Friday, January 29, 2010

Stowers Institute Scholars Program

The 2010 Scholars Program is an intensive research experience in a stimulating scientific environment with state-of-the-art laboratories equipped with the most advanced technology.  Scholars work under the direction of a scientist at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research on a specific project with defined objectives.  Scholars receive a $3,000 stipend and non-Kansas city residents may apply for a housing allowance.  For more information or to apply to to Training Programs at www.stowers.org  and submit the following to studenttrainingprograms@stowers.org:

  1. Pre-employment & Certification Forms
  2. Statement of Interest
  3. Official transcripts of undergraduate work
  4. A minimum of 2 letters of recommendation from advisors

All materials must be received by February 26, 2010.

University of Alabama 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Participation Program

This program is supported by the National Science Foundation for students (preferably juniors, who will be seniors in the 2010-2011 academic year) who plan to attend graduate school in chemistry or a related field.   Each student who is chosen to participate will receive a $5,000 stipend plus on-campus housing for 10 weeks (May 31 – August 7, 2010).   The deadline for the application is February 28, 2010.  For more information on the program please go to http://www.bama.ua.edu/~chem/undergraduate/summerprogs/surp.html. or call John Vincent at 205-348-5954.

NSF/REU Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the University of Southern California

This ten-week program is an opportunity for students to conduct research in residence in our Chemistry Department.  We offer projects in chemistry, biochemistry, and nanoscience.  Housing, meals, student health center access, and travel costs are covered by the Chemistry Department, and students will also receive a stipend.  Sophomores and juniors who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents may apply online by visiting:  http://chem.usc.edu/undergraduate/reu_prog.html

The application deadline is March 15, 2010.  For more information, please contact Anahit Marirosyan at 213-740-7040 or email at amartiro@usc.edu

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Dr. Christopher T. Nomura will speak on "Polyhydroxyalkanoates production and potential applications"

Dr. Christopher T. Nomura from the Department of Chemistry, SUNY-ESF http://www.esf.edu/chemistry/nomura/lab/ will be speaking at the Chemistry Professional Development seminar on Tuesday, February 2nd (4:30pm, Mendel Science Center 101). All are invited to attend! Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are microbially produced biodegradable polyesters with a wide variety of applications and ecological benefits compared to non-biodegradable, petroleum-based plastics. Despite the ecological benefits associated with PHAs, their production costs are significantly higher than petroleum-based plastics. Our lab takes a multi-disciplinary approach utilizing microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and polymer chemistry, in order to develop systems and methodologies to make these biodegradable polymers more cost-competitive with petroleum-based polymers. Although a variety of PHAs have been made in recombinant and native microorganisms, a major obstacle to their widespread use has been the expense of their production. One way to reduce costs is to lower the cost of the feedstock for their production. Current increases in petroleum-based fuel prices have led to a surge of interest in the production of biofuels such as biodiesel. The byproduct of the transesterification of triglycerides to produce biodiesel is glycerol. Although glycerol has several applications, the current market is saturated, thus, finding new uses for glycerol produced with biodiesel will be of the utmost importance. In this study we evaluated the ability to transform low-value glycerol from biodiesel production into a value-added, biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymer using various bacterial strains. Use of low-value glycerol as a carbon feedstock to be transformed to biodegradable plastics could lower the price of both PHA and biodiesel production and create a new marketplace for the anticipated excess waste glycerol from biodiesel production. In addition, the use of PHAs as hydrophobic compound capture devices is currently being explored with potential applications in bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Student Research Conference

The deadline for submission of papers for the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Student Research Conference is coming up in one month: February 25. I’d like to request that you encourage students who might have written appropriate papers to submit for this conference. This is an opportunity for both undergraduate and graduate students to present their work in an appreciative and collegial setting; to participate in an intellectual exchange with other students and with faculty; and to compete for a cash prize. Papers from 2009 or this term, or written specifically for the competition are invited. In addition to essays, we also encourage submission of alternative forms of scholarship, including but not limited to original scripts, poetry or films with a particular feminist theoretical or critical foundation. If the feminist analysis is not overt in the creative work itself, the work should be accompanied by an essay that frames and explains the theory's application.

Please encourage your students to take part in this conference showcasing feminist concepts, theories, methods, and practices as either presenters or attendees. It's a terrific way for us to model what we do and to show the dynamism of Gender & Women's studies on campus. You might also consider giving your students an extra-credit option for attending either a student session on the day of the conference, April 8, or Lori Ginzberg’s keynote address on Elizabeth Cady Stanton: “‘A very radical proposition’: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Meanings of the Vote.” Every year, students who otherwise would not have participated exclaim at how glad they are that they did.

The call for papers and additional information can be found at: http://www.villanova.edu/artsci/gws/ecs_conference/ or by email at gws@villanova.edu.

Best regards,

Sherry Perlmutter Bowen, ECS Conference Committee

Monday, January 25, 2010

Drs Grannas and Palenchar will speak at Professional Development Seminar on Tuesday January 26th

Students, If you are thinking about carrying out research at Villanova this summer or during the school year, you will probably want to attend PDS on Tuesday, January 26th. (4:30pm Mendel 101) Drs. Grannas and Palenchar will be speaking about the focus of the research in their laboratories. Both are taking students this summer and during the academic year. Dr Grannas carries out work in environmental/analytical chemistry and Dr Palenchar carries out work in biochemistry/parasitology. You can find out more about their work on their webpages, as well: http://www95.homepage.villanova.edu/amanda.grannas/ http://www29.homepage.villanova.edu/jennifer.palenchar/

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Research Experience for Undergraduates at NCSU

From the program coordinators:

The Department of Chemistry at North Carolina State University is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) Program at NCSU. The program will run from June 2 through August 6, 2010. Undergraduate students selected for the program will be provided with the opportunity to gain experience with cutting-edge chemical research, with an emphasis on the fields of materials, life sciences and catalysis.

Students will have the opportunity to work closely with one of 25 faculty who are dedicated to the success of their students. Our research facilities include some of the most advanced instrumentation in the country. From our newly created NSF Center for Molecular Spintronics, to our W.M. Keck FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, to research programs in catalysis, protein engineering, drug discovery, and neurochemistry, we believe our department offers research in your area of interest. Additional highlights of our program include a generous $4,500 stipend for the 10-week program, full support for housing on campus and a partial meal allowance will be provided, on-site laboratory visits to gain exposure to industrial and governmental research careers, opportunities to interact with students in other REU programs at NCSU, and participation in a University-wide undergraduate research symposium at the summation of the program.

Additionally, the Research Triangle area, which includes Raleigh and NC State, is a wonderful place to live and visit, providing not just a high quality of life, but many important academic and industrial contacts for future employment. The Raleigh-Cary area is consistently ranked among the best places to live in America according to CNN Money.

We would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to apply to our program. Although March 16 is the deadline for applications, it is highly recommended that you submit an application as soon as possible. Offers will be extended throughout the application process and all positions could be filled prior to the application deadline. Review of applications will begin as early as February of 2009. If you have any further questions regarding the Department of Chemistry at NCSU, or would like to know more about our program and the application process, please visit http://www.ncsu.edu/chemistry/chemreu/index.html, visit us on Facebook at NCSU Chemistry-Reu or feel free to directly contact the REU coordinators below.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

REU Program Coordinators
Prof. Reza Ghiladi (Reza_Ghiladi@NCSU.edu)
Prof. Elon Ison (Elon_Ison@NCSU.edu)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Environmental Internship CDC Collegiate Leaders in Environmental Health (CLEH)

Environmental Internship

CDC Collegiate Leaders in Environmental Health (CLEH)

Opportunity Announcement

CDC/ATSDR’s National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) is offering a 10-week summer internship program for students in Environmental Studies, Ecology, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, and other related majors to take place June 9-August 13, 2010. During the course of the internship, students are introduced to environmental health at the federal level through project collaboration, experiential learning opportunities, individual environmental health presentations, journal clubs, field trips, brown bag lunches, and through shadowing and mentoring relationships at CDC/ATSDR. Interns will be based at CDC/ATSDR’s Atlanta-Chamblee Campus where NCEH/ATSDR is housed. Students are paid $500 a week during the course of the program. Please go to their website www.cdc.gov/nceh/cleh for more information and application instructions. Applications are due February 16, 2010.

Eligibility requirements for CLEH interns:

  • US citizenship or Permanent Resident with a green card,
  • Full time enrollment at a college or university as a rising junior or rising senior by fall 2010
  • Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, and
  • An academic major or demonstrated coursework concentration in Environmental Studies, Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, Ecology or related fields.

Note: Seniors graduating in Spring 2010 will not be accepted to this program.

For more information, please email LT Cory Moore, Environmental Health Officer, USPHS, Program Development Office, NCEH/ATSDR at CLEH@cdc.gov

Monday, January 11, 2010

American Chemical Society International Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (ACS-IREU)

I would like to call your attention to the prestigious American Chemical Society International Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (ACS-IREU) for students majoring in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Materials Science, or Chemical Engineering. This program is funded by the National Science Foundation, in partnership with the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD), the German Chemical Society (GDCh), the European Chemistry Thematic Network (ECTN), and several universities across Europe.

21-25 sophomores and juniors with one semester or summer of prior research experience will be selected to receive the ACS-IREU Scholarship to conduct research during the summer of 2010 at selected institutions in Germany, France, Italy and the UK. Detailed information and online application and recommendation forms can be found on their web site www.acs.org/ireu.

Although helpful, no foreign language expertise is required. All qualified students, including females and members of underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2010.