The University of Pittsburgh Chemistry Department is proud to announce that we are accepting applications to our 2023 SURF program.
From May 30th to August 4th, research opportunities are available for 4-6 undergraduate students from underrepresented groups and/or female students who are expected to graduate in 2024. Students will receive a stipend of $4300 for 10 weeks of summer research as well as free housing on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus.
Interested students can find the application here.
I would like to inform your constituents about an exciting ten-week summer internship opportunity in the Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, in La Jolla, California. I have attached a flyer for your review and copied the job listing below — please forward / use in any ways that would best get the word out, including even posting hard copies on building bulletin boards in your area!
Our internship program is a great opportunity for inquisitive and motivated undergraduate students with exceptional aptitude for quantitative science majoring in oceanography, applied mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, geology and related majors to work with some of the most notable scientists in the world while earning a modest salary.
UCSD is an equal opportunity employer, with a strong institutional commitment to excellence through diversity.
More information can be found on our website https://mpl.ucsd.edu/internships/, where applications will be accepted through 4 p.m. Pacific time on January 13, 2023. If you have any questions please contact me.
Warm regards,
Eva Friedlander | Summer Internship Coordinator | Marine Physical Laboratory | UC San Diego Scripps Institution Of Oceanography | MC 0213 | mpl-internship@ucsd.edu
Organization: University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Marine Physical Laboratory
Call for Summer Interns ************************ Are you considering applying to grad school and interested in oceanography as a career path? Contemplating a career in scientific research and development?
The Marine Physical Laboratory, at UC San Diego’s world renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is currently seeking inquisitive, motivated undergraduate students with exceptional aptitude for quantitative science to apply for the 2023 MPL Summer Internship Program.
Undergraduate college students majoring in oceanography, applied mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, geology and related majors are encouraged to apply. This ten-week internship will offer qualified students the opportunity to work with some of the most notable scientists in the world and learn about marine science and technology while earning a modest salary.
UCSD is an equal opportunity employer, with a strong institutional commitment to excellence through diversity.
ABOUT YOU ************* * Currently enrolled as 1st, 2nd or 3rd year undergraduate — and not in your senior year — at a college or university with a major applicable to research done at MPL
* A U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident
* Considering a career in scientific research * Available to start at MPL in La Jolla, California, in June 2023.
* At least 18 years of age as of the internship start date
* Available to work the duration of the internship, ten consecutive weeks from the start date, for 40 hours per week at a salary of $16.30 per hour, and including a $6,000 (taxable) stipend to defray the cost of lodging, meals, transportation, etc.,
* Not a former MPL summer intern
* OK with working a short distance from some of Southern California’s best beaches and surf
* Applications will be accepted online through 4 p.m. Pacific time on January 13, 2023.
* Applications are not reviewed until after the application due date.
* Applicants may be notified by email as early as February 2023.
* All applicants will have been notified by email by the end of April.
ABOUT US *********** The Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) is an organized research unit of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and lab at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Originally established as a Navy-orientated research laboratory in 1946, MPL has maintained a strong multidisciplinary research program consisting entirely of sponsored projects, with a large sponsorship from the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Research Topics:
Acoustics and Infrasound Applied Ocean Sciences Autonomous Ocean Platforms and Global Observing Systems Coastal Oceanography Internal Waves and Ocean Mixing Marine Mammal Biology Nonlinear and Surface Waves Ocean Acoustics Ocean Instrumentation and Technology Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions Physical Oceanography Population and Community Ecology Upper Ocean and Submesoscale Processes
Research Highlights:
Air-Sea Interaction Research Coastal Observatory Development Observations of Waves and Currents Nearshore Optical and Ancillary Measurements at High Latitudes in Support of the MODIS Ocean Validation Program Reference Materials for Oceanic Carbon Dioxide Measurements Time Reversal Mirror in the Ocean Whale Acoustics
The Simons Foundation has put out a new call for vision statements (letter of intent)for new neuroscience collaborations. They are looking for new, emerging breakthrough areas of neuroscience that are poised for high-impact funding. They are looking for bold and cutting-edge ideas that focus on basic principles of brain function overlooked or considered too risky for other funding organizations.
Funding levels:
Simons Collaborations will be funded for 10 years (with a review at year 5). The total budget for the new Neuroscience Collaborations will be $25 million per year. We anticipate identifying up to three collaborations, with the funding level of each collaboration determined by the proposed scope and aims of the project. As a guideline, we suggest budgets of between $5–12 million per year, inclusive of 20 percent indirect costs.
The letters of intentare due 8 March 2023.
Vision statements should be no longer than two-pages, single-spaced, 11 pt New Times Roman font, 0.5 in margins plus one page (if needed) of figures, references, the anticipated overall yearly total cost and list of proposed PIs.
Vision statements should clearly outline the big idea and hypotheses that the proposed neuroscience collaboration will address, including high-level overviews of the methods and approaches that will be used. Why is this work uniquely suited for Simons Collaboration funding? Why should this collaboration be funded now? Why is it difficult to obtain funding to investigate these questions from other funding agencies and foundations? Vision statements should address why and how the support of a large collaborative research project from the Simons Foundation will transform our understanding of how the brain works. Please propose investigators who may be included in the collaboration and an estimated anticipated overall yearly total cost.
They will hold an informationalwebinaron December 12thfrom 1-2 pm ET (10 am PT).
Please let us know by emailing research.development@science.oregonstate.eduif you are interested in applying and we will be happy to work with you to put a team together, coordinate meetings, etc.
Additionally, if invited for a full proposal, the research office might be able to offer some proposal support for large complex proposals, via their intake form: https://research.oregonstate.edu/ord/proposal-support
Please forwardto anyone that I may have omitted who may be interested.
Bettye
Please note that I will be out of the office 5-15 December.
From:Simons Foundation <info@simonsfoundation.org>Date:Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 9:43 AMTo:Maddux, Bettye L S <Bettye.Maddux@oregonstate.edu>Subject:Simons Foundation Seeks Proposals for New Neuroscience Collaborations
[This email originated from outside of OSU. Use caution with links and attachments.]
The brain holds some of science’s greatest mysteries. Today, the Simons Foundation issending out a call for proposed neuroscience collaborationsthat will conduct bold transformational research into how our brains work.The foundation is committing $250 million over the next 10 years to fund new neuroscience collaborations. The collaborations will focus on cutting-edge idea-generating research that focuses on basic principles of brain function. The foundation is particularly interested in research overlooked or deemed too risky by other funding organizations.“Understanding the brain is one of the great open-ended challenges of science,” says David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation. “What we are trying to do with these new collaborations is encourage neuroscientists to take big risks and address the most important questions in the field.”The new collaborations will follow in the footsteps of two existing neuroscience collaborations funded by the Simons Foundation: theSimons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB), launched in 2014, and theSimons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB), established in 2020. Both collaborations have spurred meaningful advancements in our understanding of brain processes.Researchers with an idea for any such innovative collaboration should submit a vision statement by March 8, 2023. Such submissions should outline the big idea and related hypotheses the proposed collaboration will address, including high-level overviews of the methods and approaches that will be used.The foundation will prioritize cross-disciplinary collaborations integrating many levels of analysis, methodologies, ways of thinking and scientific communities. The collaborations should encourage conversations within and across fields while bringing together diverse groups of researchers to investigate important questions about the basic principles of brain function. Investigators in a Simons Collaboration are expected to openly share data, code, analysis pipelines, protocols and reagents with the broader community. The foundation expects proposals to include junior investigators and investigators from a diversity of academic disciplines, genders, races and ethnicities.For those interested in submitting a vision statement, the Simons Foundationwill host a webinarproviding additional information about the process on December 12, 2022, at 1 p.m. ET.
Dr. Nir Modiano (modiano@ohsu.edu) from OHSU, is looking to collaborate with a chemist or toxicologist on an effort to understand whether the therapeutic PPS may contribute to inflammatory bowel disease.
“Briefly, PPS is a sulfated polysaccharide that is used as a therapy for interstitial cystitis. We have found that a few of our IBD patients on PPS improved after stopping the PPS. In the 1990’s studies of high-dose PPS use for bladder cancer were dose-limited by proctitis, supporting the notion that it could be a causative agent in colitis. We then noticed a number of patients on it developed multifocal dysplasia, requiring colectomy to prevent progression to malignancy. Since the number of patients taking PPS is fairly small, we collaborated with Stanford and identified 30 patients with IBD who had been on PPS for >2 years (arbitrarily chosen because we did not want to include patients who had minimal exposure). Of these, 1 in 3 developed multifocal dysplasia as of time of our study, which is a very high number. We think this case series supports the hypothesis that PPS may increase the risk of both IBD and colonic dysplasia, though obviously, a small case series is not a definitive study.
Of note, PPS may share similiarities in chemical structure with DSS, and both are sulfated polysaccharides, though we have not yet had a chemist or toxicologist weigh in on whether the similarities are likely to be relevant. We’d be interested in gaining perspective from someone with relevant experience in toxicology to help us understand our observations and, perhaps, collaborate on research related to these findings. One reason I find this so interesting is that it may offer insight into other environmental exposures that may be contributing to the rapid increase in IBD cases we are seeing in the western world, and perhaps, the increased rates of colorectal cancer at younger ages.”
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) hosts a 9-week summer internship that is designed to provide research experience and mentorship for undergraduate students of rising senior status. We would appreciate your help promoting the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) among students at Oregon State University. I have attached an informational brochure that offers an overview of the program, including eligibility criteria, compensation, travel and housing, and how to apply.
Please encourage your students to visit the SURP website for more comprehensive information.
An online application for the 2017 SURP will be available via the SURP website in mid-November 2016.
The application deadline is midnight Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Friday, January 13, 2017. Letters of recommendation for up to two references are due by midnight Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Friday, January 20, 2017.
The 2017 SURP will run from Monday, June 12 ??? Friday, August 11.
Other Biomedical Research Internships
I also wanted to share with you a resource that my colleagues and I developed, which is a catalog of biomedical research internships offered nationwide for high school, undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, graduate, and first-year medical students. Feel free to share this resource with faculty and students.
Thanks for your help promoting the SURP at the Fred Hutch and other internship opportunities nationwide!
Best,
Marilyn Drennan
Program Assistant,
Thompson Studies & Summer Undergraduate Research Program
Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98109-1024
Phone: 206-667-4226
The 2015 National Chemistry Week theme is “Chemistry Colors Our World”. The American Chemical Society is celebrating Chemistry Week to increase awareness for Chemistry. Dr. Mas Subramanian’s research focuses on colorful materials, so he made a graphic featuring his pigment to help the NSF promote Chemistry.
Dr. Chong Fang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Oregon State University, has been awarded one of the prestigious 2015 NSF CAREER Awards.
Chong Fang joined OSU Chemistry in September 2010.
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide program that offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. A CAREER grant should build a firm foundation for the recipient for a lifetime of research excellence and creative leadership in integrating education and research. NSF encourages submission of CAREER proposals from junior faculty members at all CAREER-eligible organizations and especially encourages women, members of underrepresented minority groups, and persons with disabilities to apply.
This NSF CAREER Award will fund Dr. Fang’s research for the next five years. His current research focuses on developing state-of-the-art spectroscopic techniques to reveal the fluorescence mechanisms of green fluorescent protein (GFP) derivatives and emerging fluorescent protein biosensors. These colorful biomolecules originally derived from jellyfish floating in the Pacific ocean and later from coral reefs near Australia have revolutionized bioimaging for almost two decades. However, these biosensors still suffer from drawbacks in photostability, brightness, detection depth, and color contrast, etc. The key to rationally design the next-generation biosensors with improved and targeted properties lies in the mechanistic understanding of molecular fluorescence, emitted from the chromophore that is an organic moiety embedded in the center of the protein pocket.
The femtosecond Raman methodology implemented in the Fang lab will resolve the choreography of chromophore motions, to the detail of transporting a single proton upon photoexcitation, with the time resolution of a billionth of a millionth of a second. These unique and powerful experiments will provide previously hidden governing factors for the structural evolution of chromophores and the emission outcomes in emerging GFP-related biosensors, and can be extended to other photosensitive systems. The vivid molecular “movie” that is captured during chemical reactions and biological functions opens new ways to study physical chemistry and quantum mechanics in action.
“Winning this NSF CAREER award not only provides the crucial resources we need to bring our current femtosecond Raman methodology to the next level, both in technical innovation and sample applications, but also assures us that the scientific problems we are tackling hold transformative and broad impact.” Fang says. “Our group will use the newly available resources to systematically elucidate fluorescence mechanisms in an emerging group of protein biosensors, and pinpoint strategic atomic sites that protein designers and engineers can target to rationally improve the properties of those biosensors. The fundamental understanding of how things work, at the same time, is always a fascinating journey that keeps us inspired and motivated.”
Dr. Fang grew up in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China. He earned dual B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Applied Computer Science at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). He continued on to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania under the tutelage of Prof. Robin Hochstrasser (1931-2013) and obtained his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry (2006). He performed postdoctoral research with Prof. Richard Mathies at the University of California, Berkeley, before joining the OSU Chemistry Faculty in September 2010. Dr. Fang’s research group currently boasts one postdoc and six graduate students. Some of Dr. Fang’s other noted awards are the GRF and RERF Fund Awards at OSU, Dean’s Scholar Award at UPenn and the Guo Moruo Scholarship at USTC.
Chemistry Department Chair, Dr. Rich Carter, stated, “I am thrilled to see Chong’s significant scientific and educational accomplishments acknowledged by the NSF through this award. He is one of the leading young chemists in his area internationally and this honor is well deserved.”
Originally published in Terra Magazine – January 30, 2015 – by Doug Keszler
I AM OFTEN ASKED ABOUT THE STEPS leading to establishment of the Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry headquartered at Oregon State University.
The story starts with the glimmer of an idea that emerged in the mid-1980s. The idea took hold in the 1990s, and culminated in 2011 with the establishment of a multi-institutional research center dedicated to developing the next generation of electronic circuits — circuits that are cleaner, cheaper and faster to make for the ever-changing demands of industry and consumers. Driving the center’s formation was a critical mass of relationships, philanthropy, distinctive science, strategic planning, numerous institutional partnerships and opportunities for leveraging.
A PARTNERSHIP BLOSSOMS
In the beginning, there was the OSU Foresight! Campaign, a modest fundraising effort that provided startup packages for three faculty hires in the mid-1980s — a “cluster hire” focused on building the area of materials science. At the time, materials science was a barely emerging field, making OSU an early player. John Wager in electrical engineering and I were two of the hires. We rarely interacted, however, until the mid-1990s. Our collaboration, combining fundamental chemistry and electrical engineering, eventually blossomed and formed the basis for the unique research now done in the Center. Read more…
A NUCLEAR WEAPON IN THE HANDS OF TERRORISTS is the stuff of nightmares, especially for U.S. agencies charged with preventing a devastating attack. When security or law enforcement agents confiscate nuclear or radiological weapons or their ingredients being smuggled domestically or internationally, they must quickly trace them back to their source.
Enter, the science of nuclear forensics. Defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as “the ability to trace the source of interdicted materials to their place of origin,” nuclear forensics ranks as a “keystone” of U.S. anti-terrorism policy.
Now, Oregon State University is about to become a player in that effort. A new graduate emphasis in nuclear forensics is being launched in OSU’s Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics with funding from Homeland Security. Courses in nuclear materials science, nuclear forensics analysis and detection of special nuclear material will be added to existing core courses such as radiophysics, radiochemistry and applied radiation safety. Faculty expertise in nuclear engineering, radiation health physics, radiation detection and radiochemistry will anchor the program, along with state-of-the-art lab and spectroscopy facilities in the Radiation Center, says OSU researcher Camille Palmer, who will lead the nuclear forensics emphasis. Read more…
WHAT IF WE COULD TURN EXCESS CO2 into a boon for electronics and other industries?
Chemists and engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a way to do just that. David Ji and his research team have captured atmospheric carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas — and used it to make an advanced, high-value material for energy-storage devices that power everything from defibrillators to hybrid electric cars.
This innovation in nanotechnology won’t soak up enough carbon to solve global warming, the researchers say. However, it will provide an environmentally friendly, low-cost way to make “nanoporous graphene,” a pure form of carbon that’s super-strong and ultra-efficient at conducting heat and electricity. All of these properties give nanoporous graphene a big edge over activated carbon, now used in making commercial supercapacitors — devices that can store energy for rapid release. Read more…
