The 2022 NSF Early Career Investigator Workshop will be held in-person on June 6-7, 2022 in Alexandria, VA. The workshop is designed to help junior faculty navigate the NSF proposal preparation and submission process, network with program officers from NSF and other federal agencies and get advice on their proposal ideas from established investigators. More details are included below and in the attached flyer. I’m serving as one of the organizers this year along with Christina Li from Purdue. Please encourage your junior colleagues to apply and let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Steven

2022 NSF Chemistry Early Career Investigator Workshop

June 6-7, 2022

Alexandria, VA

(Sponsored by NSF CHE-2219774)

The NSF Division of Chemistry Early Career Investigator Workshop will be held in-person on June 6-7, 2022 in Alexandria, VA. The workshop will bring together junior faculty along with established faculty mentors and NSF program officers to discuss strategies for crafting research ideas, planning educational and outreach activities, and assessing and evaluating project goals.

All assistant professors who are eligible to submit an NSF CAREER proposal in FY 2023, including new hires starting in Fall of 2022, are encouraged to apply for the workshop.

Applications are due on April 8, 2022. Please visit www.nsfcareerworkshop.com for more information and application details. 

— 

Steven A. Lopez, Ph.D. (he/his) | Assistant Professor

Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology

Roux Institute

Northeastern University

Want to teach kids how to use Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math to be inventors and to travel across Oregon this summer?

Oregon State University has an exciting opportunity for you to make a difference in the lives of middle school students all around the state of Oregon! As an Invention Educator* you will connect with our community of STEM and invention partners in a variety of locations across the state and help build youth learners’ entrepreneur, design, invention, and engineering skills. You and your co-mentors will support youth in teamwork, leadership, and communication, as well as help them solve a real-world problem within their community or for a specific user!

*Invention education refers to the “deliberate efforts to teach people how to approach problem finding and problem-solving in ways that reflect the process and practices employed by accomplished inventors”. Invention education is known to be a powerful, engaging, and inclusive educational approach that helps prepare students for a rapidly changing future! Be part of this new, exciting, and growing field!

https://jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/113688

We are looking to recruit a talented post-doctoral researcher in the upcoming year at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC. I would be grateful if you could disseminate the attached position description throughout your department or to any graduate students who will be graduating in the next year and have an interest in Synthetic Biology. I have also posted the position description below. 

Salary: $87,198/year with health benefits plus travel support for conference attendance. Please email myself or Dr. Igor Medintz (igor.medintz@nrl.navy.mil) if interested. 

NRC Post Doc Announcement:

http://nrc58.nas.edu/RAPLab10/Opportunity/Opportunity.aspx?LabCode=64&ROPCD=641509&RONum=B8126

Synthetic Biology and Interfacial Catalysis

A postdoctoral research position is available in the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering at the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington DC (http://www.nrl.navy.mil/).  This position is at the interface of biology and materials and focuses on creating new biocataltyic enzyme-based nanomaterials with emergent properties.

NRL is the Department of Defense’s (DoDs) corporate laboratory for the Navy and Marine Corps. The Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering works at the interface of materials, chemistry, biology, biophysics and materials science to solve critical problems of importance to the Navy and DoD.

Project Description:  When enzymes are displayed at a nanoparticle interface in a controlled and homogeneous manner, in many cases they display substantially enhanced catalytic activity. We are interested in understanding the mechanisms by which enzyme activity is altered and enhanced at this nanoparticle interface and learning how to exploit this in the context of synthetic biology. We are particularly interested in designing and assembling totally artificial enzyme-based biosynthetic pathways on nanoparticles in vitro where the overall catalytic flux through the system can be expected to be greatly enhanced by what appears to be channeling behavior.  This approach represents an important and complementary way of achieving biocatalysis for use synthetic biology that is still extremely underutilized.

Candidates desired experience to include a PhD in a related biological discipline such as molecular biology, biochemistry, or microbiology with some combination of experience in cloning and recombinant DNA technology, enzymatic assays, fluorescence, bacterial-eukaryotic cell expression and analysis, biosensing, and synthetic biology. Experience with nanoparticles/nanomaterials and FRET are a plus.

Salary: $87,198/year with health benefits plus travel support for conference attendance. The position is administered through the National Research Council (https://www.nrl.navy.mil/careers/post-doc/nrc/). NRL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants must be US Citizens or US Permanent Residents at time of application.

Representative publications:

  • Ellis, G.A., Díaz, S.A., Medintz, I.L. Enhancing Enzymatic Performance with Nanoparticle Immobilization: Improved Analytical and Control Capability for Synthetic Biochemistry. Current Opinion in Biotechnology 71, 77-90 (2021).
  • Díaz, S.A., Choo, P., Oh, E., Susumu, K., Klein, W.P., Walper, S.A., Hastman, D.A., Odom, T.W., Medintz, I.L. Gold Nanoparticle Templating Increases the Catalytic Rate of an Amylase, Maltase, and Glucokinase Multienzyme Cascade through Substrate Channeling Independent of Surface Curvature. ACS Catalysis 11,627-638 (2021).
  • Klein, W.; Thomsen, R.; Turner, K.; Walper, S.A.; Vranish, J.; Kjems, J.; Ancona, M.G.; Thakur, M., Medintz, I.L., Enhanced Catalysis from Multienzyme Cascades Assembled On A DNA Origami Triangle. ACS Nano 13, 13677-13689 (2019).
  • Ellis, G.A., Klein, W.P., Lasarte Aragones, G., Thakur, M., Walper, S.A., Medintz, I.L. Artificial Multienzyme Scaffolds:  Pursuing In Vitro Substrate Channeling with an Overview of Current Progress.  ACS Catalysis 9, 10812-10869 (2019).
  • Breger, J.C., Oh, E., Susumu, K., Klein, W.P., Walper, S.A., Ancona, M.G., Medintz, I.L. Nanoparticle Size Influences Localized Enzymatic Enhancement – A Case Study with Phosphotriesterase. Bioconjugate Chemistry 30, 2060-2074 (2019).
  • Vranish, J.N., Ancona, M.G., Oh, E., Susumu, K., Lasarte-Aragones, G., Breger, J.C., Walper, S.A., Medintz, I.L.   Enhancing Coupled Enzymatic Activity by Colocalization on Nanoparticle Surfaces: Kinetic Evidence for Directed Channeling of Intermediates.  ACS Nano 12, 7911-7926 (2018).
  • Breger, J.C., Ancona, M.G., Walper, S.A., Oh, E., Susumu, K., Stewart, M.H., Deschamps, J.R., Medintz, I.L. Understanding How Nanoparticle Attachment Enhances Phosphotriesterase Kinetic Efficiency. ACS Nano 8, 8491-8503 (2015).

Point of Contact:

Igor L. Medintz PhD (ST)

Senior Scientist for Biosensors and Biomaterials

Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering 

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Code 6907 

Washington D.C., 20375 USA

Email: Igor.medintz@nrl.navy.mil

The College of Science will sponsor students to present their research at the Chemical Biology and Physiology 21|22 conference held in Portland, Oregon on April 28-May 1, 2022.  This conference brings in global leaders in chemistry, biochemistry, drug discovery, and new therapeutic approaches. Please see details of the conference below and attached flyer. 

The college will cover the $200 “Oregon institution” registration fee for a maximum of 20 students who will present at the conference. If remaining funds are available these can be used for travel expenses and will be assigned based on student need. Students using these COS funds will be expected to give a 5-10 minute presentation on their talk and what they found of value at a Fall Research symposium. 

Students must provide an abstract by the March 13th deadline to be considered for flash talks and short talks. 

Ryan Mehl in Biochemistry and Biophysics is on the Steering Committee and can be contacted with specific questions. 

 www.ohsu.edu/chembiophys2021

Dear Academic Leadership,

We are pleased to announce that our winter term Academic Leadership Workshop, Get to Know the OSU Office of the General Counsel: How They Are Here to Help You Before Anyone Ends up In Court, presented by Becca Gose, Chief Legal Counsel, General Counsel, and joined by Esther Henry, Senior Associate, General Counsel. The workshop will take place on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 10:00 – 11:00 am. The workshop will be held remotely via Zoom.

Meet the General Counsel and learn that they are there to provide good planning advice and answers to questions long before legal actions ever arise. Learn insights on how to navigate topics such as legal confidentiality, public information requests, etc. A lot of legal questions arise in the employment context, so stay tuned for parts 2-3 of this series, which will include Becca, Esther, and Heather Horn, Associate Vice Provost & Assistant Vice President Employee & Labor Relations and HR Strategic Partnership, to focus on employment issues in particular.

Registration details can be found here:  https://beav.es/wdq

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions for future workshop topics. 

We hope to see you on March 15!

Sincerely, 

Bob   

Bob Mason

Associate Vice Provost, Faculty Development

The ACS Bridge Program (ACS-BP) was developed to increase the number of students from underrepresented (UR) racial and ethnic groups obtaining a Ph.D. in the chemical sciences. ACS-BP assists UR students with getting into and succeeding in graduate school.  We are now accepting applications for the 2021-2022 ACS Bridge Program and we need your help getting the word out to students.
Danica Gressel
As an ACS Bridge Fellow, students enroll in a one- to two-year Bridge Experience that provides research experience, advanced coursework, mentoring, and coaching to prepare a graduate school application. Students who have not applied to graduate school, or who have applied but were not accepted, may be offered:  ·        A free common application that will be shared with participating departments·        Resources to strengthen applications·        Connections to faculty and mentors·        Networking opportunities with other ACS-BP studentsYou can make a difference, help us spread the word! Please refer any eligible students to the ACS Bridge Program page to determine eligibility and apply.  The deadline to apply is March 31, 2022.

Hello,

The National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) will be held in Portland at the Oregon Convention Center from May 31-June 4, 2022. NCORE is a significant and prominent national forum on issues of race and ethnicity in American higher education. 

The Office of Institutional Diversity is sponsoring various efforts for this conference including: an employee conference registration scholarship, group registration discount, a conference reception for OSU employees and friends, and information about OSU led workshops.

Please visit the Oregon State University at NCORE 2022 website for more information about these opportunities.  

 
We hope to see you at NCORE 2022! 

Warmly, 

Teresita Alvarez-Cortez 

____________________________________________

Teresita Alvarez-Cortez, M.Ed. she/her/hers

Acting AVP for Strategic Diversity Initiatives

Oregon State University | Office of Institutional Diversity

(541) 737-5936 (office) | diversity.oregonstate.edu 

Schedule a Meeting

Faculty applications are being accepted for the DPD Academy, June 13-24. The DPD Academy facilitates focused and productive engagement with contemporary, multidisciplinary scholarship on difference, power and discrimination; critical pedagogies; and curriculum transformation. Individual and team applications welcome. For more information: DPD Academy page. Deadline: March 18.