Post Travel Awardee Statements

The SGMS awards on a regular basis travel grants to students for national and international meetings. In this section, the awardees present a small report on their travel.

I am thankful to have received a travel grant from the SGMS, which gave me the opportunity to attend the 44th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants. This symposium is a globally recognized event, bringing together leading experts and researchers in the field of environmental chemistry. It provided a beautiful location for the exchange of ideas and insights on halogenated pollutants, a topic central to my own research.

The symposium featured discussions on cutting-edge developments and addressing critical environmental challenges posed by persistent organic pollutants. My contribution was a talk about an applica-tion of the automatic data evaluation tool I developed, CP-Hunter. This tool transforms mass spectrometric profiles into centroid-mode data, enabling the calculation of the abundances of chlorinated paraffin homologues by deconvoluting interfering signals. With CP-Hunter, com-plex mass spectra of environmental samples can be reliably analyzed in just few seconds. This experience has significantly contributed to my scientific development, and I am deeply appre-ciative of the SGMS for making this valuable opportunity possible.

I was awarded the SGMS Travel Grant to attend the 25th International Mass Spectrometry Conference (IMSC). This enabled me to present my research aimed at characterizing lactose malabsorption using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. It was a great opportunity to view my work from a different perspective, receive constructive feedback and engage in fruitful discussions with a large and diverse audience. I was overwhelmed by the interest shown by other academics and this added an additional layer of motivation and impetus to my work.

The conference featured a wide array of talks and workshops. From the metabolomics sessions, I gathered insights on the shift from targeted to untargeted approaches in diagnostics. The diseases of interest ranged from metabolic to neurological to infectious diseases and disorders. Interestingly, the field of mass spectrometry is rapidly expanding into nutritional research and applications, as evidenced by efforts in biomolecular food profiling and food safety testing. In addition, sponsored seminars shed light on latest technologies for omics, imaging, and separation techniques. The conference sessions greatly enhanced my understanding of the field.
In addition to attending various presentations, I had the opportunity to participate in a workshop hosted by the Females in Mass Spectreometry (FeMS) titled “Empowering Women Mass Spectrometrists in a Traditionally Male-Dominated Workplace,” where I was inspired by the journeys of mentors who grew into leadership roles over time and opened up about their struggles and successes in academia and industry. This provided a unique opportunity to engage with thought leaders in a more personal setting, which motivated me to reflect on my career path and recognize areas for professional and personal growth. 

I extend my sincere gratitude to the Swiss Group for Mass Spectrometry for their generous support, which made this enriching experience and the opportunity to gain valuable international exposure and diverse contacts possible.

The International Mass Spectrometry Conference is one of the largest and most widely recognized mass spectrometry meetings, hosted every two years by the International Mass Spectrometry Foundation and its affiliates. In 2024 it took place from August 17 to 23 in Melbourne, Australia. 

The conference provided a unique platform for discussion and knowledge exchange among the international communities of all the different branches of mass spectrometry, such as structural biology, clinical chemistry, forensics, environmental sciences, nutrition, data science, and various -omics disciplines. The wide breadth of topics and the variety of presentations, including plenary lectures, talks, posters, seminars, and exhibitions by the sponsors, provided a thorough overview of state-of-the-art research in mass spectrometry. 

Owing to the program’s variety, I was able to join a short course offered by the organizers, which ran on the two days immediately prior to the conference, titled “Computational and Statistical Proteomics Analysis”. Although my main area of research is metabolomics, the course proved very valuable in showcasing all the different approaches in data analysis of highly complex mass spectrometric datasets. I was introduced to methods for visualizing and interpreting data used by leading experts in mass spectrometry, including statistical techniques and bioinformatic tools. 

During the conference, I was able to present my own research in the form of a poster to a wide international audience. I had several opportunities to engage with other attendees, who stopped by to discuss my work. I received very valuable feedback, with constructive suggestions for improvement, and new ideas for further development of my project.

I am very grateful to the Swiss Group for Mass Spectrometry for supporting me with the SGMS Travel grant, which allowed me to take part in this conference and provided a greatly enriching experience for my future research. 

The 20th Annual International Conference of the Metabolomics Society held in Osaka from 16th to 20th June 2024 represented a great opportunity to engage with metabolomics topics from hardware to data processing to biology and communicate with leading experts from academia and industry.

For me, it was a great opportunity to learn from co-participants and demonstrate my own research. Presentations and posters covered the whole range of topics in metabolomics starting from single cell analysis methodologies and analytical development to biological studies in different organisms and matrices. It was also an outstanding opportunity to present my most recent research as a poster about an application of novel M3 electrospray emitters to achieve nanospray ionization with microflow separation resulting in fast AND ultra-sensitive metabolite profiling methods. The poster attracted a lot of attention with the work being recognized by the experts in the field. A special interest to this work was demonstrated by one of the participating groups also developing nanoflow-based approaches in lipidomics, which resulted in an excellent scientific exchange and very useful discussion.

I would like to thank the SGMS board for this Student Travel Grant, which allowed me to experience an amazing scientific and cultural environment of Osaka, further developing my scientific network.

I express my heartfelt gratitude to the Swiss Group for Mass Spectrometry (SGMS) for the invaluable opportunity provided through the Student Travel Award. This grant facilitated my participation in the 75th Pittsburgh Conference & Exposition on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon 2024).

During Pittcon 2024, I had the privilege to orally present my research on "High throughput size resolved elemental analysis of nanoparticles using a hyphenated scanning mobility particle sizer and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (SMPS-ICPMS) setup." The conference served as an exceptional platform for the exchange of ideas, where analytical chemists from diverse professional backgrounds converged to share their expertise.
Engaging in enlightening short courses on “Statistics, Calibration Strategies, Data Processing for Analytical Measurements,” and “Practical Maintenance and Troubleshooting in Gas Chromatography” further enriched my knowledge and skills. 
Pittcon not only provided a dynamic environment for presenting the latest advances in analytical research and scientific instrumentation but also fostered a spirit of cooperation that inspired new perspectives and ideas. The networking opportunities, social events, and the overall supportive atmosphere at Pittcon contributed significantly to expanding my scientific network and enhancing my overall conference experience. I once again, thank SGMS for making this transformative experience possible.