Lab on a Chip & ALine Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship

Nominations for this lectureship are now closed

The Lab on a Chip & ALine Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship recognises early to mid-career scientists, within 15 years of their PhD, who have made outstanding contributions to the understanding or development of miniaturised systems, and:

it is presented annually
nominations are shortlisted and the Lab on a Chip Editorial Board selects the winner
the recipient of this award receives the opportunity to present a lecture at MicroTAS and a contribution of up to $3,000 to cover associated travel and accommodation costs

Our latest winner 2024

Professor Jiashu Sun

The Sun lab leverages interdisciplinary tools, including microfluidics, functional DNA materials, and machine learning, to develop low-cost, point-of-care, ultrasensitive assays for liquid biopsy. The lab has engineered a viscoelastic microfluidic platform for label-free, high-resolution isolation of circulating tumor cells and extracellular vesicles.

Additionally, a thermophoretic microfluidic platform combined with functional DNA materials has been devised to directly profile proteins, nucleic acids, and glycans associated with extracellular vesicles in blood samples.

The molecular signature of EVs provides valuable information for early diagnosis, classification, therapeutic monitoring, and prognosis of various cancers.

Jiashu Sun portrait

The lab is committed to translating microfluidic research into practical applications that deliver real clinical impact.

Jiashu received her Ph.D. degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University in 2010 under the mentorship of Prof. Deyu Li. She joined the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), China as an Assistant Professor in 2011 and has been a Professor/Principal Investigator since 2016.

Read some of Jiashu Sun's recent Lab on a Chip papers:

Label-free isolation of rare tumor cells from untreated whole blood by interfacial viscoelastic microfluidics

Hydraulic-electric analogy for design and operation of microfluidic systems

Hand-powered centrifugal microfluidic platform inspired by the spinning top for sample-to-answer diagnostics of nucleic acids

See all our previous winners

Guidelines for nominators and candidates

Find out who is eligible for this award, about the nomination process, and see who is on the selection panel.

Nomination deadline

Spring 2025

Lectureship announcement

Summer 2025

Since 2015, the Lab on a Chip & ALine Pioneers of Miniaturisation Lectureship has been awarded through a process whereby nominations of candidates are invited from our community. We believe we have a responsibility to promote inclusivity and accessibility to improve diversity and encourage each nominator to consider nominating candidates of all genders, races, and backgrounds.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this lectureship, the candidate must:

have completed their PhD
have published in Lab on a Chip in the past 3 years
be actively pursuing an independent research career on miniaturised systems
be at an early-mid career stage of their independent career (typically this will be within 15 years of completing their PhD, but appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken a career break or followed a different study path)

Nominations can be made by anyone and must be sent via email. Self-nominations are not permitted. All nominators will be asked to confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, their nominee’s professional standing is such that there is no confirmed or potential impediment to them receiving the lectureship.

To nominate a candidate, please provide:

A recommendation letter, including the name, contact details and website URL of the nominee
A one-page CV for the nominee, including their date of birth, summary of education and career, a list of up to five of their top independent publications, total numbers of publications
A one-page statement of achievement with a lay summary, written by the nominee describing their best accomplishments
A supporting letter of recommendation from an independent referee. This could be for example the nominee’s postdoc or PhD supervisor.

Consideration is given to all information provided in the letters of recommendation, candidate CV and nomination form. The winner of the Lectureship is selected by a panel of Editorial Board members representative.