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 May 4, 2015 Please follow us on Facebook & Twitter! Events This Week 1. NCBI Discovery Workshop at WUSTL 5/5 & 5/6 2. AWIS Planning Meeting 5/5 3. Postdoc Spring Happy Hour 5/6 4. BEC Social Hour and Elections 5/6 5. BALSA Special Seminar – Patent Eligibility 5/6 6. BEC Coffee Hour ‐ Medical Devices 5/7 7. OUTgrads Spring Party: PROM! 5/9 Events Next Week: 8. OUTgrads General Meeting & Elections 5/11 9. CMB/IMSD ‐ Careers in Teaching 5/13 Future Events 10. Public Health Data & Training Center Crash Courses 5/19 11. ProSPER Early Career Transitions Symposium 5/19 12. Postdoc Spring Fling! 5/20 13. PERCSS ‐ RCR Workshop 5/21 – pre‐registration required! Fellowships & Awards 14. Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology Opportunities 15. Volunteer ‐ Genome: Unlocking Life's Code Exhibit in St. Louis 16. Partek Flow software free trial on campus! 17. ProSPER Elections FYI 18. Identifying Career Pathways for PhDs in Science ‐ Survey Request – closes May 8th! 19. Postdoc Tuition Benefit 20. MPHS Summer Clinical Research Courses Available 1. NCBI Discovery Workshop at WUSTL Becker Library will be broadcasting the NCBI Discovery Workshop being held at the University of Michigan on May 5th and 6th, 2015. The NCBI Discovery Workshop will be led by Peter Cooper, PhD, Staff Scientist at NCBI, and will consist of four 2.5‐hour hands‐on sessions emphasizing different sets of NCBI resources. Each session will use specific examples to highlight important features of the resources and tools under study and to demonstrate how to accomplish common tasks. The four sessions of the Discovery Workshop are: Navigating NCBI Molecular Data through the Integrated Entrez System and BLAST 8:00 – 10:30 Tuesday May 5 Gene Expression Resources at the NCBI 12:00 – 2:30 Tuesday May 5 NCBI Human Genes, Variation, and Medical Genetics Resources 8:00 – 10:30 Wednesday May 6 NCBI Genomes, Assemblies, and Annotation Products: Microbiome to Human 12:00 – 2:30 Wednesday May 6 Participants may attend all or any combination of these sessions. Each session is hands‐on, and attendees will need to bring their own laptop to use during the sessions. Please register by clicking the session links above. Sessions will be broadcast in FLTC 214A/B or 211/212. If you have any questions please email [email protected]. 2. AWIS Planning Meeting Come join the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Steering Committee plan our upcoming events for the summer and fall! In honor of cinco de mayo, we will have some themed snacks to accompany our meeting. Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2015 Time: 5:30‐6:30PM Location: Cambridge Innovation Center, 4240 Duncan Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63110. In the Chuck Berry Conference Room (2nd floor) Email: [email protected] 3. Postdoc Spring Happy Hour Come have a cold drink, relax, and socialize with your fellow postdocs to celebrate spring on Wednesday, May 6th at 4:30p in the FLTC Hearth. Beer, wine, non‐alcoholic beverages, and light snacks will be provided. Event sponsored by the Wash U Postdoc Society. We hope to see you there! Please RSVP using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jzoU6KvJE5Zh2jV5H_ad2_eUFM00uONoWjgqRhCJjDM/viewform 4. BEC Social Hour and Elections When: May 6, 2015 ‐ 5:00pm to 6:30pm Where: Seashell lobby or weather permitting, outdoor courtyard off McDonnell Medical Sciences building (medical campus) http://gradpages.wustl.edu/bec/events/3617 Join us for some fantastic local ice cream and drinks, including make‐your‐own floats with Fitz's root beer or champagne. We will also be casting votes for next year's officers, but even if you do not plan to run, we need your vote! Please RSVP if you would like to attend. Call for officer nominations: BEC leadership is a great opportunity to promote innovation and entrepreneurship at WashU while building meaningful relationships with St. Louis community members actively involved in all phases of biotech and entrepreneurial activity. Leadership positions at all levels of time/effort investment are available. For more information, please refer to the event page. Nominations for yourself or for others can be made on or before May 4th here. If you are unable to attend the election but are still interested in BEC Leadership, please follow instructions in the nomination form or contact us at [email protected]. Don't forget to RSVP! 5. BALSA Special Seminar When: May 6, 2015 – Noon‐1pm Where: FLTC room 213 Join BALSA for a seminar with WashU Law Professor Kevin Collins as he gives an update on patent eligibility through the lens of recent Supreme Court cases. His talk will focus on IP specifically for genes, software, and personalized medicine. Lunch will be provided so please RSVP! 6. BEC Coffee Hour Coffee Hour: A Career in Medical Devices When: May 7th, 8:30‐9:30am Where: FLTC 2nd floor Hearth (medical campus) Join us for an informal breakfast discussion with Dr. Paul Olivo, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director of Common Place Holdings, LLC. Dr. Olivo is a Senior Entrepreneur in Residence at Biogenerator and has been a key player in several medical diagnostic device companies. He will discuss how he has used his MD/PhD training in a successful career in life‐science startups. Coffee and pastries will be served. Please RSVP here. 7. OUTgrads Spring Party: PROM! Our annual, Spring party will be prom‐themed this year! It will take place in a gym, with some classic decorations, photo booth, newlyweds style games for "prom dates", some live music by a cover band, and FREE beer, wine, & snacks. Come alone, with friends, or a prom date! Dress up in full prom attire or keep it casual. Friday, May 9th, 9pm‐midnight Olin Gym, WashU Medical Campus, 4550 Scott Ave (enter at Olin Dorms) 8. OUTgrads General Meeting & Elections General Meeting & Elections Want to get more involved and learn valuable leadership skills? Want to tell us how we can improve our events for next year? Attend this meeting! We will be electing board members for next year and there are spots available! We are always open to new ideas. Pizza will be provided. Monday, May 11th, 6‐7pm, Liberman Graduate Center: Conference Room, DUC 300 9. CMB/IMSD Careers in Teaching On Wednesday May 13th, at 5:30 pm in FLTC ‐ Holden Auditorium the CMB/IMSD programs will host a panel discussion on teaching at primarily undergrad institutions ‐ all students and postdocs are invited. As part of the panel, we are flying in Judy Owen, who is the Elizabeth Ufford Green Professor of Biology at Haverford College, a top small liberal arts college outside of Philly. We may have limited opportunities for postdocs interested in careers in teaching to meet with Judy in a small group setting. If you are interested in meeting with Judy, please email Jim Skeath ([email protected]) at your earliest convenience. 10. Public Health Data & Training Center Crash Courses The Public Health Data & Training Center is offering two new workshops in its Crash Course series, designed to cover everything from how to open and use the software, data import/export and management, programming syntax, graphs, and basic statistics. The workshops will also cover tips and tricks to improve efficiency and reduce errors. Beginners and intermediate users‐‐and WUSTL faculty, staff, postdocs and students from all disciplines‐‐are welcome. The Public Health Data & Training Center offers this series of hands‐on, 90‐minute workshops covering everything from how to open and use the software, data import/export and management, programming syntax, graphs, and basic statistics. The workshops will also cover tips and tricks to improve efficiency and reduce errors. Working in Stata: May 19th, 10‐11:30am, Olin Library, Arc Lab, Danforth Campus REGISTER: http://publichealth.wustl.edu/events/working‐in‐stata/ 11. ProSPER Early Career Transitions Symposium When: 6:00 ‐ 8:00 pm on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 Where: King Center, 7th Floor Becker Library, Medical Campus ProSPER's Google Calendar l ProSPER's Event Page ProSPER is excited to announce our first‐annual Early Careers Transitions Symposium! Co‐sponsored with our fellow graduate student leaders at BEC and BALSA, this event is designed for graduate students who are thinking about their career transition to the next step: whether it is a post‐doc, industry, consulting, government or otherwise, we want to help you make connections with young scientists in the St. Louis region. After years of learning networking skills, put them to use and grow your professional network of scientists! The reception will feature a keynote and include dinner with local scientists. Mark your calendars now ‐‐ more details to follow in the coming weeks! Sponsored by ProSPER Promoting Science Policy, Education, and Research 12. Postdoc Spring Fling! All postdocs & their immediate family are invited to the annual Spring Fling! It will be held in the McDonnell Sciences Courtyard (or Olin Cafeteria if it rains) on WEDNESDAY MAY 20 at 4:00 PM. Please register below and let us know how many will be attending so that we can order enough treats. New this year ‐ the food will be carnival‐themed. We will have Snow Cones, Cotton Candy & Popcorn. Alcohol and Soda will also be available. Food & drinks will be available from 4‐6pm, though we would recommend arriving by 5:30pm. Please register by Friday May 15th. Registration link: http://goo.gl/forms/mbS5hOvyzZ 13. PERCSS ‐ RCR Workshop Program for the Ethical and Responsible Conduct of Science and Scholarship This workshop will feature presentations on WUSTL policies and procedures related to the responsible conduct of research (RCR) as well as case study sessions facilitated by WUSTL faculty. These small‐group discussions will address important issues related to research integrity, mentor‐mentee relationships and human research quality assurance. All members of the WUSTL community who are actively engaged in research and interested in RCR are welcome to attend and participate. It is highly recommended for postdocs, career award recipients, and other junior research team members. Thursday, May 21, 2015, 11:30 a.m. ‐ 4:00 p.m., Farrell Learning & Teaching Center, Connor Auditorium Lunch will be provided. Pre‐Registration is required via HRMS. Topics and Speakers Research Integrity, Aubrey Morrison, MD, Research Integrity Officer (RIO), Professor, Medicine ‐ Division of Renal Diseases, WUSTL Mentor‐Mentee Relationships, Linda Larson‐Prior, PhD, Research Associate Professor of Radiology and Neurology Human Research Quality Assurance, Edward Geltman, MD, School of Medicine Human Research Quality Assurance Chair, Professor, Medicine ‐ Division of Cardiovascular Disease, WUSTL Faculty Lead Case Study Discussions Robert Kranz, PhD, Professor, Department of Biology Suzanne Lapi, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering Linda Larson‐Prior, PhD, Research Associate Professor of Radiology and Neurology Schedule: Registration & Lunch: 11:30 a.m. – noon Plenary Session: noon ‐ 2:15 p.m., Connor Auditorium, FLTC Short Break/Transition: 2:15 ‐ 2:30 p.m. Concurrent Case Study Discussions: 2:30 ‐ 4:00 p.m. (rooms to be announced at event) Pre‐Registration is required via HRMS (WUSTL Key required). This event will help fulfill the RCR (Responsible Conduct of Research) requirement for both NSF and applicable NIH awards. NIH ‐ Undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs on NIH training grants, career awards or fellowships are required to receive 8 hours of RCR education. NSF ‐ Undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs on any NSF award are required to receive 1 hour of face‐to‐face education per year (in addition to one‐time completion of the online PERCSS curriculum). About PERCSS The Program for the Ethical and Responsible Conduct of Science and Scholarship (PERCSS) was created to fulfill the obligations of Washington University to teach and actively promote integrity in science and scholarship. PERCSS offers face‐to‐face learning sessions, ethics lectures, and online learning modules to provide the tools necessary to help the Washington University research community conduct ethical and responsible research. This event is sponsored by the Research Education & Information office. For more information on PERCSS, please visit http://percss.wustl.edu or contact Danica Johnson at [email protected]. 14. Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology The Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology is an international research prize of US$25,000. Since 2002 it has been awarded annually to one young scientist of 35 years of age or younger for the most outstanding neurobiological research based on methods of molecular and cell biology. Application Deadline: June 15, 2015 To apply go to: www.eppendorf.com/prize 15. Volunteer ‐ Genome: Unlocking Life's Code Exhibit in St. Louis Eric Green, director of NHGRI and WU MD/PhD alum, has taken a personal interest in the genome exhibit that is coming to St. Louis Science Center this summer. He helped develop the exhibit and will be visiting St. Louis for events in August. They have had very good success with having docents guide visitors through the exhibit, and have found that trainees make terrific docents, and it gives the trainees good experience with communicating science to the general public. Do you have a passion for communicating science? The exhibit ‐ GENOME: Unlocking Life's Code is coming to the Saint Louis Science Center, and we would love your help sharing it with visitors. This exhibit explores how The Human Genome Project has changed our views of biodiversity, ancestry, health and the future of humankind. To connect visitors with this amazing content, we are offering a training that will hone your communication skills and familiarize you with the science highlighted in the exhibit. Gallery facilitators in GENOME will be required to attend two hands‐on trainings on the mornings of May 16th and 23rd, and to commit at least 8 hours per month during the run of the exhibit (May 15th – Sep 10th). If you're interested, please complete our volunteer application by Sunday, May 3rd. We look forward to hearing from you! 16. Partek Flow software free trial on campus! Becker Library is happy to announce that a university‐wide free trial of Partek Flow is now available on the Washington University Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) cluster. Researchers on campus approached us with an interest in organizing licenses for Partek Flow. As part of our investigation into a licensing model appropriate for our Washington University community, Becker library and the CHPC have worked with Partek to get a fully functional free trial of Flow installed on the CHPC cluster. This free trial runs until June 30th. Are you interested in trying out Partek Flow as part of the free trial? If so, contact Maze Ndonwi at [email protected] or 314 362 4737 or Marcy Vana at [email protected] or 314‐362‐2796. Learn more about Partek Flow. 17. Identifying Career Pathways for PhDs in Science ‐ Survey Request While the number of PhDs conferred in the U.S. has increased over the past several decades, the number of tenure‐track faculty positions has remained flat. Recent studies have illuminated the change in career decisions of some PhDs over time, but none has described or visualized a career map detailing where recent PhDs are currently employed. The study “Identifying Career Pathways for PhDs in Science” will endeavor to accomplish this visual representation by collecting current employment data from PhDs who have studied, worked, or trained in the U.S. and received a doctorate in the last ten years. The study author and administrator is Melanie Sinche, Senior Research Associate in the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School. If you have received a PhD in any of the physical, life, engineering, computational, or social sciences between 2004 and 2014 from any institution worldwide and have ever studied, worked, or trained in the United States, you are invited to participate in a survey study by completing the online survey below. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and includes questions about career interests, activities, current employment, and motivations for choosing your career. At the end of the survey, you will be invited to participate in a drawing for one of five (5) $100 gift cards to Amazon.com. Responses to this optional drawing will not be linked in any way to the Career Pathways survey. The survey can be found at goo.gl/my1SfL. Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. The study has been approved by the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects at Harvard University (IRB #15‐0063) To protect the privacy of participants, responses to the Career Pathways survey will be encrypted and kept on a password‐protected, encrypted computer at all times. Please contact Melanie Sinche at [email protected] or 919‐
270‐9387 with any questions about this study. Thank you in advance for participating, and please do share the survey link with all individuals and/or groups who might meet the criteria above. Our goal is to gather as many responses as possible from recent PhDs to develop a careers map that is as comprehensive as possible. 18. Postdoc Tuition Benefit Reminder: Benefits‐eligible Postdoctoral Research Scholars/Associates are eligible for the Postdoctoral Tuition Remission Benefit. Registration is now open for both Summer and Fall 2015 UCollege classes! Please remember that summer classes meet twice as often for longer durations than full semester classes – please make sure you can commit the time before registering. Per the Postdoc Tuition Policy, postdocs make take up to four credits for career development purposes. Postdocs may take undergraduate classes (classes that begin with a 1, 2, 3 or 4) at University College for career development purposes. Postdocs may take up to 4 credits per semester and a passing grade is required. Please visit http://ucollege.wustl.edu and click “Registration” to access course listings, registration procedures and other policies and procedures. Classes must relate to your professional development. If you decide not to take a class, it must be dropped within the 100% refund period otherwise you will be sent a bill. Please visit the website for the schedule: http://ucollege.wustl.edu/tuition/refunds You should register online and select the Postdoc Tuition Remission benefit as your method of payment. Then fill out the required form and route to the approver listed for your School. All registration and forms should be completed before the start of the semester and please allow at least 3‐4 working days to process. If you have questions about registering, please visit http://ucollege.wustl.edu, click on Registration, then How to Register. For information on the postdoc tuition benefit & form, click on Tuition & Aid, Payment Options scroll to Tuition Remissions ‐ Washington University Employees and then click on Employee Tuition Remission page, then scroll to the postdoc section. 19. MPHS Summer Clinical Research Courses Available The Master of Population Health Sciences (MPHS) degree program has two summer courses available for clinicians and clinical doctorates (including but not limited to: MD; PhD; DO; OTD; DNP; and PharmD). Students do not have to be enrolled in the MPHS program to take courses. For tuition and enrollment information, contact Joyce Linn at [email protected] or 362‐5501. Additional information about the courses listed below can be found online here. Division of Public Health Sciences R Primer – NEW! July 6‐8, 2015 – 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. – 1 credit hour Course Instructors: Jeff Gill, PhD, professor, Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery; Division of Biostatistics, School of Medicine; and Department of Political Science, Arts & Sciences Jung Ae Lee, PhD, postdoctoral research associate, Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery This is a short one‐credit primer to introduce the R Statistical Environment to new users. R is a freely available language and environment for statistical computing and graphics which provides a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques: linear and nonlinear modelling; statistical tests; time series analysis; classification; clustering; etc. The goal is to give you a set of tools to perform sophisticated statistical analysis in medicine, biology, or epidemiology. At the conclusion of this primer, participants will be able to manipulate and analyze data, write basic models, understand the R environment for using packages, and create standard or customized graphics. Introduction to SAS for Clinical Research August 17‐21, 2015 – 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. – 1 credit hour Course Instructor: Benjamin Cooper, MPH, manager, Public Health Data and Training Center, Institute for Public Health This one‐week course is designed to equip medical students, clinicians and health researchers with basic SAS programming skills. Students will learn how to operate SAS, import external data, create SAS data sets, create, format and manipulate variables, and export data and results. Upon completion of this course, students will have obtained a basic understanding of the SAS environment. Learn more about the MPHS degree program at www.mphs.wustl.edu. NOTE: These classes are not eligible for the postdoc tuition benefit. 20. Clinical Research Training Center (CRTC) Courses The Clinical Research Training Center has announced their master’s program courses for Summer and Fall 2015. Applied Health Behavior Research Courses Summer: Health Psychology Fall: Applied Data Management; Evaluation of Health Services Programs; Health Behavior Theory; Health Disparities: Applications in Clinical Settings; Leadership and Change in Health Care Services; Power and Sample Size; Survey Methods: Design and Evaluation For registration and tuition information for AHBR courses contact Pamela Struttmann, [email protected]. Clinical Investigation Courses Summer: Bench Fundamentals for Translational Research Fall: Designing Outcomes and Clinical Research; Drug & Device Development; Ethical and Legal Issues for Clinical Research; Genomics in Medicine; Grantsmanship; Introduction to Statistics for Clinical Investigation; Medical Data and Information Management For registration and tuition information for CI courses contact Suzanne Fragale, [email protected]. For additional information on these courses, or visit http://crtc.wustl.edu. NOTE: These classes are not eligible for the postdoc tuition benefit. POSTDOC HOODIES! We are down to the last box of postdoc hoodies. Stop by the office between 9am‐4pm to purchase your hoodie, cost is $18 each, cash only please and exact change is appreciated. We have sizes Small, Medium and Large in navy blue. Now is the time to buy! Questions? email [email protected]. Don’t forget to check out the DBBS Jobs Board at http://dbbs.wustl.edu/jobs. We have posted Career positions and postdoctoral positions both at WU and elsewhere. The board is self‐service, so feel free to post jobs, or forward the site to others who may want to post a job. We are on Facebook & Twitter! The audience for both accounts is current WU postdocs but they are open anyone, so please like our FB page and follow us on Twitter! We’ll be posting info about OPA & WUPS events and Career Center activities as well as other events and items of interest to postdocs. You can find us at: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OPA.WUSTL, Washington University Office of Postdoctoral Affairs Twitter: @WUSTLPostdoc, WUSTL Postdoc Office http://twitter.com/wustlpostdoc We also have a LinkedIn Group for current & alumni postdocs – Washington University in St. Louis Postdocs ‐ please join if you haven’t already. This is a private group for career development and networking and is meant to help postdocs keep in touch, especially after they complete their postdoc. This newsletter was created for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Postdoctoral Appointees at Washington University. You have received this email because you have been identified as a postdoc or other associated with postdoc functions. If you have questions, please contact Mary Bradley at [email protected] or 362‐2591.