Have you been wanting to break into proteomics or metabolomics but just haven?t had the resources? Well you could be in luck.

Agilent Technologies will launch Wednesday (March 15) its "Agilent 6000 Series LC/MS Lab Makeover" sweepstakes -- the winner of which will take home a brand-new Agilent 1200 series HPLC and either an Agilent 6410 triple-quadrupole or 6510 quadrupole-time-of-flight (Q-tof) mass spectrometer. (I say "bring home" metaphorically ? presumably, the instruments will be delivered.)

The 6410 triple-quad is primarily a tool for small molecule profiling, while the Q-tof is marketed toward the proteomics market. But whatever your interest, with a value of some $550,000 ($240,000 for the triple quad or $225,000 for the Q-tof, plus the value of the HPLC itself), the prize represents real money to any lab, not just LC/MS neophytes.

The competition is open to anyone in the US (except Rhode Island ? sorry Brown!) or Canada (except Quebec), and runs through July 31. According to Frank Orrico, a PR rep working with Agilent, participants log onto www.win-a-mass-spec.com , provide contact and demographic information, choose which mass spec they?d prefer to receive, and indicate how the prize will further their research. "As it is a random drawing, the most important thing is that they answer the questions." A winner will be drawn by September 30.