Monday, November 30, 2009

Chemistry on Ice: The effect of frozen surfaces on organic contaminants in the Arctic

Our own Dr Glenn Rowland will be giving a talk on "Chemistry on Ice: The effect of frozen surfaces on organic contaminants in the Arctic" this Tuesday, Dec. 1st, at 4:40pm in Mendel 213. All are welcome to attend!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Mendel Medal Lecture - Friday, November 20

On Friday, November 20, Kenneth R. Miller, Ph.D., a professor of biology at Brown University and this year's recipient of the Mendel Medal, will deliver the 2009 Mendel Medal Lecture in the Connelly Center Cinema (2:00 p.m. refreshments followed by the 2:30 p.m. lecture). This is an event not to be missed. Dr. Miller is a pre-eminent evolutionary scientist. In addition, Miller is the author of the acclaimed book, Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution, a lively and cutting-edge analysis of the key issues that seem to divide science and religion. He contends that, properly, understood, evolution adds depth and meaning not only to a scientific view of the world, but also to a spiritual one. Learn more about Dr. Miller and his work at the web site listed below.

For additional information: http://clasvillanova.blogspot.com/2009/06/kenneth-miller-phd-to-receive-2009.html. If you have questions, please contact: mirela.damien@villanova.edu

Friday, November 13, 2009

Summer Internship Opportunity - University of Delaware

There is an undergraduate summer research opportunity at the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of Delaware. Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences, this REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program supports ten undergraduate students to conduct research in marine science. They especially encourage applications from members of minority groups underrepresented in science.

The program will run for 10 weeks (June 7 - August 13). Please visit their website to find out more about the program. Student support includes a $3,300 stipend (which could increase to $4500 pending approval of our most recent proposal to NSF), campus housing, tuition for the one-credit course, and travel assistance. The application form and instructions are available on their website as well.

Interns will work with faculty and research staff in a graduate student atmosphere on a research topic in chemical, physical, or biological oceanography, marine biology, or marine geology.

This internship program will take place at the University of Delaware's Hugh R. Sharp Campus in the resort community of Lewes, located on the shores of the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean near Cape Henlopen State Park.

If you have any questions, please contact Ana Dittel at (302) 645-4275 or adittel@udel.edu.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Talk by Enivornmental & Geochemist Dr Usha Rao

Dr Usha Rao from St. Joseph's University will be speaking on "The Presence of 129I from Nuclear Sources in the Sediments of Lake Ontario: Pathways, Inventories, and Redox Dependent Mobility" this Tuesday at 4:30 in Mendel 213. A reception will follow. All are welcome to attend You can learn more about Dr Rao's work here: http://www.sju.edu/academics/cas/chemistry/faculty/urao.html

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program offers 1,000 fellowships to students in various fields.  If you are interested, please check out the following links:

For information, www.nsf.gov/grfp

To apply, www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp

Contact us at, info@nsfgrfp.org or 1-866-NSF-GRFP

Chair’s Scholar Fellowship Offer for the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Program

Anyone interested in applying to the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Program for the fall 2010, has an opportunity to do a summer research experience before matriculation.  Please stop in and see Dr. Scott Kassel (Mendel 215A) for nomination.

Cancelled - Life Sciences Career Fair

Campus Philly and the Life Science Career Alliance (LSCA) regret that they must cancel the November 19 Life Sciences ’09 Career Fair, which was to be held at Thomas Jefferson University. Every student who pre-registered for the event will be notified by email.

Students and employers can continue to match for internship, co-op and job opportunities now and year-round at www.campusphilly.org/careers. Currently, 225 internship and job positions are posted online from 35 companies in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Summer Research at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is sponsoring the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program.  The goal of SURF is to give students an intensive, ten-week, research experience in a world class research environment.    The SURF website and on-line application can be found at www.utsouthwestern.edu/SURF.

They are also sponsoring the Quantitative and Physical Science Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (QP-SURF) Program.  The program website and on-line application for QP-SURF can be found at www.utsouthwestern.edu/QP-SURF/QP-SURFAPP.

The stipend for both of these ten-week programs is $4,000.  Application deadline is February 9th, 2010.  Any questions or for further information, email nancy.street@utsouthwestern.edu

Summer Undergraduate Research at Gerstner Sloan-Kettering

Students who are accepted into the program will be offered a stipend of $3,000 and housing.  Four exceptional students will be selected and named “Rubin and Sarah Shaps Scholars.”  Students interested in more information or in applying to the program can visit www.sloankettering.edu.

The deadline for submission of all application materials is February 1.  Applicants will be notified of a decision between March 1 and March 15.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Structural Analysis Tools Available at Penn

The University of Pennsylvania is hosting a workshop on structural research tools (x-ray scattering, electron microscopy, ion beam scattering) available at the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter (LRSM). The workshop is designed for faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions in the Delaware Valley whose research projects may benefit from such tools. As part of a grant from the National Science Foundation, Penn will be able to offer reduced-rate access to these facilities for such faculty. More details are available at http://www.lrsm.upenn.edu/events/st09/ . The workshop will be held on January 6, 2010 and is free. However, pre-registration is required. Additional information can also be obtained by contacting Dr. Paul Heiney at heiney@sas.upenn.edu.

Summer Research Fellowships for Graduate Students

From Dr. Adele Lindenmeyr, Dean of Graduate Studies

I am pleased to announce the competition for graduate student research fellowships for the Summer of 2010.  The deadline for applications is Friday, January 15, 2010.

For details regarding eligibility requirements, application procedures, and the required cover page to be appended to any submitted proposals, please visit the “Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship” found on the Graduate Studies website at:

http://www.villanova.edu/artsci/college/academics/graduate/summer_research.htm

If you have a scholarly project for which you would like summer support, please discuss this with a faculty member in your program who will be willing to formally sponsor your effort.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lindenmeyr

2010 CENTC Undergraduate Summer Research Program

Applications are now available on the CENTC website for the 2010 CENTC Undergraduate Summer Research Program. Jon Axtell's research at MIT last summer was supported through this program. Please contact him directly if you want know about his experiences and/or perspectives.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Philadelphia Math and Science Coalition - Teacher Pre-service

To Our Colleagues at Villanova University--

The Philadelphia Math and Science Coalition is hosting a series of meetings to define the characteristics of an effective math or science teacher. We are inviting university faculty from math and science fields and from education to help us work on this. I hope that you will attend next meeting on December 1, 8:30-10 AM PM in Lobby Conference room at the United Way Building. Breakfast will be provided. This meeting is part of a larger effort to examine how we prepare math and science teachers in the region.

The topic for this meeting will be math and science content knowledge so it is important to have good representation for the math and science faculties as well as education. We hope to have discussions among individual discipline faculty (math and each of the sciences). We will focus on the big concepts and ideas in math and science that teachers should master in order to be effective. There may be interdisciplinary concepts that should be considered here as well. Education faculty will be important in these discussions as well.

Please RSVP to me by November 25. And if you cannot attend but know colleagues who would be interested, please forward this email to them. This is the second meeting of four at which we will be addressing what we mean in the Philadelphia region by high quality math and science teachers and how we prepare them. The remaining meeting dates are January 25, 2010 and March 22, 2010.

We are also on the lookout for appropriate research on effective pre-service education for math and science teachers. Please pass along to me.

Don McKinney, Program Coordinator

Philadelphia Math & Science Coalition, Philadelphia Education Fund, 610-745-8860

Thursday, November 5, 2009

US EPA P3 Program

From the EPA:

We are announcing a unique grant opportunity for your department’s faculty and students - EPA’s P3 - People, Prosperity and the Planet - Program. Through this design competition, student teams and their faculty advisors apply for $10,000 grants to design scientific, technical, and policy solutions to sustainability challenges in the developed or developing world.

The challenge addressed by these projects can be in any of these areas:

  • energy,
  • built environment,
  • materials & chemicals,
  • agriculture, or
  • water.

Past P3 teams have explored more efficient ways to produce biofuels, developed simple water treatment technologies for developing communities, produced a technology to measure real-time energy use in buildings, reduced hazardous substance use in laboratories through improved information and purchasing practices, designed and built an educational “learning barge” for the Elizabeth River, VA , and designed an innovative system for the bioremediation of agricultural chemicals.

Teams use the $10,000 grants to design and develop their projects throughout the 2010/2011 school year. Then in the spring of 2011, all teams will come to Washington, DC, to compete for EPA’s P3 Award at the 7th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo. The students’ projects will be evaluated by a panel of experts convened by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in all relevant fields, including sustainability. EPA will use these recommendations to choose the P3 Award winners who will be eligible for an additional grant up to $75,000 to further develop their designs, implement them in the field, and take them to the marketplace.

Applications are due by January 5, 2010.

Visit our Web site for more information and to view the P3 program videos: http://www.epa.gov/p3/

For information about this request for applications go to: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2010/2010_p3.html

For basic information go to: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/p3/fact_sheet.html

Utilizing Synchronous Tools in Online Courses

From Rich Wack, Instructional Technology Analyst, UNIT:

I invited a colleague from Drexel University to conduct a presentation which he performed at the recent Northeast Blackboard/WebCT Users Group Meeting at LaSalle University. I think that Villanova faculty will find this session very informative. Dr. Scheuermann brings a teacher’s perspective and places emphasis on the pedagogical applications for this technology. I am advertising this event through the normal channels however if possible, I would appreciate it if you could bring it to the attention of the Deans and Chairs. The event information is listed below, registration is required through the Campus Events System.

If demand exceeds the room’s capacity, we can switch it to a larger venue (e.g.: the Cinema).

Event Description

"Anytime-Anywhere" is a marketing phrase to entice students to consider taking online courses. Unfortunately, that very phrase also eliminates the opportunity for online course facilitators to include mandatory (or even optional) synchronous course elements and strategies in their teaching and learning initiatives.

This session will focus on a rich exchange of information relative to synchronous course element strategies, successes, challenges, and failures.

Presenter:

Dr. Michael E. Scheuermann, Associate Vice-President for Instructional Technology Support at Drexel University.

Location Information:

Villanova University Main Campus - Connelly Center, Devon Room

Contact Information:

Richard Wack, (610) 519-6738, richard.wack@villanova.edu

Reminder: Strategic Plan Town Hall meeting Today @ 3:30pm in Driscoll 132

From Fr. Peter's email on October 23rd, 2009 (added emphasis below is mine):

The Strategic Plan

We continue to move forward with reviewing and refining the objectives outlined in our Strategic Plan. This plan is designed to provide a clear roadmap for us to follow as we seek to strengthen the educational experience that distinguishes Villanova, while also being flexible enough to allow us to meet changing needs and trends.

Last fall, I held a series of Town Hall meetings to discuss the preliminary results of the strategic planning process. The past year has been filled with work, conversation, and collaboration which have resulted in some adjustments to our initial objectives. One such adjustment has been to focus more on strengthening our national reputation vs. positioning the University to enter the national rankings at a certain level.

I would like to invite the faculty to attend one of two Town Hall meetings scheduled for early November. At the meeting, I will share with you more information about this and other adjustments, as well as our plans for how to move forward with the Strategic Plan. The first meeting will take place Thursday, November 5 at 3:30 p.m. in Driscoll Hall Room 132. The second meeting will take place Wednesday, November 11 at 3:30 p.m. in the Connelly Center Cinema. These meetings will also provide an opportunity for us to dialog about the search for a new Vice President for Academic Affairs. I would like your input on this process and look forward to speaking with you.

I hope your schedule will allow you to take part in this important, continuing conversation regarding Villanova’s future.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Penn's Master of Medical Physics Program

Dear Colleague:

The field of medicine is facing a significant shortage of well-trained and qualified clinical medical physicists, practitioners in the specialties of therapeutic radiological physics, diagnostic imaging physics, nuclear medicine physics, and medical health physics, or radiation protection. With each passing year, this shortage expands because of the increased use of complex technology in such fields as radiation oncology and medical imaging.

As a practicing clinical physicist for many years, I am well aware of the critical need for medical physicists. That is why in 2007 I joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania to develop Penn's new Master of Medical Physics (MMP) Program.

The MMP Program meets the academic and career needs of technically prepared college graduates who seek to combine their interests in graduate physics with career opportunities in the medical research and clinical environments. Penn's MMP Program offers the best, most well-rounded medical physics education possible, balancing classroom, laboratory, and clinical experiences.

How does Penn's Master of Medical Physics Program differ from others?

  • Housed within Penn's College of Liberal and Professional Studies, the MMP Program was created as a true partnership between, and with the full support of, Penn's Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Departments of Radiology and Radiation Oncology in Penn's School of Medicine.
  • MMP Program courses are taught by faculty who are experts in their fields, from traditional physics faculty to clinical medical physics faculty to physicians who also teach at Penn's School of Medicine.
  • MMP students will gain valuable clinical experience in world-class facilities at the University of Pennsylvania Health System's new Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, including the Roberts Proton Therapy Center.
  • Outstanding MMP students may be selected to stay on for a two-year medical physics residency program in the University of Pennsylvania Health System—preparing them for certification by the American Board of Radiology.

Penn's Master of Medical Physics Program may be of particular interest to some of your students who may still be finalizing their graduate school plans. Within the next few weeks, the chair of your department will be receiving a poster that briefly describes the MMP Program. In the meantime, please contact me directly at 215.898.5574 if you have any questions about the program. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Kate Spillane, PhD, DABR

Director, Master of Medical Physics Program

University of Pennsylvania