Emeritus Professor Vera Bauman’s Award for the Best Publication in Laboratory Animal Science

Preamble

Emeritus Professor Vera Baumans is a specialist in the field of laboratory animal science at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. She was on the advisory panel when organizing the first international certificate course on laboratory animal science (LAS) in the Asian region held at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo in 2011. Prof. Baumans also served as a resource person for the above course.

Subsequently, she was the Chief Guest at the Inaugural Scientific Sessions of the Sri Lanka Association for Laboratory Animal Science (SLALAS) held in January 2014 where she was presented the Honorary Membership of SLALAS considering her enormous contributions to the field of laboratory animal science at the global level.

Prof. Vera Baumans nominated Prof. Mangala Gunatilake, the Founder of the SLALAS for the Charles River Prize 2022 awarded by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS). Among the applicants, Prof. Mangala Gunatilake was selected and awarded this prestigious award at the Annual Conference of AALAS held in Louisville, Kentucky in 2022, becoming the first South Asian recipient of this award. 

Initiation of the Emeritus Professor Vera Bauman’s Award for the Best Publication in Laboratory Animal Science

Prof. Vera Baumans extended her support without any hesitation in all the activities commenced by Prof. Mangala Gunatilake for the initiation of LAS education and development of the laboratory animal science discipline in Sri Lanka. As a kind gesture for the support extended by Prof. Vera Baumans, the award proposal presented by Prof. Gunatilake was unanimously accepted by the SLALAS Executive Committee 2022/2023 in recognition of Prof. Vera Baumans. A part of the Charles River Prize money was deposited in a fixed deposit and the interest earned annually will be utilized to present the Emeritus Professor Vera Bauman’s Award for the Best Publication in Laboratory Animal Science commencing from January 2024 at the Annual Scientific Conference of the SLALAS.  

Who are eligible to apply for the Award?

Life members of SLALAS who have been members for a minimum period of 3 years are eligible to apply for this Award.

Other criteria

  • This award is open to Sri Lankans only. International life members of SLALAS are not eligible to apply.
  • When there are several authors, the first author who should be a member of the SLALAS is eligible to apply.
  • Only journal publications (both original research and systematic reviews) are considered for the award.
  • Only the projects conducted in Sri Lanka are considered for the award.
  • The publication could either be in an Indexed;  local (e.g. CMJ, NSFJ, SLVJ…..), or international journal.
  • The publication should be related to the laboratory animal science discipline i.e. application of the 3Rs, animal welfare, novel findings using laboratory animal models, and novel educational initiatives………
  • Only the publications from the 1st of June of the previous year to the 30th of June of the year calling for applications by SLALAS will be considered for the award.
  • A manuscript that is accepted by a journal but not published during the specified period will also be considered for the award subject to submission of the full manuscript submitted, with the journal acceptance letter/email.
  • Submission for the award without the specified application form will not be evaluated for the award.
  • The decision of the application evaluation committee will be final.
  • There is no restriction on the number of times that a winner could apply for the award over the years.

Emeritus Professor Vera Bauman’s Award for the Best Publication in Laboratory Animal Science

  • The winner will receive Rs. 5000/- and a certificate at the Annual Scientific Sessions of the SLALAS.
  • Following acceptance of the award, the winner needs to do a 15 min presentation on the information included in the selected publication.