Driving the Spirit of Innovation: The 2026 HTC Innovation Award

The MJH “Driving Spirit” embodies the core values and culture of MJH Life Sciences, a global healthcare communications company and publisher of LCGC International. One of the core values of MJH—Innovation—reflects the company’s commitment to delivering high-quality, relevant information to separation scientists in the most modern and innovative multimedia channels available.

To highlight the importance of innovation in separation science, LCGC International is organizing the 2026 HTC Innovation Award in collaboration with the HTC-19 Conference Scientific Committee. This award celebrates a separation scientist who has made a pioneering contribution to the field by introducing new methodologies, instrumentation, or techniques that advance separation science—with a special focus on applications that benefit society.

HTC-19, the International Symposium on Hyphenated Techniques in Chromatography and Separation Technology, will take place from 26–29 May 2026 in Leuven, Belgium.

First established in 1990, the HTC symposium series has become a premier meeting point for scientists, industry professionals, and vendors to exchange insights and explore emerging technologies, instrumentation, workflows, and applications. Organized under the auspices of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Ghent University (UGent), and the Separation Science Group of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), HTC-19 is expected to attract more than 300 participants.

Previous winners of the HTC Innovation Award include:

2024: Prof. Bob Pirok, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands was recognized for his pioneering use of advanced machine learning and chemometric techniques to automate method development in both one-dimensional and two-dimensional liquid chromatography separations.
2022: Dr. Szabolcs Fekete, Waters Corporation, Geneva, Switzerland was honored for his innovative development of ultra-short columns, multi-isocratic and negative gradient segment methods, and on-column fractionation techniques—advances that improve selectivity and enable critical sample components to be separated in under 30 seconds.
2020: Prof. Ryan Kelly, Bingham Young University, Utah, USA received the award for his transformative contributions to proteomics research, including the development of nanodroplet processing in one pot for trace samples (nanoPOTS). This technology, combined with nano-liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (nano-LC–MS), enables the identification of over 3,000 protein groups from as few as 10 cells—achieving a level of proteome coverage previously only possible with 5,000 cells.
 2018: Prof. Carolin Huhn from Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tubingen, Germany was selected for her research developing a modular instrumental approach where the modular building blocks can be flexibly combined in relation to particular analytical tasks to implement a broad range of different elements of chemical analysis, such as matrix separation, analyte preconcentration, separation, and identification. A large part of her research was related to design, optimization, and characterization of intelligent interfaces between the modules.

The winner will be selected from submitted nominations by the HTC-19 scientific committee based on the following criteria:
• The candidate has made a pioneering contribution to the field of separation sciences by introducing new methodologies, instrumentation, or techniques, with a strong emphasis on practical applicability.
•Applicants should have under 15 years of experience after completing their PhD.
• Nominations are welcomed from separation scientists worldwide. LCGC International readers may nominate themselves or others.
• The Winner must be able to attend the event in person to present a lecture on their innovative research and participate in a video interview conducted by LCGC International at the event.
• Winners must submit a preview article describing their research to be published on-line in March 2026.
• The Winner to provide another technical article/feature article to LCGC International within one year of receiving the award.

For more information on how to submit a nomination click here

For more information on the HTC-19, the International Symposium on Hyphenated Techniques in Chromatography and Separation Technology (HTC-19), taking place from May 26 to 29 in Leuven, Belgium click here