02 9541 3500SPIN TO WIN ACIS 2026 – WINNER!!!
This year our popular ‘SPIN TO WIN” Young Scientist competition was hosted at the Australasian Colloid and Interface Symposium (ACIS) held 1-4 February 2026 at the Stamford Grand Glenelg, in South Australia.
This meeting brings together colloid, surface/interface and materials scientists to share research findings in a range of applications from food science and pharmaceutical formulations to personal care products, advanced biomaterials, paint technologies, and mineral processing. Visitors at our trade table explored live demonstrations. KRUSS DSA 25 Drop shape analyser enables the analysis of surface and interfacial tension, wettability and many other properties of solids and liquids. Zetasizer Ultra, the most advanced light scattering system, delivers particle and molecular size, particle charge and particle concentration.
Our spinning wheel competition featured the popular $2000 Young Scientist Award.
Congratulations Sowbarnika Senthilkumar, PhD student at the Future Industries Institute, Adelaide University, working under the supervision of Professor Marta Krasowska.
The Surface Interactions and Soft Matter (SISM) research group at the Future Industries Institute, Adelaide University, focuses on colloid and interface science, spanning areas such as interfacial crystallisation of lipids, bubble and droplet interactions with surfaces, polymer adsorption, and ionic liquids.
While the group feels fortunate to have resources to conduct research and support the professional development of students and early career researchers through local and national workshops, conferences, and training activities, funding for international travel remains a persistent challenge. There is simply never enough to allow students to attend major international conferences as often as they would like. Yet this kind of exposure is invaluable. Presenting at a flagship international meeting not only raises the visibility of a student’s research among global experts, but the experience of engaging with different scientific communities, encountering new perspectives, and building connections with researchers from other groups and countries brings something back to the whole research group. That fresh viewpoint, the ideas, approaches, and conversations that come from time spent beyond one’s own institution, is something that cannot be replicated locally, and its impact ripples through the entire group long after the researcher returns.
The award will be used to support Sowbarnika’s future conference travel and professional development.
Sowbarnika plans to use the prize to attend COIL-11 (11th International Conference on Ionic Liquids), to be held in Kanazawa, Japan, in June 2027. COIL is the premier global conference for the ionic liquids community, bringing together leading researchers from across the world. Japan has a particularly strong academic presence in ionic liquids research, making this an outstanding venue for Sowbarnika to present her work to an audience of international experts.
The prize will enable her to showcase her research, raise the visibility of her contributions to the field, and build the international collaborations that are so important at this stage of her research career – all while acknowledging ATA Scientific’s generous support in making this opportunity possible.
ATA Scientific continues to motivate scientists
ATA Scientific has established a high reputation for supporting and promoting scientific research within Australia and New Zealand. Our Encouragement Awards are competitions intended to promote the interests of young scientists early in their science career. The Awards provide an opportunity for young scientists to win financial assistance to further their education, including attending scientific conferences and meetings. The Awards were established 11 years ago and since then over 100 winners and runners-up have received financial assistance. We are enthusiastic about our awards program as we can see the practical contribution it is making.
For more information regarding our award or to enter the next competition, contact us or visit our webpage at https://www.atascientific.com.au/awards-events-training/current-award/