The Edge Newsletter

Fall 2009
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Deadline to Nominate Students to Attend the 2010 Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany is October 30th

This year ORAU, DOE, NSF, and NIH will sponsor approximately 75 graduate students to attend the 2010 Nobel Laureate meeting in Lindau, Germany to be held on June 27 – July 2, 2010. This year the meeting is an interdisciplinary meeting and will feature recipients of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine. This program is operated by DOE’s Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, which is managed by ORAU.

ORAU will sponsor 15 to 18 students to participate in the meeting along with the student delegation sponsored by DOE, NSF, and NIH. As an ORAU Sponsoring Institution, you are invited to make one additional nomination directly to ORAU for this program. This year all nominations and supporting material should be submitted electronically. Additional information and the nomination form may be found at www.orau.org/lindau.

Since 1951, Nobel Prize winners and students in chemistry, physics, and physiology or medicine have met annually in Lindau, located on Lake Constance in southwestern Germany. This year it is anticipated that some 800 students from more than 70 countries will attend the week-long meeting. The Laureates will lecture on topics of their choice in the mornings and participate in less formal discussions with students in the afternoons and evenings. Information on the most recent meeting is available on the web at www.orau.gov/lindau/past-mtgs.default.htm.

Please note that the eligibility criteria for the ORAU program is slightly different than for the DOE and NSF sponsored program; ORAU will accept nominations for students participating in research programs supported by other federal agencies. To be eligible, students must have completed (by September 2010) two years, but not more than four years, toward a doctoral degree in chemistry, physics, physiology/medicine, or a related discipline; be a U.S. citizen; and be currently enrolled at a university as a full-time graduate student. We are especially interested in receiving nominations from a diverse group of students, including women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

All nominations must be submitted at a special website by 4:00 pm Eastern time on Friday, October 30, 2009. Students recommended to the Lindau Meeting Council for the program will be notified by December 8, 2009. Further information about the program, including the web site for submission of nominations, may be found at www.orau.org/lindau. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Sam Held at Sam.Held@orau.org or 865-576-8223 or Monnie Champion at Monnie.Champion@orau.org or 865-576-3306.

The IUSM - Bridges to the Doctorate Initiative Receives NIH Funding

The IUSM - Bridges to the Doctorate initiative has just received funding by the National Institutes of Health for another 5 years. This unique program bridges Masters students from Jackson State University and California State University, Dominguez Hills to the Ph.D. programs offered at IUSM. For more information, please visit http://micro.medicine.iu.edu/body.cfm?id=32.

Olympic swimmer and testicular cancer survivor Eric Shanteau (second from left) rings the New York Stock Exchange Closing Bell Aug. 19 along with Lawrence Einhorn, MD, (far right) and George Sledge, MD (far left). The ASCO Cancer Foundation and ASCO celebrated the foundation's 10th anniversary by ringing the Closing Bell. Einhorn is a foundation board member and former ASCO president; Sledge is currently president-elect of ASCO. Watch a replay of the event.

Indiana University School of Medicine Partners with University of Ulster

University of Ulster Biomedical Science students will have the chance to study at one of the world's leading paediatric research facilities thanks to a new initiative announced today.

The School of Biomedical Sciences at Ulster has teamed up with the Indiana University School of Medicine in the United States to offer students the opportunity to undertake a one-year internship at the Riley Heart Research Center.

Announcing the agreement during his visit to the University's Coleraine campus this week, Professor Tony Firulli from the Indiana University School of Medicine, said: "This agreement will provide an excellent opportunity for students from the School of Biomedical Sciences at Ulster to complete a research internship at our top-rated paediatric research department."

Read full press release issued by the University of Ulster. 

Application deadlines for the 2009 AERA fellowship and grants programs are fast approaching 

AERA-AIR (A2) Fellows Program
The AERA-AIR (A2) Fellows Program aims to build the talent pool of high skilled education researchers experienced in large scale studies in a major research organization. A2 fellows will receive mentoring from a diverse group of highly recognized researchers and practitioners in a variety of substantive areas in education. Fellows will hone their skills in all aspects of the research process from proposal development through writing and presentations. Up to three fellows are selected annually for a two year, rotational position at AIR in Washington, DC. The application deadline is December 15, 2008.

AERA-ETS Fellowship Program in Measurement
The AERA-ETS Fellowship Program in Measurement is designed to provide learning opportunities and practical experience to recent doctoral degree recipients and to early career research scientists in areas such as educational measurement, assessment design, psychometrics, statistical analyses, large-scale evaluations, and other studies directed toward explaining student progress and achievement. Up to two fellows will be selected for this rotational research position at ETS’s facilities in Princeton, NJ. The application deadline is December 15, 2008.

AERA Minority Fellowship Program in Education Research
AERA offers dissertation support through the AERA Minority Dissertation Fellowship in Education Research. This program offers doctoral fellowships to enhance the competitiveness of outstanding minority scholars for academic appointments at major research universities by supporting their conducting education research and by providing mentoring and guidance toward completion of their doctoral studies. The application deadline is December 15, 2008.

AERA Grants Program
The AERA Grants Program provides dissertation support and small grants for researchers who conduct studies of education policy and practice using quantitative methods and data from the large-scale data sets sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Science Foundation. Upcoming application deadlines are January 7, 2009, and March 6, 2009.

Further information on the fellowship and grants programs is available on the AERA website (http://www.aera.net). Please feel free to contact Dr. Wimberly at 202-238-3200 or via e-mail at fellowships@aera.net with any questions.

Gleevec holds potential as first drug to successfully treat neurofibromatosis, IU scientists report 

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine report that the anti-cancer drug Gleevec holds out promise to become the first effective treatment for neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease that has resisted treatments until now.  View the full press release.   Hear audio and view photos of the Indiana University School of Medicine authors of this study at: http://www.medicine.indiana.edu/newsPrint/103008.html.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is seeking graduate students for the 2009 Presidential Management Fellows Program. This highly selective, rigorous leadership program recruits outstanding masters', law or doctoral-level students for a two-year developmental fellowship at various Federal agencies.  Mark Your Calendar to Apply October 1-15, 2008.  For more information, view the program flyer.  Recruitment, application and nomination information is available online at http://www.pmf.opm.gov/.

Indiana University School of Medicine Receives Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) Award 

The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) M.D./Ph.D. program was recently awarded a five-year, $1.25 million Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).   Only 44 MSTP grants are awarded to medical schools nationally.

In addition to the ten graduate programs at IUSM that participate, students can pursue a Ph.D. from the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University.  This collaboration between the two universities was one of many unique features and strengths of IUSM's M.D./Ph.D. program that was recognized by the NIH.   IU is one of the few in the nation to incorporate a strong engineering program into their dual degree.  D. Wade Clapp, M.D., Kipp Professor of Pediatrics and of microbiology and immunology at IUSM and Maureen Harrington, Ph.D. professor of biochemistry and molecular biology co-direct the dual degree.  For more information about the M.D./Ph.D. program visit: http://grad.medicine.iu.edu/mdphd

Read the full press release.

IUPUI Scientists Report First 3-D View of Anti-Cancer Agent

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Purdue School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have created the first three-dimensional image of how a well-established chemotherapy agent targets and binds to DNA. The study, which publishes online the week of March 17 in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help scientists develop better chemotherapy drugs to treat a wide range of cancers."  For more information, please visit the full press release.

The Elsevier Foundation's New Scholar Program

The Elsevier Foundation has announced a call for grant proposals under its New Scholars Program, which will give priority to the efforts of the academic and research community to address the fundamental challenge of balancing childcare and family responsibilities with the demanding careers in science and technology.  The program is focused on doctoral candidates and scientists in the first five years of their post-doctoral careers.

Grant proposals are welcome for programs that enable scientists to attend conferences, meetings, workshops and symposia that are critical to the development of a career in science, with a particular emphasis on programs that help with childcare and other family responsibilities when attending scientific gatherings.

Proposals must be submitted by Oct 1, 2007, and will be awarded at the end of the 2007 calendar year.

You can find more information at: http://www.elsevierfoundation.org/newscholars.html.

The Indiana University School of Medicine has ranked in the top 40 of 2007 Best Places for PostDocs to work in North American Institutions.  Check out the article in The Scientist, March 2007 for more details.

Learn how Indiana University is partnering with the state of Indiana to turn breakthroughs into business with the Indiana Life Sciences Initiative.

The National Research Council of the National Academies sponsors a number of awards for postdoctoral and senior researchers at federal laboratories. These awards provide generous stipends ($41,000 - $70,000 per year for recent Ph.D. recipients and higher for additional experience), and the opportunity to do independent research in some of the best-equipped and staffed laboratories in the country.

Detailed program information, including instructions on how to apply online, and a list of participating laboratories, is available on the NRC Research Associateship Programs Web site at:

http://pull.xmr3.com/p/9904-5B0B/39857994/http-www.nationalacademies.org-rap.html

Questions should be directed to the NRC at 202-334-2760 (tel.) or rap@nas.edu.