Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The RTI proposal is for the purchase of two Agilent 1200 Series HPLC Systems to support the nutritional sciences, pharmaceutical sciences and environmental sciences research programs in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan. Five NSERC researchers will primarily use this equipment in their various independent and collaborative research endeavours. All of the researchers are committed to provide training opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and research technicians.  The new HPLC systems are crucial for the research programs of the five primary users since the existing HPLC equipment available for their use is outdated or nonfunctional and no longer meets the needs of the research that is being undertaken.  Therefore, replacement of some of the current HPLC systems is required.  Furthermore, the still-operational HPLC systems available in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition are fully utilized and researchers often have to delay their research or have their samples analyzed by other laboratories, thus increasing costs and diminishing the training exposure for those working within their own research groups. Of the HPLC systems still in use, they require software upgrades and are often in need of repairs or they are so outdated that parts are no longer available and new software programs are not compatible with the older systems. This lack of basic analytical equipment is significantly impeding the researchers' productivity and ability to collaborate locally, nationally and internationally.The new HPLC systems would greatly alleviate our present crisis situation and would allow all five applicants and others to increase their research capacity.