SLAS earmarks $1 million for educational grant program

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) announced the $1-million funding of its new Graduate Education Fellowship Grant Program, which will enable students to pursue advanced degrees, and ultimately careers, in quantitative biosciences. This announcement was made by SLAS President Dean Ho at the opening session of SLAS2015, the Society’s Fourth Annual Conference and Exhibition, which took place Feb. 7-11 in Washington, D.C.

“A pillar of the SLAS mission is to advance laboratory science and technology through education about scientific research,” says Ho. “In that spirit, we are especially proud to announce this important new component in the Society’s ongoing commitment to nurturing scientific innovation and innovators. Education has always been a cornerstone of SLAS’s purpose, and one of the most powerful things that we do. Implementing this fund takes our support of scientific education, innovation and careers to the next level.”

The SLAS Graduate Education Fellowship Program will fund institutions with noted graduate-level educational research programs that are consistent with SLAS’s defined scope toward quantitative biosciences and/or life sciences. A specific student and a specific research project of that student will be selected by the institution, and the institution will be awarded the grant to be applied to that student’s academic benefits. An educational organization may apply for a grant of up to $50,000 per year, per student, for two consecutive years.

This program will be administered under the SLAS Awards and Grants Advisory Committee. Applications will be formally reviewed by a specific SLAS Grants Committee, which will be formed later in 2015. SLAS anticipates that applications will begin to be accepted in early 2016 with the first grant being awarded by July 2016.

“As a global society, we are committed to fostering continued scientific innovation and cultivating the next generation of professionals who will drive that innovation, which will ultimately result in better, more accurate research,” continues Ho. This new program will serve as a catalyst for supporting the high-achievers in our community and allowing us to learn from them.”

The $1 million with which SLAS is seeding this new program is in addition to the more than $150,000 the Society allocates annually to underwrite student programs and participation at the annual SLAS International Conference and Exhibition by way of the Tony B. Academic Scholarship Program, student-focused programming, deeply discounted memberships and journal access, career services and related skills development. In order to sustain and expand the SLAS Educational Fund, the society intends to conduct future fundraising initiatives among SLAS members and the industries SLAS serves.