On October 11, 2014, Austrian Scientists and Scholars in Northern America (ASciNA) and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Economy (BMWFW) presented the 2014 ASciNA Awards to Sonja Schmid, Mariella Gruber-Filbin and Simon Gröblacher. These prizes – €10.000 for the "Young Principal Investigator" and €7.500 for the "Young Scientists"– were awarded to scientists for outstanding publications within the last 12 months at North American research facilities in the two categories of "Young Principal Investigator" and "Young Scientist." This year, awards went to three scientists who have worked for many years in North America and have had work presented in numerous publications. 

In the category "Young Principal Investigator" Sonja Schmid, Assistant Professor at the On October 11, 2014, Austrian Scientists and Scholars in Northern America (ASciNA) and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Economy (BMWFW) presented the 2014 ASciNA Awards to Sonja Schmid, Mariella Gruber-Filbin and Simon Gröblacher. These prizes – €10.000 for the "Young Principal Investigator" and €7.500 for the "Young Scientists"– were awarded to scientists for outstanding publications within the last 12 months at North American research facilities in the two categories of "Young Principal Investigator" and "Young Scientist." This year, awards went to three scientists who have worked for many years in North America and have had work presented in numerous publications. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VirginiaTech), was recognized for her upcoming book published by MIT Press, "The Pre-History of the Soviet Chernobyl Nuclear Industry." A graduate of Vienna University and Cornell University, researcher Sonja Schmid has spent the last six years in the Washington D.C. area at the VirginiaTech Department of Science and Technology in Society. Her research focuses on science and technology policy, risk analysis, energy policy and nuclear proliferation.

In the category "Young Scientist" Mariella Gruber-Filbin and Simon Gröblacher both received honors. Mariella Gruber-Filbin, a Post-Doc at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, received her doctorate in 2004 sub auspiciis praesidentis at the Medical University Graz. Her research on brain tumors has already led to an international multi-center study and could represent a breakthrough in the treatment of malignant tumors in children and adults. Simon Gröblacher was formerly a Post-doctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and will take up the position of assistant professor at the University of Delft in the Netherlands in November. A graduate of the University of Vienna, he has worked with quantum optomechanics and published in the magazine Nature on the subject of "squeezed light" opening up new possibilities for precise optical tools.

Boston

This past summer, the ASciNA Greater Boston members met for a Sommerfest in July and heard a lecture by Lukas Landegger in September to discuss his work as a researcher in the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The group meets the second Thursday of every month for a brief lecture from one of the participating members about his or her work.

Washington, D.C.

The D.C. chapter meets the first Tuesday of every month for a lunch social. Past events from the summer included the ASciNA Greater D.C. BBQ and a visit to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Text courtesy of OSTA