Best Lab manager award

2019 Winner announced!

Best Lab Manager Award Winner 2019 Congratulations to   Julien Weber from the University of Zurich in Switzerland! "Winning the Best Lab Manager Award is wonderful, and it moves me that is was made possible thanks to such wonderful team work!" - Julien Weber Julien received over 500 votes from colleagues and friends who all appreciate his excellent approach to managing the lab at the Department of Quantitative BioMedecine, University of Zurich. Julien has won a $1000 research grant and a lab care package.

Proteintech would like to thank  everyone for their nominations and participation in the voting campaign. Proteintech offers several awards and travel grants throughout the year, so keep checking back for more exciting contests!

The award

The lab can be a chaotic place. Great lab managers keep the chaos at bay and make sure that science is as efficient as possible in the lab. They are renaissance men and women in charge of budgeting, handling copious administrative responsibilities, writing grants, training new lab members, and on top of all that, making vital contributions to research. This award recognizes those lab managers who go above and beyond the call of duty.

The prize Proteintech is offering a  $1000 award    and a care package (Award plaque, notebook, pen, commemorative mug and $100 Visa gift card) for the most outstanding lab manager. All finalists will receive a Kindle.

Eligibility

Nominees must be based in a research laboratory in a university or research institution. 

Who can nominate?

Researchers are invited to nominate a lab manager who has gone above and beyond to support their development in the lab.

Researchers nominating their lab managers are to submit the short nomination form including a 250-word summary explaining why they feel their nominee deserves the award.

Nomination period

October 14 - November 14

Finalist announcement: November 18

The Voting process

November 18 - 25

5 outstanding candidates will be selected by the Proteintech judging panel based upon their selflessness, teaching ability, and project management skills. The winner will be the candidate who receives the most public votes. During the voting process, each participant may only vote once per day.

On November 18, the nomination form below will be replaced by the voting form.

December 3: Winner Announcement

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2019 Finalists

Asako Takanohashi (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

“She is always on head over heels to help us with our research, lab supplies, planning and setting protocol…She is like our ‘lab mom’ and highly motivated to do her work. Her eagerness is admirable and contagious where looking at her, we always get motivated to work. Asako visits Japan once in a year for one month to meet her family and I am amazed that she manages our supplies from there, in spite of being on vacation. Our team is amazed by her diligent and efficient performance. She is pillar of our lab and I highly recommend her for this award.” - Sunetra (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

Hannah Overbye (Stanford University)

“She continually grows her skills, and relishes learning like it’s going out of style:  she takes every chance she can to learn new coding techniques, new approaches to management, new things about psychology, and new ways of thinking about science. On a lab manager 1-10 scale, she’s 11+ and going further off-scale every day.” - James (Stanford University)

Julien Weber (University of Zurich)

“He deserves this award because next to all the chocolates he receives from the colleagues, this award would really show him how valuable he is! Why so many chocolates? Well, this is for him always being available in different levels. During working hours, he is always available, if a problem shows up on the weekend, Julien can save the day. He takes care of our work with amazing focus and precision. Long story short, Julien is the best lab manager I ever encountered and we think ourselves extremely lucky to have him in our team!” - Laura (University of Zurich)

Dallas Auer (Johns Hopkins University)

“Dallas manages nine labs in our center and does so with pride and a great attitude. Dallas has lead the initiative to get our equipment inventory tracking, ordering, servicing and use streamlined. She has also been a tremendous help in keeping up with the center's space allocation to ensure that space is properly allocated based on current need in order for all labs to operate as efficiently as possible. Our center will welcome our 10th faculty member and Dallas has been, and will continue to be, instrumental in getting this new PI's lab set up.” - Bahar (Johns Hopkins University)

Edie Valeri (Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research)

“Edie always goes above and beyond to ensure that everything is stocked, organized, and running smoothly even in a lab of our size (>40 core scientists!)…Edie's dedication escapes words and can only be demonstrated by example: multiple times she has driven out of state in the middle of the day to obtain developer reagents directly from a supplier so that the lab can continue to operate on the weekend or over holidays. We are truly lucky to have her!” - Max (Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research)

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Lab Manager Hall of Fame Congratulations to the previous winners of the Best Lab Manager Award! 2018 Winner Kelley Brodsky University of Colorado - Denver, US "Kelley is by far the most efficient lab manager I have ever worked with. With over 25 years of experience being at the bench and managing large labs at the same time, Kelley knows what we need before even we ask her for it. Whether it is ordering lab supplies or picking her brain for input on our experiments, she is always willing to go the extra mile to help us out in the best way possible. A breast cancer survivor, Kelley has never complained about what life throws at her, or the very typical whining of postdocs in the lab. Her enthusiasm for our work is infectious, and she ensures that we perform our research to the best of our abilities. Her punctuality, integrity and organizational skills never cease to amaze us at the lab. I call her my “lab mom”, and quite aptly so she takes care of all our needs. She is our rock in the lab! I hope that when I take on the role of an independent investigator, I can have someone as diligent, efficient and knowledgeable as Kelley as my lab manager. I wish I could clone her!" -Rushita Bagchi (University of Colorado – Denver)   2017 Winner Clare McManus University of Manchester, UK "Clare is simply the lab manager you wish you had in your daily work and in case of emergencies. She has always been efficient and supportive, but then has been literally amazing in keeping the lab together after the fire which destroyed the Paterson Building where most of our lab research took place, she has kept going the extra mile to find alternative solutions and then to facilitate the relocation to the new building." - Sara Valpione   2016 Winner Mary Skinner  University of Michigan, USA "Mary is an outstanding lab manager. She certainly goes beyond her required duties; whether it's organizing the lab freezers or organizing the mouse colony for 8hrs on a Saturday afternoon, Mary seems to be on call 24/7. She is a single parent to a pre-teen, yet the lab is always well-stocked and in OSEH compliance. Mary never complains about the typical whining and complaining of grad students and post-docs, rather she acts as arbitrator to try to come to a compromise that will allow everyone to do their research to the best of their ability. My goal is to have my own research lab with a lab manager as capable and efficient as Mary." - William Giblin, University of Michigan

Blog: HOW TO BE A GREAT LAB MANAGER: 6 TIPS Being a lab manager is not an easy task and it’s about a lot more than just the science. Follow the link for 6 tips to help you be a great lab manager and better manage your time.

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Terms and conditions 

• Only nominators from Universities and Research Institutions are eligible to take part in this competition.

• Nominees must be based in a University Institution or research lab in the US, Canada or Europe.

• All Winners agree to the use of their names and likenesses in publicity without notice or any additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. By entering this contest, the winners acknowledge that Proteintech has the right to publicize and broadcast their name, voice, and likeness, the fact that they won, and all matters incidental thereto. These activities may include the following: An interview, featuring on Proteintech blog/website, and associated press releases.

• The deadline for entries to be submitted is November 14, 2019. Any applications submitted after this date will not be eligible.

• Nominators can only enter one nominee. Any further entries will not be eligible. Nominators must complete the application form in full.

• The winner will be decided by a public voting process once Proteintech Group has shortlisted the entries. The shortlist of nominees will be made at Proteintech Group’s discretion.

• The $1000 award (or local currency equivalent) will be paid to the University laboratory or Research Institution to support the research of the awardee.

• Prize will not be awarded to employees of for-profit organizations (i.e. biotech or pharmacological companies).

• By submitting this application, you agree to receive information from Proteintech. Your information will never be sold or used by a third party.

• Proteintech has the right to terminate this award at any time during the process.

• During voting process, each participant may only vote once per day.