Laser Ablation Specialist Wins Plasma Spectrochemistry Award

The winner of the fourth European Award for Plasma Spectrochemistry is Dr Annemie Bogaerts, professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, as announced today by the independent award panel. The ‘Plasma Prize’ donated by Agilent Technologies, Inc is awarded every two years to promote analytical plasma spectrochemical developments and applications in Europe. The prize is awarded for either a single outstanding piece of work or for continued important contributions in this field.

This year’s prize recognises Dr Bogaerts’ work on modeling the mechanisms of laser ablation of solid samples followed by analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry or optical emission spectroscopy. These working models for understanding complex processes are proving highly useful to fellow researchers.

“I feel very honoured to receive this award, especially considering the list of previous winners,” Dr Bogaerts said. “We’ve been developing computer models for analytical plasmas and laser ablation for quite a few years, to assist experimental developments and improve analytical applications. I consider this award as recognition of the analytical community for our work.”

“We’re pleased to support the efforts of creative scientists like Dr Bogaerts, who are demonstrating to the world just how powerful this technology can be,” said Don Potter, Agilent Global Marketing Manager, ICP-MS, in announcing the award. Dr Bogaerts will receive the award at the European Winter Plasma Conference on February 15 2009, in Graz, Austria, where she’ll also be invited to present a lecture. The prize consists of EUR 5000 cash and an expense-paid trip to Japan to attend a scientific event or seminar. Dr Bogaerts will also be invited to present a lecture there. Travel expenses to the European Winter Plasma Conference are included in the prize.