The next biennial Winter Conference Awards in Plasma Spectrochemistry for 2022 are open for applications. The initial award was established in 2009, and an additional award for “young” scientists, who will be not older than 45 years at the time the award is presented, was established in 2015. Thermo Fisher Scientific sponsors both awards.

We would now like to invite scientists around the world to submit their nominations and applications for the next awards to be presented at the 2022 Winter Plasma Conference in Amelia Island, Florida, January, 2022. The awards will be presented to an established scientist and a young scientist who has made noteworthy contributions to the field of plasma spectrochemistry, either over a sustained period of time or through a single, significant breakthrough. The awards recognize achievements in one or more of the following:

  • Conceptualization and development of novel instrumentation important to plasma spectrochemistry.
  • Elucidation of fundamental events or processes involved in plasma spectrochemistry.
  • Authorship of significant research papers and/or books that have had an influential role in the advancement of plasma spectrochemistry.
  • Outstanding new applications that open new fields of use for plasma spectrochemistry.

The previous winners are as follows:

  • 2010 Prof. Ramon Barnes
  • 2012 Dr. Sabine Becker
  • 2014 Prof. Gary M. Hieftje
  • 2016 Prof. Nicoló Omenetto and Prof. Steven Ray (Young Scientist Award)
  • 2018 Prof. Robert S. Houk and Prof. Jorge Pisonero (Young Scientist Award)
  • 2020 Prof. Scott Tanner and Prof. Gerardo Gamez (Young Scientist Award)
  • 2022 Eduardo Bolea Fernández (Young Investigator Award in Plasma Spectrochemistry)
  • 2022 Donald J. Douglas (Lifetime Achievement Award in Plasma Spectrochemistry)

The award committee chooses the winners by simple majority. The award committee consists of seven members with the previous winner as chairman. Every new chairman has the right to appoint six respected scientists as members of the award committee. As soon as the winner and the other members of the new award committee have accepted their nomination, they replace the old chairman and committee.

All applications or nominations will be collected by Thermo Fisher Scientific and forwarded to the committee. The winners shall be announced approximately half a year ahead of the presentation of the awards. The winners will be awarded a sum of $5,000 USD, travel support to the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry and meeting registration.

To apply for the Winter Conference Awards in Plasma Spectrochemistry or to nominate a candidate, please submit accompanying documents (nominating letter, one-page CV and no more than one supporting letter) to wpc.award@thermofisher.com by March 31, 2021.

Legal disclaimer: The awards are presented by the Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Division of Thermo Fisher Scientific (responsible business unit: Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH). Thermo Fisher Scientific is not involved in the decision making process of the AWARD Committee. Upon acceptance of the AWARD the winner must sign an affidavit assuring that he/she is free to accept the AWARD and that he/she does not infringe any policies of his/her employer or any laws of his/her home jurisdiction by accepting the AWARD. Legal recourse is excluded. This AWARD Program is governed by German law. Place of venue for any dispute arising out of the AWARD Program is Cologne, Germany.