Category: competition

Weekly news: the power of scientific video

I’VE ALWAYS been a sucker for scientific imaging competitions, which is just as well as this seems to be one of the main growth areas in science today. Every month seems to bring along a new competition for scientists to…

Build a snowman, win an e-reader

IN WHAT is becoming something of a Christmas tradition, Oxford Gene Technology has launched an interactive online game aimed at the laboratory.   This year’s game invites players to build a snowman using a simple online interface, and then to share…

Caption competition: microscope makes student sad

  THIS picture was sent to us by Meiji Techno, which has just commissioned a new suite of 365 microscopes at the University of Liverpool, UK. The university’s new central teaching laboratory was opened last month, October 2012, just in…

Looking for this year’s top lab automation developments

EACH year, Jala, the journal of laboratory automation, seeks the top 10 technological breakthroughs in the field in order to recognise their contribution. The Jala Ten embraces laboratory automation and robotics as well as a broad range of related technologies,…

Mittermaier scores Agilent early career award

AGILENT Technologies has named Anthony Mittermaier, associate professor of chemistry at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, as the winner of its fourth annual Early Career Professor Award. This year’s award focused on the field of structural biology using nuclear magnetic…

Machine engineering at the genetic level

WE THINK of engineering as the creation of machines, while genetic engineering is the manipulation of genomes. These two disciplines come together in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGem) competition, which encourages students to exploit the growing power of biotechnology…

Design a molecule, win an iPad

CAN YOU design a molecule biologically similar to, but not the same as, a specified reference compound? The task isn’t quite as easy as simply swapping an atom or two, as the newly-designed molecule must be synthetically tractable and drug-like,…

Young researchers win 2012 SLAS awards

THE SOCIETY for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) has named the four recipients of its 2012 Young Scientist Awards. They are Brian Cox (not the TV science celebrity, but a namesake at the University of Toronto); Lauren Drowley of AstraZeneca;…

Christmas diversion from OGT

A LITTLE distraction from the lab bench is offered by Oxford Gene Technology with its online Santa catapult game. Instead of sending Christmas cards, OGT has made an electronic card with this playable game, and will reward the winner with…