This NSF award by the Chemical and Biological Separations program provides partial travel support for US graduate students to attend MIP2010: The 6th International Conference on Molecular Imprinting held August 8-12, 2010 in New Orleans, LA.
MIP2010 is a biannual forum where international researchers from academia, government, and industry meet to review advances in the field, and define areas for future investigations. For the first time, this conference will be held in the United States. The importance of having this meeting in America cannot be emphasized enough. Both current chairs (David Spivak of Louisiana State University and Kenneth J. Shea of the University of California in Irvine) have attended all five previous international meetings, where attendance by U.S. based scientists has fallen drastically from approximately 30 out of 130 (23%) persons at the first meeting in Cardiff, Wales in 2000; down to 3 U.S. scientists out of 225 (1.3%) at the meeting in Japan in 2008.
To encourage the participation of young scientists at this years international Conference, the PI will offer Graduate Student Travel Awards to offset a portion of the travel expenses to the conference.
Broader Impacts
The Journal of Molecular Recognition (JMR) has contracted to publish a special edition dedicated to the MIP2010 conference. The PI is also working with John Wiley and Sons, to organize papers submitted from presenters at the MIP2010 conference. Graduate students studying the subject of molecular imprinting, or related fields will have the opportunity to interact with international graduate students and experts in the molecular imprinting field. Not only will discussions enhance their understanding of molecular imprinting, it will also promote the development of research collaborations. Also, this is an important opportunity for the graduate students to present their work at an international conference.
For the first time, the international "Molecular Imprinting Symposium" held biennially was held in the United States with the title: "MIP2010: The Future of Molecular Imprinting". The importance of having this meeting in America cannot be emphasized enough. Both current chairs (David Spivak of Louisiana State University and Kenneth J. Shea of the University of California in Irvine) have attended all five previous international meetings, where attendance by U.S. based scientists has fallen drastically from approximately 30 out of 130 (23%) persons at the first meeting in Cardiff, Wales in 2000; down to 3 U.S. scientists out of 225 (1.3%) at the meeting in Japan in 2008. The conference took place during August 9-12, 2010 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana; with 102 participants of which 40 were graduate students. Over half of the graduate students applied for financial aid from this grant to offset costs of travel and lodging; and 5 of the students who applied were eligible (either US citizens or attending US university) and did receive financial aid from this grant. Graduate students studying the subject of molecular imprinting or related fields benefitted in many ways by attending the MIP2010 conference. First, they were brought up to date with the latest findings in the field. Second, they had the opportunity to interact with fellow graduate students and faculty from different institutions, learning who is in the field and what their interests are. The discussions enhanced their understanding of molecular imprinting, and promoted the development of research collaborations. Third, it was a good opportunity for students to network with potential future employers or post-doctoral advisors. And last, it was an important opportunity for the graduate students to present their work at an international conference.
