Innovation Award

The SLAS Innovation Award consists of a $10,000 check presented to the winning presenting author (see Rules and Regulations: Monetary Disbursement, below). Subject to SLAS requirements and the approval of the SLAS Awards and Grants Advisory Committee, the winning presenting author is also:

• invited to join the judging panel for the following year and
• invited to participate on the Program Committee for the following year's conference.
• granted a complimentary one-year Premier Membership to SLAS
• invited to feature their work in an issue of SLAS Technology and/or SLAS Discovery following the conference
• invited to be featured in an episode of SLAS’s podcast New Matter: Inside the Minds of SLAS Scientists

The panel of judges is comprised of individuals approved by the SLAS Awards and Grants Advisory Committee and represents various technology providers and users and research applications within the SLAS International Conference and Exhibition curriculum.

The SLAS President is the tiebreaker if a tie occurs after scoring is final. Judges may not have or have had any formal association with the candidates, either direct or indirect. Judges must recuse themselves from evaluating any candidate with whom they have a relationship, such as family, business, financial, or other, e.g., academic or student/professional association. Judges must sign a conflict-of-interest certification form ensuring no improper judging intentions. It is expected that the judges will declare any conflict-related issues. The SLAS Awards and Grants Advisory Committee Chair decides on any questionable issues.

Selection of the SLAS Podium Presentations

In assembling the program, the SLAS2026 Program Committee selects qualifying podium presentations from the abstracts received in the Call for Abstracts submission period. To qualify for consideration for the SLAS Innovation Award, an abstract must be received prior to the Call for Abstracts deadline of Monday, September 8, and the author must opt-in for consideration using the appropriate checkbox. When opting in, applicants will be asked to provide a statement of key innovation and impact of their work to the SLAS community.

Preliminary Screening

Working from the conference's selected abstracts, the panel of judges scores all abstracts that have been identified (opted in) as candidates for the SLAS Innovation Award. Short course instructors, poster presenters and plenary speakers* are not eligible unless they have also been accepted into the SLAS2026 Scientific Program. All candidates must adhere to the SLAS abstract submission policies, timelines, rules and regulations.

How Preliminary Screening Works

The SLAS2026 Program Committee selects podium presentations for the SLAS2026 International Conference and Exhibition. The panel of judges will review and score the abstracts (See "Scoring" below). The Chair assigns all abstracts for evaluation to the panel of judges. A minimum of two judges will score each podium presentation.

Upon completion of the first scoring phase, the panel of judges will convene by teleconference to select the top 20 to 25 candidate presentations. These top candidates will be offered the opportunity to submit an extended abstract for review by the panel. The judges strongly encourage an extended abstract to allow better differentiation of the leading candidates. Failure to submit information in time for the next selection phase will jeopardize the candidate’s chances for inclusion as a finalist.

The judges will review the extended abstracts and then meet again to narrow the candidate pool to five (5) finalists. Upon completion of the second phase, the SLAS Innovation Award judges will announce the SLAS Innovation Award finalists who will present their work at the conference.

New — Short Video Pitch

As part of the SLAS Innovation Award finalist selection process, we’re introducing a new and simple step: a short video pitch to accompany your extended abstract.

This video is not about production quality — it’s about giving our judges a quick, clear understanding of your innovation and its impact on the SLAS community. Think of it as your 5-minute elevator pitch. We’re not judging your video skills — we’re evaluating your ability to articulate the core of your innovation in a compelling and accessible way. This video helps the judging panel gain a deeper understanding of your work. Please refrain from relying on demos or slides.

What We’re Looking For:

In your video, please cover:

• What is the innovation?
  • Why does it matter?
  • How will it impact the field and/or the SLAS community?
  • Any other top-line reasons why your work is a strong candidate for the SLAS Innovation Award. 

Submission Guidelines:

• Length: Up to 5 minutes
• Format: Video (preferred) or audio-only if needed
• Style: Single take, no editing necessary — a mobile phone recording is perfectly fine
• Tone: Clear, concise and conversational

Request for Additional Information

As part of the preliminary screening process, and in coordination with the Chair and panel of judges, a candidate author may be contacted to answer further questions.

*Plenary (keynote) speakers are not eligible to submit their plenary talk for consideration for the SLAS Innovation Award. However, individuals giving a plenary talk may also choose to submit an abstract to be considered for the SLAS2026 Scientific Program and to be considered for the SLAS Innovation Award upon acceptance into the program.

The panel of judges will attend and evaluate each of the candidate’s presentations and will collectively select the winner of the SLAS Innovation Award after all presentations are complete. While scoring the presentations, the judges will consider:

• Impact on Life Sciences and Technology
  • Will this work make a noticeable contribution to the field of life sciences and technology?
  • Will it substantially reduce the cost, change the workflow or improve the quality of laboratory processes?
  • Is the method robust enough to allow routine implementation? Will it have widespread adoption over the next 10 years?
  • Did the presenter explain why he/she was doing the research and who will benefit from this research/technology?
  • Would this advancement only benefit a small group of people or could it have far-reaching/global impact and change laboratory automation as we know it?
• Originality/Creativity
  • How novel is the approach or solution? Is this work a creative solution to a new problem or a new twist on an old theme?
  • Can this approach be applied to a range of problems or is it limited to one particular case? Is this "copycat" science applied to a slightly different problem?
• Quality of the Science
  • Was the experiment performed properly? Can improvements be made either with the science or the technology?
  • Do the data reflect reaching a fundamental limit?
  • What is the confidence that the result is correct? Are the results repeatable and were the results repeated? Are there better methods to solve the same problem?
  • Did the presenter appropriately report any limitations of the methods? If this work is early in development, are there any major hurdles to overcome prior to widespread success?
  • Does the presenter understand the uncertainty of the measurements/methods?
• Oral Presentation
  • Was the oral presentation in alignment with the written abstract? Did the presenter explain the key concept(s) well enough so that a well-educated listener could follow his/her main train of thought?
  • Was the presenter able to keep the audience's attention throughout the presentation?
  •  
  • Was the presentation well organized with respect to its look-and-feel (e.g., large enough fonts, suitable colors, readable graphics, etc.)? Was the presentation's content organized logically?
  • Did the presenter answer questions from the audience in a satisfactory manner?
  • Did the presenter provide the correct amount of background material so that the general SLAS audience can understand the subject? Did the audience seem excited by the presentation?

Each candidate’s presentation will be judged on a scale of one to five (with five being the best possible score; integers only). The scores of all judges will be consolidated for the final decision.

The SLAS Innovation Award panel is appointed by and serves at the discretion of the SLAS Awards and Grants Advisory Committee and the SLAS Board of Directors. The SLAS Innovation Award will follow the timeline below:

• October — Review of podium abstracts accepted into the SLAS2026 Scientific Program and selection of the top 20 to 25 SLAS Innovation Award candidates
• November — SLAS announces the SLAS Innovation Award finalists
• SLAS International Conference and Exhibition — Top finalists' presentations are judged, and the selection of the Innovation Award winner is announced
• February and March — Media announcements, SLAS Discovery and SLAS Technology follow-up
• November — Manuscripts due to SLAS Discovery and/or SLAS Technology for publication

Candidates are encouraged to be Premier Members of SLAS to participate in the award program and/or win the SLAS Innovation Award; however, membership is not required.

All finalists are invited to submit a previously unpublished scientific manuscript (original research or a related review paper) for peer-reviewed publication in SLAS Discovery or SLAS Technology. This manuscript must be received before the $10,000 cash award is disbursed. These requirements will be outlined in the Letter of Intent, allowing SLAS to use the abstracts for press releases and other media announcements.

The panel of judges will review only those podium presentations selected and slotted for the conference by the SLAS2025 Program Committee (not short courses, posters or plenary presentations). All candidates must adhere to the SLAS abstract submission policies, timelines, rules and regulations*¹.

The following individuals are not eligible to participate in the SLAS Innovation Award program:

• SLAS Board of Directors
• SLAS Awards and Grants Advisory Committee officers
• the Annual Conference Program Committee*
• contractors
• employees
• members of the Judging Panel
• family members
• and/or those considered to be "insiders."

Candidates affiliated with someone on the panel of judges are permitted to participate, but the judge must recuse him or herself from evaluating that candidate.

* The SLAS2026 Program Committee comprises of a Chair, Co-chair, Track Chairs and Associate Track Chairs. Session Chairs are not members of the SLAS2026 Program Committee, and therefore are eligible to participate.

*¹Abstract Submission Policy

SLAS invites academicians, scientists and post-doctoral and graduate students to submit abstracts for scientific talks and poster presentations for this international educational forum by Monday, September 8. Presentations will be hand-picked by the Annual Conference Program Committee.

To ensure that your abstract receives proper consideration for this award, please be sure to include information on methods, results and conclusions in your submitted abstract.

Rules, regulations and guidelines are subject to change at the discretion of the SLAS Board of Directors in accordance with bylaws, policies and procedures.

The winner of the $10,000 cash prize will be announced on the final day of SLAS2026, immediately preceding the final keynote session. The following rules apply:

• The candidate presentation author, co-author or representative must be present to accept the award at the final plenary session. If a representative is not present the SLAS Innovation Award will be forfeited.
• The $10,000 cash prize is awarded solely to the winning presenting author and will be sent to the winner upon receipt of their manuscript, see Rules and Regulations #4 above.
• Once selected, the SLAS Innovation Award finalists must sign the SLAS Letter of Intent recognizing sole responsibility for the cash award and releasing SLAS of liability, taxes, candidate employer policies and any other obligations.
• In recognition of the varying employer policies governing employee acceptance of monetary prizes, those employer policies will be recognized and honored by SLAS to the extent they are not inconsistent with and do not conflict with SLAS policy and/or GAAP. However, SLAS will not be responsible or liable for said policies. Winners have the option to decline the monetary award.
• The monetary award is not to be considered an obligation of SLAS.

Discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ethnicity, veteran’s status or physical or mental disability regarding the SLAS Innovation Award is prohibited. Each candidate shall be evaluated based on the award's criteria, which are tied to SLAS's exempt purpose of advancing the science and education of technology in the laboratory.