The Graduate School invites your program’s participation in a campus-based competition for selection of OSU’s nominee for the 2015-16 WAGS/UMI Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award.  Two nominations will be awarded. One nomination will be awarded from a STEM field and one nomination will be awarded in a Non-STEM field. Eligible programs are listed below.
This award recognizes distinguished scholarly achievement at the master’s level. Nominations will be accepted in any discipline in which the institution offers a master’s degree. A nominee must have earned the master’s degree within the period of July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015.
This prestigious regional competition is an important opportunity for OSU to showcase the scholarly excellence of our master’s students to institutions throughout the western region and to celebrate our success. We encourage you to take the time to prepare a nomination.
OSU ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS:  Any of the below disciplines in which a master’s degree is offered.

STEM: Biological Sciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Engineering

Non-STEM: Humanities, Social Sciences, Education, and Business.

OSU AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:  The Graduate School will provide a cash award of $500 to the student selected as OSU’s nominee for the Western Association of Graduate Schools/UMI Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award.  In addition, the Graduate School will award $500 to the graduate department/program that submits the thesis selected as OSU’s nominee for the Western Association of Graduate Schools/UMI Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award.
PROCEDURES:  Each graduate program may submit only one nomination for consideration. Graduate programs must provide in one electronic PDF file items b, c, d as reflected in the attached WAGS/UMI guidelines. Please refer to the full announcement for complete details.
NOMINATION DEADLINE:  To facilitate the internal selection process, please submit all nomination materials to the Graduate School by 5:00 p.m., Monday, July 13, 2015 to the following e-mail address: Graduate.Scholarships@oregonstate.edu – subject line should read Name_Dept_WAGSThesis_NON STEM orName_Dept_WAGSThesis_STEM.

Is a Fulbright Fellowship in your future?

Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program: Opportunities by Discipline The Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program  offers teaching, research or combination teaching/research awards in over 125 countries for the 2016-2017 academic year.

Opportunities are available for college and university faculty and administrators as well as for professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars and many others.

There are nearly 600 awards offered in 46 disciplines in addition to many All Discipline awards that welcome teaching and/or research proposals in any area of study, including interdisciplinary projects.

To view the full range of awards by discipline, visit the Catalog of Awards.

To learn more about a few highlighted disciplines, click on the links below:

*        American Studies                                                                 http://www.cies.org/opportunities-american-studies

*        Business, Economics, and Entrepreneurship            http://www.cies.org/opportunities-business-administration-and-economics

*        Computer Science                                                                http://www.cies.org/opportunities-computer-science

*        Communications                                                                   http://www.cies.org/opportunities-communications

*        Education                                                                                 http://www.cies.org/opportunities-education

*        Environmental Science                                                      http://www.cies.org/opportunities-environmental-science

*        Law                                                                                             http://www.cies.org/opportunities-law

*        Medical Sciences and Public/Global Health             http://www.cies.org/opportunities-medical-sciences-and-publicglobal-health

*        Political Science                                                                    http://www.cies.org/opportunities-political-science

*        Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM)                               http://www.cies.org/opportunities-stem

*        Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)        http://www.cies.org/teaching-english-foreign-language

The application deadline for most awards is August 3, 2015.  For eligibility requirements and other program information, please visit our website or register with MyFulbright to receive program updates.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world.

Name:  Staci Simonich

Area of Study / Position Title: Analytical Environmental Chemistry, Professor

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?): My love of the outdoors and aptitude for chemistry.  Growing up near the Great Lakes and near papermills.

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? Conduct research in analytical environmental chemistry that educates students and influences policy.

One thing you truly love about your job? My students and travel.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, have two children, and love to surf, paddle board, bike and horseback ride!

The Office of Academic Affairs has two temporary positions currently open: the Director of Undergraduate Academic Program Reviews (.50 FTE) and the Director of Assessment (.30 FTE).  As you may know, Stefani Dawn’s last day as the Director of Academic Programs, Assessment and Accreditation is June 30, 2015.  These two positions will take on many of the duties that Stefani is currently responsible for. These are expedited, internal searches and we ask for your assistance in getting this information to those interested in applying.  Position descriptions for each are attached.

To apply, go to http://oregonstate.edu/jobs/; posting numbers are:
·         Interim Director of Assessment – (0.3 FTE), 12-month, Posting #0014835.
·         Interim Director of Undergraduate Academic Program Reviews – (0.5 FTE), 12-month, Posting #0014833.
Please forward this information broadly.  The deadline for applications is June 12, 2015.

The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.
Senior Scientist Mentor Program
 
Application Deadline: September 10, 2015
 
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation supports emeritus faculty who maintain active research programs with undergraduates in the chemical sciences. The Senior Scientist Mentor Program provides an award of $20,000 over two years for undergraduate stipends and modest research support.
 
Complete program details and application information may be viewed at: http://dreyfus.org/awards/senior_scientist_mentor.shtml.
 
Thank you,
Debbie 
 
Debbie Delmore
Executive Assistant to Rich Holdren, Associate Vice President for Research
Research Office
Oregon State University
A312 Kerr Administration Building
Corvallis, OR  97331-2140
Phone: 541-737-8390
Fax: 541-737-9041
debbie.delmore@oregonstate.edu
http://research.oregonstate.edu/

Muniz, CollinCollin Muniz was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of The Crimson Tide, but quickly moved to LA, then on to Oregon where he attended Beaverton High School. His sophomore year at Beaverton High, he took his first Chemistry class. He fondly remembers his instructor, Patrick Cripey, performing an acid-based reaction in which he dissolved a penny and decided then and there, that Chemistry was pure magic; a type of magic that he wanted to explore further.

 

When it came time to apply to colleges, Collin applied to many and did his due diligence in visiting each one. He said it was an easy decision to choose OSU. Upon matriculation, he was originally a Chemical Engineering major, but quickly discovered there wasn’t enough chemistry in that major, so switched to a dual degree in Chemistry and Physics. He says his first professor was also his favorite professor, Dr. May Nyman. He reports greatly enjoying the teaching methods and classes of Dr.’s Daniel Myles and Paul Blakemore as well, but Dr. Nyman was the one who really gave him his start. Shortly after starting her class, Collin went to her office hours and “prodded” her for information about her science. He said, at first, she was slow to open up, not wanting to confuse him, but his excitement for the subject was infectious and she was soon writing structures on the white board and discussing her research with him. Several weeks later, she contacted him and offered him an undergraduate research position with her lab. An opportunity he jumped on with great enthusiasm and has never looked back.

 

Collin plans on attending graduate school in the future, whichever graduate school, he says, will help him pursue his dreams to the best of his ability. After that, he wants to find work in a National Lab. “I want to work in the sort of environment where there’s a lot of pressure to get your final product and where you need to be very innovative to accomplish that,” Collin stated. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer and studying, a fact which he says, makes him boring. We here in the Chemistry Department think that makes him a wonderful new addition to our Undergraduates of the Quarter.

Originally published by OSU Advantage

Sometimes, the best inventions happen when you’re looking for something else. This was the case for Oregon State University professor Mas Subramanian and his team, who were researching new materials for electronics applications when they accidentally produced a bright blue pigment.

After mixing manganese oxide (which is black in color) with other chemicals and heating them in a furnace at almost 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, one of their samples turned out to be a vivid blue. Graduate student Andrew Smith initially made these samples to study their electrical properties.

“It was serendipity, actually; a happy accidental discovery,” Subramanian says.  Read more…

Training for OSU employees will be offered from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 27, in the Oak Creek Building, room 201. This safety training is required for all OSU employees who are not lab employees but may need to enter a lab in the course of their work. Examples include trade workers, IT workers or administrative personnel. The course assists personnel to become familiar with lab hazards, lab warning signs and labels and general and specific protective measures. Refresher training is required every three years. Pre-registration is encouraged: submit name and OSU ID number to radiationsafety@oregonstate.edu.

Name: Larry Nelson

Area of Study / Position Title: development engineer / machinest

Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you?):this is Chemistry?

Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? design and build custom parts from vacuum chamber systems to Batterys and everything in between, a wide variety of materials and projects.

One thing you truly love about your job? Helping my customers succeed with their projects and giving them what they didnt even know they needed yet.

One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. i grow Giant pumpkins for contests, personal best so far is 1468 lbs.