The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns caused many scientific conferences to be put on hold, and only now are they starting up again, as the breeze of normality creeps into the air.
Philadelphia is known for being the birthplace of the United States, the film location for Rocky, and home of the famous Philly cheesesteaks – and from the 18th to the 22nd of March 2023, it will be the host for Pittcon. This event will see a horde of scientists descend on the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Pittcon is a dynamic, transnational conference and exposition on laboratory science. It is an event that has been going on for many years – over 70 in fact.
“We hear so much from our community of attendees about the connections they make at Pittcon – the opportunity to meet and collaborate with fellow scientists from around the world, whether within their field of research or within a completely different field. Pittcon is in so many ways a catalyst of scientific exchange and innovation,” Rocco Pacella, Head of Marketing, told IFLScience.
Pittcon is a jam-packed event and registrations opened on November 1, 2022 (with a 30 percent discount on full-attendee registration until February 4, 2023). It is aimed at a wide range of people, from those who develop, buy, and sell laboratory equipment to those who perform chemical and physical analysis, develop methods, or manage scientists. No matter what your position on the career ladder, there is something for everyone.
The event aims to advance scientific accomplishments by showcasing knowledge that will impact, enrich, and inspire the future of science. There will be many in-person opportunities, and after years of virtual events due to lockdowns, people can now meet face-to-face. Pittcon will also host many employment and networking opportunities and social events for scientists to enjoy.
If networking is of interest to you, there will be numerous 90-minute sessions in which attendees can interact with industry leaders. These sessions are open to all full attendee registrations at no extra cost.
Pittcon’s mission is to develop knowledge, careers, research, and advance scientific endeavors – and this event will certainly do that! On the conference side of things, the keynote lecturer (as part of the Wallace H. Coulter Lecture) is Dr Joanna Aizenberg, who will talk about venturing into analytical chemistry using photonic crystals. She is a pioneer and expert in the fields of bio-inspired materials science and engineering, and the lecture is geared up to be a fascinating listen.
Have you ever wondered about the latest advances in the analysis of vaping? Have you ever been curious about the challenges of food, forensic, environmental, energy, biological, or pharmaceutical science, or how to use automation and machine learning for analytical science?
Well, these topics are only scratching the surface of the gigantic breadth of subjects that will be covered at Pittcon 2023.
The conference is helpfully arranged into eight different tracks: Bioanalytics & Life Sciences, Cannabis & Psychedelics, Energy & Environmental, Food Science & Agriculture, Forensics & Toxicology, Industry & Manufacturing, Nanotechnology & Materials Science, and Pharmaceutical. All tracks will tantalize the brain and spark curiosity.
The event also has a thriving exposition side. With over 400 vendors, you can wander through a labyrinth of technical wonder and demonstrations, where highly specialized experts will answer all your questions. This area can unlock the knowledge on which tool is best to achieve impactful research or how certain laboratory equipment works.
Pittcon will also have 60+ short courses that attendees can join for an extra fee. These short courses are divided into the same eight tracks as the rest of the conference. Additionally, there is the very popular Professional Skills Building track of courses that can help develop foundational knowledge that will be useful for decades to come.
This event is critical for the future of science and has a major philanthropic side: proceeds from every Pittcon conference help fund science education and outreach. In fact, over 90 percent of Pittcon’s net profit goes toward funding primary and secondary education, continuing education, scholarships, grants, laboratory improvements, and outreach activities.
“One facet of our mission – this visionary objective toward which we strive – is to advance scientific endeavor. We do this by hosting Pittcon, of course, and the collaborative environment it promotes; however, we take this a significant step further: Pittcon gives back to the scientific community in the form of scholarships, collegiate laboratory improvement grants, and funding for museums, libraries, and science centers. Pittcon also organizes an outreach initiative that hosts interactive educational activities in elementary and high schools. Our impact on the scientific community both enriches the present and invests in the future,” Pacella told us.
Overall, this is an exciting and thriving event and one that scientists should not miss out on. But if you do, there is always March 2024 in San Diego, California!
To register, visit: pittcon.org/register
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