Greetings!
You should have recently received your annual AWIS Election Ballot. The
National Board sets the strategic direction for the organization and has
recently laid out a new plan. As
we move into the implementation phase, there are a number of exciting
initiatives which are forthcoming and will need a strong board to steer
the course. Your vote is important as we continue to build the future
of AWIS. To view the candidate statements, click here or go to the ballot directly.
Best regards,
Janet Bandows Koster Executive Director |
| Education |
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College degrees confer more than larger paychecks
A new report from the College Board details some of the far-reaching effects that obtaining a college degree appears to have on individuals and society. From volunteerism and voting to health and lifetime earnings, higher education seems to benefit just about everyone.
Read more
Virtual help
TAs in a Harvard computer science course are using new technology to hold "virtual office hours" via computer, in which students seeking help can wait in line, raise their hands, and ask questions, among other things. Professors, TAs, and students weigh in .
The downward spiral of American competitiveness--the higher education issue
Even with the passage of the America COMPETES Act, don't hold your breath for America to catch up with the rest of the world: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has a new report with several depressing forecasts for higher education in the U.S.
Where we stand
STEM not a priority for students and parents Students and their parents in Kansas and Missouri do not consider knowledge of math and science important for the children's future success, a new report by Public Agenda details. While reading and writing skills were considered essential, survey results indicated that responders were generally satisfied with current math and science curricula, even though they were aware of America's slipping competitiveness in science and technology The danger of complacency
Future may look rosy, but women still disadvantaged in higher ed This Chronicle of Higher Education article
discusses the fact that although women's enrollment in college seems to be far
outpacing that of men, women still face several hardships that make their
success less certain. Gaps in levels of stress and confidence still render
women at a disadvantage when it comes to reaching their full potential. Still not a level playing field |
| Government |
FDA transparency law passes
A new law requiring the FDA to publicize the rationale for its drug approval decisions has been approved by Congress. The FDA will also have to notify the public if there is any dissent during its decision-making processes, and from whom, creating widespread accountability for its decisions.
Read the press release here
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| Science and Health |
The evolution of morality
This New York Times article explores Dr. Jonathan Haidt's new theories about the evolutionary roots of morality. Dr. Haidt, a moral psychologist, supposes that social behaviors which arose to ensure societies' survival are the basis for our current morals. His somewhat controversial theories also offer commentaries on the differing social priorities of liberals and conservatives.
More on Haidt's theories
Watch what you eat, for baby's sake
New research adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that what a pregnant mother eats--and how much of it--can affect her child for many decades. From diabetes to heart disease, your child may be at risk before she's even born.
You are what you eat, and baby is too When water is more than just water
This blog article explores the recent American obsession with "fortified water," the beverage industry's new cure-all. Does it really pose nutritionally benefits? Or is it just another marketing scheme? Nutritionists and industry experts discuss.
It does a body good?
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| International |
Nanotechnology bridges an age-old divide
In an inspired but complicated lab in the West Bank, Israeli and Palestinian nanotechnologists work across multiple barriers. They are supported by several German and French foundations, and the UN's Israeli-Palestinian Scientific Organization, whose director says, "Science and technology cannot bring peace, but they can develop a dialogue that can survive the worst of times. They're almost politics-proof."
Read more
An African lab for African problems
Capetown now hosts a new lab compound as part of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), a United Nations collaboration. Three research consortia will eventually be housed there, with an emphasis on infectious diseases affecting Africans such as leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.
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| Careers |
AWIS president-elect Phoebe Leboy on why women leave academic medicine
This recent Inside Higher Ed article discusses Dr. Leboy's presentation at an AWIS-Bethesda meeting. Her research helps frame the quesion, "why are women underrepresented in research at medical schools?"
Women who leave research at med schools
Working Mothers Magazine's 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers
Among Working Mothers Magazine's list of the top companies for working moms are a host of pharma, chem, and tech companies such as Pfizer, AstrZeneca, DuPont, HP, IBM, and Merck. Did your employer make it on the list?
Where to go if you're a working mom
Succeeding as a postdoc
This Science Careers article explores the importance of communication and mentoring for postdocs and their PIs, and provides advice on how to effectively teach communication skills to postdocs.
Read onUniversity sued over pay disparities
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a class-action lawsuit against Adelphi University last week, stating that the university pays its female employees less than its male employees of the same status doing the same work. The EEOC estimates that 40-60 female professors employed by Adelphi have experienced pay discrimination over a three-year period.
Adelphi goes to courtTime for a paradigm shift
This Technology Review blog has special guests Jo Handelsman and Robert Birgeneau dissecting the National Academies' recent report on women in the sciences, Beyond Bias and Barriers. With a simple shift in academic culture, they say, recruiting women into senior-level positions in the sciences could be much easier, and everyone, not just women, would benefit.
Read more
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| National and Chapter Announcements
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St. Louis AWIS Chapter
Date: October 4, 2007 Time: 7 pm Location: Kaldi's Coffee, 700 Demun Ave. Event: Chapter Meeting
San Francisco AWIS Chapter
Date: October 10, 2007 Time: 6:30-8:30 pm Location: UCSF Mission Bay Campus, Genetech Hall Auditorium, 600 16th St., San Francisco Event: Life Happens--Am I Prepared? (A Financial
Planning Perspective for Scientists)
For more information and to registerPhiladelphia AWIS Chapter
Date: October 27, 2007 Time: 8:30 am-2 pm Location: Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Alumni Hall 1020 Locust St., Philadelphia Event: October Workshop: "Women Don't Ask"
featuring Sara Laschever, co-author of Women
Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide
For more information or to register
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Opportunities |
MentorNet Call for Mentors
E-mentoring opportunity--just 20 minutes per week. MentorNet seeks science and engineering professionals in industry and government to mentor engineering and science community college, undergraduate, and graduate students, particularly women and underrepresented minorities, who are interested in pursuing a professional future in the fields of engineering and science. MentorNet also seeks tenured faculty members to mentor graduate students, postdocs, and untenured faculty pursuing faculty careers. Mentoring relationships last eight months. Mentors and students communicate entirely by email.
How can you volunteer to be a mentor?
1) Join the MentorNet community: http://www.mentornet.net/join
2) Follow the One-on-One Mentoring Programs links to create a
mentor profile.
Quality Education for Minorities Opportunity
INFLOW, developed with support from the NationalScience Foundation (NSF), is an on-line database containing information on individuals with Ph.D. degrees who are from groups underrepresented in STEM fields. It serves as a one-stop source of professional information on doctoral engineers and computer scientists in academia, industry, and government that can be regularly updated by participants via QEM's website.
INFLOW will provide NSF with a source of information on potential proposal review panelists, advisory committee members, and rotators. Additionally, the participants will be provided: information on a variety of professional development opportunities; and a mechanism to access limited contact information on other participants to facilitate potential collaborations. Information on financial support, research, career, and other professional opportunities will be provided to registered individuals to encourage and support the completion of their degree programs. For more information: http://qemnetwork.qem.org/cise_eng.htm
NSF-AWM Travel Grants
The Association for Women in
Mathematics travel program supports two types of travel grants for women:
1) Travel Grants in mathematics, for mathematicians attending
mathematics conferences.
2) Travel Grants for mathematicians and mathematics education
researchers: for mathematicians attending a mathematics education
research conference, for mathematics education researchers attending a
mathematics conference.
The next deadline is October 7, 2007.
For more information, visit http://www.awm-math.org/travelgrants.html
The Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research
The Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University hosts around 7 leading scholars each year. Generally, they will be tenured or tenure-track faculty, but we are also open to considering postdoctoral fellows and high fliers from industry and business. Faculty would be expected to join us for one, two or three academic quarters. Each Research Fellow will be offered a stipend of up to $60,000 depending on status, plus office space, library access and so on. All the practical details of our Fellowship Program, and more about the Clayman Institute, are at: http://gender.stanford.edu. The closing date for the current round of applications is October 29, 2007.
AIMBE OPENS GALLETTI AWARD NOMINATIONS
AIMBE has opened nominations for
the Galletti Award for 2008. The award
is the highest honor given by AIMBE and is given for recognition of
contributions to public awareness of medical and biological engineering, and to
the promotion of the national interest in science, engineering and
education. Visit www.aimbe.org/content/index.php?pid=88
for more information and to download a nomination form.
Nominations close October 31, 2007.
L'ORÉAL-UNESCO AWARDS FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE
The
Laureates, who work across the spectrum of the Material Sciences, are
chosen based on their groundbreaking achievements and potential
contributions to scientific progress. The L'ORÉAL-UNESCO Awards
Laureates are selected by an international jury of 14 eminent members
of the scientific community. Chosen in recognition of her exceptional
achievements, one Award Laureate is named from each of five continents:
Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. The
Laureates receive individual awards of $100,000. Material Sciences and
Life Sciences are recognized in alternating years.
Deadline: October 31, 2007
For More On This Award...
ACS Award in Pure Chemistry
The
ACS Award in Pure Chemistry is intended to recognize and encourage
fundamental research in pure chemistry carried out in North America by
young men and women. The award consists of $5,000 and a certificate.
Up to $1,000 for travel expenses to the meeting at which the award will
be presented will be reimbursed. A nominee must have been born after
April 30, 1973 and must have accomplished research of unusual merit for
an individual on the threshold of her or his career. Special
consideration is given to independence of thought and originality in
the research, which must have been carried out in North America.
Due Date: November 1, 2007
More on This Award in Chemistry...
Lemelson-MIT Program
LEMELSON-MIT PRIZE
The $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize is awarded to outstanding mid-career
inventors who have developed a patented product or process of
significant value to society, which could be or has been adopted for
practical use. These individuals will receive the Prize mid-career, when
both the recognition and the cash award can be of significant benefit to
their future creativity and productivity.
The deadline for nominations is November 2, 2007.
Nominate a candidate at
http://mit.edu/invent/a-prize.html.
LEMELSON-MIT AWARD FOR SUSTAINABILITY
The $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability celebrates
individuals whose inventions and innovations enhance economic
opportunity and community wellbeing in developing and/or developed
countries, while protecting and restoring the natural
environment.
The deadline for nominations is November 2, 2007.
Nominate a candidate at http://mit.edu/invent/a-award.html.
National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellowships
THE NSF PICKWICK POSDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP
Two-year fellowships are available for basic, applied or clinical research in sleep or sleep disorders. Applicants must have a
sponsor and plan to conduct research in recognized U.S. or Canadian
programs of study or laboratories with strong mentorship in the
appropriate area. Non-US citizens are eligible. Candidates must have received either an MD, DVM, PhD or DO degree by
the time the fellowship begins in July 2008. The degree or subsequent
training must have been completed within the past five years. Pickwick Fellows receive funding based on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Research Service Award (NRSA) schedule, which is based on years of postdoctoral research experience, plus a benefits allowance of $7,000.
Deadline is November 4, 2007.
For more information
The University of Chicago Enrico Fermi Institute
ENRICO FERMI POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP and ROBERT R. MCCORMICK POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
These postdoctoral research fellowships are intended to attract
outstanding early-career scientists to the University of Chicago. We
expect to award two fellowships each year to candidates from a pool of
international applicants.
The initial appointment is for one year, renewable annually, for up to
three years. The appointment carries a salary of $54,000 per annum with
an additional allocation of up to
$6,000 for independent research support. Appointees are given the
freedom of either working independently or associating with EFI faculty
in a research area of common interest. Appointment would be at the
University internal rank of Postdoctoral Scholar. There are no teaching
responsibilities with this position.
Applications submitted prior to November 10, 2007, will be given priority.
For more information, email fshipFMc@ulysses.uchicago.edu
The Pasteur Foundation
UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER 2008 INTERNSHIPS IN PARIS
These
10-week internships at the Institut Pasteur, one of the world's leading
private, nonprofit centers for infectious disease research, offer
hands-on laboratory experience to undergraduates contemplating a
scientific career. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. *Living allowance
is $400 per week*. See our website for information and downloads. Deadline: December 14, 2007.
Application and deadline information for both programs may be found at: www.pasteurfoundation.org
L'Oréal USA Fellowships
A
national offshoot of the L'ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women In Science program,
the L'Oréal USA Fellowships program is open to women at post-doctorate
level in physical/material sciences, engineering, technology and
mathematics. The L'Oréal USA Fellowships For Women in Science enable
young scientists to continue working toward breakthroughs in their
research.
Applications available: Aug. 1-Dec. 15, 2007
Application deadline: December 15, 2007
Grant year: July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009
For More Information About This Fellowship...
Travel Fellowships: Integrative Physiology - May 14-16, 2008, The New York Academy of Sciences
The
New York Academy of Sciences is proud to offer travel fellowships to
their international symposium "Integrative Physiology." This 2.5-day
conference has been designed to explore the genetic basis of the known
functions of many organs, the identification of novel physiological
functions for various organs and the definition of genetic cascades
leading to frequent degenerative diseases such as metabolic syndrome,
heart failure and osteoporosis.
Individuals applying for a
fellowship will be expected to author a poster presentation (sole or
first authorship is not required). Please refer to our site for further information. Deadline: March 14, 2008
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks qualified candidates for the following positions:
#07--142 - POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW - (Washington, DC) Working with the Research Fellow and Senior Scientist leading the Global Change research theme of IFPRI, the successful candidate will conduct research and analysis on land use patterns and shifts under alternative scenarios of global environmental and economic change.
#07-144 - POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW- (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) - successful candidate will work with other senior researchers to meet the Division's research and capacity strengthening objectives, and will engage in activities including research, capacity strengthening, fundraising, scholarly publication, and communications in collaboration with national and regional agricultural research organizations and systems.
#07-148 - POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW - (Washington DC) - the successful candidate will conduct cross-country analysis on development strategy for higher agricultural and rural growth, cutting hunger and malnutrition, and reducing vulnerability of poor, and develop typology to target donor and national investment across different countries and sub-national regions to achieve greater poverty reduction.
FOR FULL DESCRIPTION & TO APPLY:
Go to www.ifpri.org . Click on "Careers" and "Research" to link you to the above positions. Please complete on-line application, including a complete resume and cover letter.
AAUW Career Development Grants Career Development Grants support women who hold a bachelor's degree and are preparing to advance their careers, change careers, or re-enter the work force. Special consideration is given to AAUW members, women of color, and women pursuing their first advanced degree or credentials in nontraditional fields. Grants provide support for course work beyond a bachelor's degree, including a master's degree, second bachelor's degree, or specialized training in technical or professional fields. Funds are available for distance learning. Course work must be taken at an accredited two- or four-year college or university, or at a technical school that is fully licensed or accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Funds are not available for doctoral-level work. For More on This Grant...
Outsourcing Preclinical Toxicology Studies Conference to be Held in Costa MesaThis course is ideal for those in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who are involved in or support outsourcing preclinical toxicology studies. Toxicologists (pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies), Outsourcing professionals, Senior and operational management, Clinical veterinarians, and CRO management and scientists should attend. Attendees will learn how to evaluate their outsourcing needs and how to develop a cost-effective strategy that will lead to a successful outsourcing experience. Participants will also receive detailed instruction on how to inspect, select, and build relationships with a CRO. For More Information on This Conference...
Protein Discovery & Development Summit Coming to DC in SeptemberOnline submission for abstracts is now open for GTCbio's Protein Discovery & Development Summit. This event will feature 4 full conferences aimed at discussing the progress and promise of: Protein Design, Modeling and Bioinformatics Protein Array, Interaction, and Proteomics Protein Therapeutics Protein Expression, Formulation and Production The protein therapeutics market has more than doubled in the last five years- jumping from $25 billion to $51 billion. According to a recent survey, the protein therapeutics market should reach $87 billion by 2010. Protein therapeutics have revolutionized modern medicine. If you are involved in Protein Discovery or Development, we invite you to submit a 250 word abstract. For More Information on This Conference...
Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in AthleticsThe Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics programs were developed by the NCA Committee on Women's Athletics and the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee. The NCAA awards 13 scholarships to ethnic minorities and 13 scholarships to female college graduates who will be entering their initial year of postgraduate studies. The applicant must be seeking admission or have been accepted into a sports administration or related program that will help the applicant obtain a career in intercollegiate athletics, such as athletics administrator, coach, athletic trainer or other career that provides a direct service to intercollegiate athletics. For More Information On This Scholarship...
American Physiological Society Research Enhancement AwardThe APS Research Career Enhancement Award is designed to enhance the career potential of its regular members. The award can be used to support short-term visits to other laboratories to acquire new specific skills and to support attendance at special courses devoted primarily to methodologies appropriate for both a new investigator and a more senior investigator entering a new field of research. The award of up to $4,000 allows an individual in the early phases of his/her career to obtain special training; the award also allows an individual in the later phases of his/her career to develop new skills and to retrain in areas of developing interests. The award does not include any indirect cost reimbursement. For More Information on This Award... |
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