Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the national foundation for investment in scientific and engineering research in Ireland, awarded prizes to the best young and emerging scientists at the TERMIS-EU 2010 conference held in Galway last week.
TERMIS is one of the most prestigious organisations in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine globally and attracts interest from the highest levels of the scientific community in biomedical research.
To recognise the importance of hosting the TERMIS conference in Ireland, which is a first, Science Foundation Ireland sponsored several awards at the event including the Science Foundation Ireland Award for Exemplary Podium Presentations, the SFI Award for Exemplary Poster Presentations and the Science Foundation Ireland Award for Exemplary Rapid Fire Delivery.
The winners of the Science Foundation Ireland Awards for Exemplary Podium Presentations were Hannah Levis, University College London, United Kingdom, Anna Marsano, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland and Estelle Collin, Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials, NUIG, Ireland. With over 60 oral presentations being considered for these awards, judging was based on clarity of presentation, impact to the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine field, management of presentation time and technical presentation. Judging was performed by the session chairs and members of the audience.
The Science Foundation Ireland Awards for Exemplary Poster Presentations were won by Anna Blocki, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Inga Bernemann, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany and Stephen Thorpe, Trinity Centre for Bioengineering, Dublin, Ireland. These awards were judged based on clarity of posters, overall presentation, impact to the TERM field and the individuals own presentation of the poster to their peers. Judging was performed by the Students and Young Investigators Section committee and independent delegates at the conference.
Finally, the winners of the Science Foundation Ireland Award for Exemplary Rapid Fire Delivery were won by Umber Cheema, University College London, United Kingdom, Ana Barradas, MRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, Enschede, The Netherlands and Adam Stops, Biomechanics Group, National Centre for Biomedical Engineering, National University of Ireland, Galway. The Exemplary Rapid Fire Delivery awards were primarily judged on management of time and quality of presentation.
In total, there were over 300 podium presentations and almost 350 poster presentations from leading international research laboratories, industry and clinical institutes focused on tissue engineering. Almost 60% of the abstracts submitted were from senior researchers, increasing the scientific quality and calibre of submissions at the event.
SFI invests in academic researchers and research teams who are most likely to generate new knowledge, leading edge technologies and competitive enterprises in the emerging sectors of life science, ICT and sustainable energy. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is clearly a major emerging discipline globally.
With almost 750 scientists meeting in Galway last week, the tangible benefits which the strategic research funding programmes bring to Ireland, such as those developed by SFI in recent years, are highlighted by the hosting of this prestigious meeting. According to Professor Abhay Pandit, Chair of the meeting, and the Director of the Science Foundation Ireland funded Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials (NFB) in Galway, ‘these awards support and encourage young researchers and highlights Ireland as a location of critical importance in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine and a place to be.’
ENDS
