The fast pace of research demands reliable access to essential lab supplies, small equipment and general, high-volume chemicals. To meet the needs of researchers, a new Lab Stores has opened with support from the Faculties of Science and Engineering and the Provost’s Office.

Located in room 133 in the Arthur N. Bourns Science Building, Lab Stores stocks high volume solvents and chemicals along with lab supplies used daily in research labs. Lab Stores buys supplies in bulk quantities and passes the savings along to researchers, says Chemistry & Chemical Biology professor Alex Adronov who coordinated the project.

Research Lab Manager Darko Ljubic (pictured above), Department Manager Salina Jaffer and Department Chair Gillian Goward. While Chemistry & Chemical Biology spearheaded the project, Lab Stores is open to all researchers across McMaster.

“Lab Stores is essential for researchers,” says Alex, who serves as Director of the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research. “I strongly believe that a research-intensive university and a department like Chemistry & Chemical Biology cannot properly function without an on-campus Lab Stores. When the previous version of Scientific Stores closed in 2019, researchers began stockpiling solvents and supplies in their labs, which wasn’t space-efficient or safe. The new Stores make our labs safer and our research more efficient. With Lab Stores, researchers won’t run out of critical chemicals or supplies in the middle of experiments, allowing research to progress uninterrupted.”

Part-time coordinator Eli O’Connor is currently filling online orders and making “curbside pickup” ready within hours. While customers are currently not allowed into Lab Stores, researchers will be able to enter, browse the inventory in person and perform self-checkout purchases once pandemic restrictions are lifted.

Principal investigators can set up an account with Lab Stores by emailing labstore@mcmaster.ca with the subject line “registration request”. Once an account is established, students, postdocs, and research staff can quickly join the account and start making purchases.

For more information, visit the McMaster Lab Stores, email labstore@mcmaster.ca or call 905.525.9140 ext. 23315.

McMaster Lab Store Hours
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation has awarded $14.25 million to a national project led by Bruce Gaulin with the Department of Physics & Astronomy.

The Building a Future for Canadian Neutron Scattering project will construct three new neutron beamlines in the McMaster Nuclear Reactor’s Neutron Beam Lab.

Three Faculty of Science graduate students and the Chair of the Biology Department have received university-wide recognition awards.

The annual Graduate Student Recognition Awards, administered by the School of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Students Association (GSA), acknowledge the accomplishments and contributions of McMaster's graduate student community, including graduate researchers, teaching assistants, administrative staff and graduate supervisors.

Daniella Lato (Biology) received the Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics, awarded by the GSA.

Shawn Hercules (Biology) received the Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster, awarded by the GSA.

Pallavi Mukherjee (Chemistry and Chemical Biology) received the Dean's Award for Outstanding Leadership and Contributions to the International Graduate Student Community.

Marie Elliot, Chair of the Department of Biology, received the President's Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision.

"Graduate students are at the heart of all our research programs," says Marie, who was also elected last month as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

"Investing in graduate students means investing in ourselves and our research success. I feel so fortunate to have had a chance to work with such universally outstanding graduate students throughout my career. Every individual comes in with a unique set of experiences, knowledge and skills and our lab as a whole benefit from these distinct perspectives and approaches. One of the most interesting parts of my job is figuring out how best to support, motivate and guide everyone."

Pallavi, a Ph.D. student in Chemistry, is the new Co-President of McMaster International Graduate Student Association. "Being an international student, I understand the feeling of uncertainty that comes up when moving to a foreign country. I want to make sure our association helps every international student makes a smooth transition, engages in social activities, makes new friends and really feels at home at McMaster."

Pallavi says she had tremendous support when she first arrived as a graduate student ."My friends Dipankar Saha and Nikita Jhaveri helped me a lot when I moved to Canada with everything from housing, administrative work, getting acquainted with Hamilton and lots of emotional support. My supervisor Dr. Paul Berti and our Department's Research Lab Manager Darko Ljubic helped me immensely with training, adjusting to the academic system in Canada and being there whenever I needed any assistance."

A provincial and national competitive synchronized swimmer since she was 11 years old, Daniella has served as an executive member, Vice President, President and coach with the McMaster Synchronized Swimming Club for the past decade. "I just love the sport and want to help the club flourish," says Daniella. "My family has always encouraged me to get involved in things that I am passionate about. This has lead to many wonderful opportunities to be involved with the McMaster community. My previous Mac synchro coach Nicole Maffey has been instrumental in helping guide me through my various synchro executive positions.

"Supporting graduate students is crucial to the success of the University. McMaster prides itself on being Canada's most research-intensive university. Graduate students are doing the bulk of this research. Without proper financial, mental health and school/research supports, we cannot do our best. Graduate students are extremely motivated and create clubs, labs and classes that benefit everyone at McMaster. We graduate students succeed, the whole University succeeds."