SQI’s core facilities recognized with Service Excellence Awards

Both of the Simpson Querrey Institute’s core facilities—the Peptide Synthesis Core and the Analytical bioNanoTechnology Equipment Core (ANTEC)—have been recognized with 2019 Core Facilities Service Excellence Awards by the Office for Research at Northwestern.

SQI’s cores were among 24 selected university-wide for general excellence in governance, resource management, user satisfaction, innovation and outreach. Each awardee scored as either “Outstanding” or “Excellent” in at least six of the eight criteria that the Office for Research’s Core Facilities Administration uses to evaluate cores.

This marks the fifth consecutive year of recognition for the Peptide Synthesis Core, which earned Outstanding Core Facility Awards in 2018 and 2015 and received honorable mention for the same distinction in 2016 and 2017.

"We're very happy to receive this recognition from the Office for Research and I'm very lucky to be working as part of a great team here at SQI,” said Mark Karver, Director of the Peptide Synthesis Core. “I thank all of our staff, especially our technical staff, as the reason for our continued success."

This is the first time ANTEC has been recognized in this manner by the Office for Research. ANTEC Director Alexandra Kolot said the facility is always looking to provide new services to core users, and this year was no exception.

“Recently, we added a live cell analysis system and a user-friendly nanoindenter, and both instruments became instantly popular,” Kolot said. “We are grateful to our users, the principal investigators, the Office for Research and the SQI administration team for the support and appreciation of our efforts.”

Members of the Office for Research's Core Facilities Administration team present the staff of SQI's core facilities with 2019 Service Excellence Awards on Jan. 14, 2020.