As we near the end of 2022, its worth reflecting back on our successes as a growing community. This year, we took a look as an executive board, at the work we had done in partnership with the ACTF who have co-funded the majority of our community work to date. When we examined our impact on the Analytical Measurement Science community in our first membership period, we found we had :
- Co-funded 40 awards 14 new academic positions (8 of which are permanent); 19 Fellowships and 7 PhDs
- Attracted a membership of 36 organisations (industrial, academic and educational/training)
- Approximately 40 peer reviewed publications from our CAMS awardees with over 46 presentations on CAMS co-funded projects
- Held numerous webinars for the community throughout the pandemic and three virtual annual conferences
- Appointed co-chairs from industry and academia for each of our research themes (sensors and photonics; data analytics; complex mixtures & separations and novel instrumentation & techniques).
The above is a great start – and a huge thanks goes to all of the members who have embraced this community and are working together to connect and grow the identity of Analytical Measurement Science in the UK and Ireland. We are especially grateful to the ACTF and to the academic and industrial organisations who have invested in CAMS and who have recognised the value and potential CAMS has in strengthening the academic leaders and innovators of the future.
So – what about the future of CAMS? Well, we are pleased to say that ACTF continue to fund us through 2026, and so we move into our second membership period full of hope and with big plans to attract more industry and academic organisations to join us. In our second membership period, we will be focusing on growing the academics we have already co-funded and growing the community by welcoming new industrial and academic organisations who are interested in partnering on CAMS research innovation projects. We are also excited to announce that our co-funding packages for PhDs will increase for the second membership period which will, we hope attract new academic members. So – look out for some community networking opportunities in 2023 where you can liaise with our industry members to find synergistic research opportunities and then perhaps you will join us if you are not already a member. Remember, we are not trying to invent something new here – but rather – connect existing groups, organisations and bodies so that together we can go further.
Wishing you a happy Christmas, and a healthy and happy 2023.
Melissa Hanna-Brown
