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BRIGHT SPARK SYMPOSIUM
BRIGHT SPARK SYMPOSIUM 2023
The Bright Spark Symposium 2023 was held in Liverpool.
Past Bright Spark Symposiums
Bright Spark Symposium 2023, Liverpool
BSS 2023 was held at the iconic Victoria Gallery & Museum, at the University of Liverpool. Chaired by Dakshat Trivedi, this event was attended by scientists from industry, academic institutions and some independent researchers. The talks ranged from ion-mobility mass spectrometry to applications of novel vibrational spectroscopy platforms to metabolomics of gut microbiome. A wide array of posters were presented at the symposium by PGRs, PhDs and early career postdoctoral scientists and researchers. Oral and poster prizes were awarded and sponsored by Shimadzu UK Limited. Event highlights can be viewed in the gallery above.
Bright Spark Symposium 2019
BSS 2019 was held at the University of Brighton and featured talks on a range of topics from the development of biosensors for neurotransmitters to validation of IC-MS methods for use in a forensic explosives laboratory. The best poster prize was awarded to Mareike Herrmann from the University of Brighton for her poster titled "development and characterisation of carbon nano disk electrodes for monitoring extracellular vesicles". The prize for best oral presentation was awarded to Georgia Wood from the University of Warwick for her talk titled "high pressure high temperature synthesis of highly boron doped diamond microparticles for electrochemical applications"
Bright Spark Symposium 2018
Brightsparks 2018 was held at the University of Manchester and was our biggest event yet with a sellout crowd of nearly 50 early career attendees arriving to showcase their work. Talks ranged from the applications of proteomics for palaeobiology and novel methods for spectroscopic carbon dating to the use of eye tracking for sensing focal attention.
The prize for best oral presentation was awarded to James Hughes from the University of Birmingham for his talk titled "DESI imaging of intact proteins in human non-alcoholic steatohepatitis tissue: A large cohort study". The best poster prize was awarded to Lucy Wheeler from the University of York for her poster "amino acid racemisation in foraminifera: tests for an intra-crystalline fraction and closed system behaviour". Both awards were judged by the ASN committee and present by BSS chair Emily Kempa
Bright Spark Symposium 2017
Following on from the inaugural bright spark symposium (BSS) in 2016, BSS 2017 was held at the University of Bath on September 11th. Posters and presentations showcased work performed by early career analytical scientists and covered a spectrum of analytical disciplines, including gamma spectrometry, paramagnetic NMR, mass spectrometry and nanopore-based sensing.
A prize for the best poster was presented by Professor Michael Thompson of the analytical methods committee (AMC) to Matthew Healey from Loughborough University (left) for his poster titled "Using nanopores to exploit particle translocation velocities for assay development". The prize for best talk was awarded by conference chair Jack Rice to Hazim Yusof of Loughborough University for his talk "Take my breath away: It's potential and implications".
Bright Spark Symposium 2016
Building on the success of the Analytical Science Network’s annual Emerging Analytical Professionals conference, the first Bright Spark Symposium (BSS) was held at the University of Warwick on the 12th of September. The BSS was a one day conference that providing opportunities for early career analytical scientists to present their work in a low pressure, friendly environment. 35 delegates attended from all over the UK, from both industry and academia, with talks and posters on a wide range of analytical topics, including NMR, electrochemistry and Raman spectroscopy. Congratulations to Samuel Cobb from the University of Warwick, winner of the best talk prize for his presentation on “Boron doped diamond electrodes for electroanalytical applications” and Dominic Macias from the University of Bath for his poster on “Isolation and characterisation of chromophoric compounds from tree bark”.
Dominic Macias, winner of the best poster prize, being presented his award by conference chair Zoe Ayres (left) and Sam Cobb, winner of the best oral presentation prize (right).