutes.

About the ETP Symposium

ETP Symposium Inc. (ETP) is a non-profit corporation committed to organizing and operating educational seminars and forums intended to develop interdisciplinary opportunities for scientists, engineers and technologists to discuss research and development of innovative tools that extend the bioanalytical capabilities of researchers.

ETP was initiated as part of a 2002 Genome Canada project sponsored by Sciex, Genome Alberta and Genome Prairie.  The popularity of the original two symposia organized by ETP led to its incorporation in 2006.  The original founders of ETP were Dr. William (Bill) Davidson and Janette Champ.Today, under the guidance of Janette Champ, ETP continues to host events that alert scientists in the life sciences to advances in new technologies that could have a significant impact on their research activities.