The Graduate Student Society, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and International Student Development appreciate the support of many graduate student volunteers during orientation week. If you are a current graduate student who is interested in helping welcome new graduate students to UBC, you can sign up at https://www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g2983. Questions about volunteering? E-mail the GSS orientation coordinator, Carlos Rodriguez at orientation@gss.ubc.ca .
SBN Annual Summer Soiree
The Student Biotechnology Network will be hosting its annual Networking Soiree on June 18, 2013 at Petley Jones Gallery. Join us in celebrating SBN’s 12th anniversary along with an evening of food, drinks, and the opportunity to network with people and mentors in the field of biotechnology and life sciences.
Tuesday June 18, 2013 at 6:00pm
Petley Jones Gallery (1554 W 6th Ave) in Vancouver
$5 for SBN members and $10 for non-members
Registration includes one complimentary beverage and delicious hors d’oeuvres.
For more details click here
To register click here
Friedman Scholars Program
The goal of this program is to extend the global reach of UBC graduate students and UBC Medical Resident Trainees and to enrich our scholarly community by investing in our learners in the health sciences. To increase the sources and perspectives of our future researchers and health professionals’ learning in order to expand their horizons.
The grants are open to any UBC graduate student studying health sciences or UBC Medical Resident Trainees. Health sciences will be interpreted broadly as long as the study involves the promotion and dissemination of health related education or research. To be clear, the field of study not only includes the obvious health related fields such as medicine, dentistry, audiology etc. but also includes any complementary work being done in other disciplines that relates to the promotion and dissemination of health related education or research. An example could be an economist working on a new funding model for health care or a botanist working on herbal remedies for specific ailments. Friedman Scholars are expected to travel to other areas of the world to seek new perspectives on their education or research. In order to be considered, travel must be outside of Western Canada (East of Manitoba) and beyond.
Scholarships range from $25,000 to $50,000 annually and are open to renewal for one time only. The amount of the scholarship will be at the discretion of the adjudication committee within the above stated range. Financial needs for the opportunity should be outlined in the application.
The monies received from this scholarship are to be used for expenses related to an opportunity to learn outside of British Columbia. None of the monies shall be used to pay down or reduce current or past educational debt. It is expected that these monies will be used in full to experience an educational or research opportunity in another culture or institution.
Please visit the website for more information: http://med.ubc.ca/research/grad_pdf/funding-opportunities/friedman-scholars/
Deadline: September 13, 2013 4:00pm
Research Exchange Poster Competition
The Student Biotechnology Network and Genome BC are pleased to invite BC’s scientific community to participate in the annual Research Exchange & Poster Competition. Students from BC’s academic institutions will have an opportunity to present their research to our province’s scientific community. Cash prizes will be given for the top three posters. Students will have the opportunity to talk with researchers from academia and industry, as well as meet company representatives. Please join us for this great opportunity to showcase your research!
The deadline to register for the competition and submit your abstract is April 30th 2013. Please visit http://www.thesbn.ca/Events/Events%202012-2013/poster-competition-2013 for more information about the poster competition.
Apply for the Mackenzie King Memorial Scholarships
Mackenzie King Memorial Scholarships
The Open Scholarship is available to graduates of Canadian universities who pursue graduate study in any discipline, in Canada or elsewhere. One Open Scholarship is awarded each year. The value has recently been approximately $9,000 but is subject to change. The Traveling Scholarship is available to graduates of Canadian universities who pursue graduate study in the United States or the United Kingdom in the areas of international relations or industrial relations (including the international or industrial relations aspects of law, history, politics and economics). Recently four scholarships of $11,000 each have been awarded annually, but the number and the amount is subject to change.
Further information is available at
http://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/mackenzie-king-memorial-scholarships
Applications Now Being Accepted for CSI@LSI
CSI@LSI is the equivalent of combining your favorite CSI TV show and a murder mystery all in one. High school students are invited to explore science through this annual outreach activity designed by the UBC Life Sciences Institute-Graduate Student Association (LSI-GSA) and UBC Post-Doctoral Association (UBC-PDA). Grade 10, 11, and 12 science teachers located in the GVRD area are encouraged to apply for this unique science outreach event.
CSI@LSI will be an all day event held on October 25th, 2012. The application deadline is September 21st, 2012. The school chosen to participate will be notified by email on September 28th, 2012. To find out more information about CSI@LSI, please click here.
To submit an application, click on the link below.
https://grad.lsi.ubc.ca/lsigsa/csi/csi_lsi-apply/
2012 Graduate Award Competitions
Vanier Scholarships
– the Vanier website (www.vanier.gc.ca) has been updated about the fall 2012 competition
– the online application (via http://www.researchnet-recherchenet.ca) is not yet available
– call for nominations will be issued by Grad Awards shortly
– deadline for applications to be submitted by students via ResearchNet: Friday 14 Sep 2012
– deadline for nominations to be submitted by graduate programs to Grad Studies:
Wednesday 3 Oct 2012
NSERC Scholarships (Master’s and doctoral)
– the NSERC website (www.nserc.ca) is not yet updated for the fall 2012 competition
– the online application is not yet available
– call for nominations will be issued by Grad Awards when updated information is available
– deadline for applications to be submitted by students via the NSERC online application system:
to be set by the graduate program
– deadline for nominations to be submitted by graduate programs to Grad Studies:
Monday 15 Oct 2012
SSHRC Scholarships (Master’s and doctoral)
– the SSHRC website (www.sshrc.ca) has been updated about the fall 2012 competition
– the online application form is available
– call for nominations will be issued by Grad Awards shortly
– deadline for applications to be submitted by students to their graduate program:
to be set by the graduate program
– deadline for nominations to be submitted by graduate programs to Grad Studies:
Monday 15 Oct 2012
CIHR Master’s Scholarships
– the CIHR website (www.cihr.ca) has been updated about the fall 2012 competition
– the online application form is available
– call for nominations will be issued by Grad Awards shortly
– deadline for applications to be submitted by students via ResearchNet: to be set by the graduate
program
– deadline for nominations to be submitted by graduate programs to Grad Studies:
Monday 15 Oct 2012
CIHR Doctoral Scholarships
– the CIHR website (www.cihr.ca) has been updated about the fall 2012 competition
– the online application form is available
– call for nominations will be issued by Grad Awards shortly
– deadline for applications to be submitted by students via ResearchNet: Monday 15 Oct 2012
– deadline for nominations to be submitted by graduate programs to Grad Studies: not applicable
(applications submitted directly to CIHR)
Affiliated Fellowships
– key change from previous competitions: international students who hold 4YF funding are not
required to apply to the Affiliated Fellowships competition (they may choose to apply, but are not
required to do so)
– the application form is not yet available
– call for nominations will be issued by Grad Awards after the CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC application forms have all been released
– deadline for applications to be submitted by students to their graduate program: to be set by the graduate program
– deadline for nominations to be submitted by graduate programs to Grad Studies:
Monday 15 October 2012
Scholarships Presentations for students, faculty and staff
– upcoming presentations for students will be held in late August and early September.
– details are available at:
http://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/scholarships-awards-funding/workshops-presentations
– information sessions for faculty and staff will also be scheduled for late August and early
September; times and dates will be sent to graduate programs once they have been scheduled
2012 Canadian Student Health Research Forum (CSHRF)
The 2012 Canadian Student Health Research Forum (CSHRF) will be held June 12-14, 2012 in Winnipeg. The aim of the CSHRF is to provide a venue for the networking, research exposure and recognition of Canada’s most promising research trainees in the health sciences. While the primary component is the judged research poster exhibition (with associated, nationally recognized CIHR awards of excellence), other value-added elements include tours of unique research facilities such as Health Canada’s National Virology Laboratory, student-led social events such as a tour of the NRC’s Institute for BioDiagnostics, dinner at the Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, a CIHR information session with the CIHR Director of Research Capacity Development and cross-disciplinary symposia on hot topics with internationally-recognized speakers. This year’s symposium will be on “Inflammation and Health.” This is a unique opportunity to advance the careers of your top students and to showcase their excellence.
Universities have been invited on nominate their top PhD students in health sciences for participation in the forum. A limited number of invited participants will also receive travel award funding from CIHR, though the amount of funding and number of students to be funded by CIHR has not yet been determined.
The Faculty of Graduate Studies will collect nominations on behalf of UBC, to forward to the CSHRF Coordinator. Graduate programs are invited to nominate their top PhD students in health sciences to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Graduate programs may nominate up to 5% of their PhD students in health sciences (for instance, if a program has 40 PhD students in health sciences, it could submit up to 2 nominees). Appropriate selection criteria are to be determined by the graduate programs. Please note that the symposium theme rotates from year to year and should not bias student selection.
Graduate programs are asked to submit the following by e-mail to graduate.awards@ubc.ca by Friday, March 9, 2012:
1. completed nomination form http://www.grad.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/awards/awards_CSHRF_Nomination_Form.doc
2. one-page abstract for each nominee (abstract guidelines available at: http://www.umanitoba.ca/medicine/research_days/faqs2.html#abstractguidelines)
Further information is available at:
• Grad Studies website – http://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/canadian-student-health-research-forum-cshrf-travel-award
• the CSHRF website – http://www.umanitoba.ca/medicine/research_days/
Science Communications at The Banff Centre
Science Communications at The Banff Centre
Call for Applications
Program dates: August 11 – 25, 2012
Application deadline: March 30, 2012
“This program opens up a whole new set of possibilities that I suspect will help to advance my career in ways I never dreamed were possible.”
Lesley Evans Ogden
Program Chair: Jay Ingram
Director: Mary Anne Moser
Faculty: distinguished faculty members to be announced
Science Communications is an intensive two-week program aimed at scientists and communicators interested in exploring new ways of telling science stories. Working with some of the world’s leading science communicators, participants explore the use of print, visual, and social media, as well as other communication formats, with the goal of fostering a more engaging role for science in public culture.
Seeking: Protein Biochemist/Microbiologist Under MITACS-Acelerate Internship Program
Mitacs Accelerate
www.mitacs.ca/accelerate
Description:
One 4 month period position is available for a protein biochemist/microbiologist (graduate student or post-doctoral fellow) to join a dynamic biotechnology company dedicated to the development of new antimicrobials to combat emerging multidrug-resistant pathogens under the MITACS-Accelerate internship program. We are seeking individuals with a proven track record of primary and secondary biochemical and microbiological assays aimed at the identification and development of small molecules as potential novel antibiotics to treat multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. The individuals will be involved with the assay development and screening team in close collaboration with chemists to enable iterative rounds of compound testing and hit-to-lead optimization. The individuals are expected to employ multiple enzymatic and cell-based assay platforms and rigorous data analysis to prosecute small molecule targets. MITACS-Accelerate support current graduate students and post-doctoral fellows under the program. Eligible individuals must be enrolled in a Canadian university with a current academic supervisor.
Major Responsibilities:
- Design and conduct laboratory experiments consistent with the goals and milestones of the project team in identifying novel antibiotics for multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens
- Perform enzymatic assays, protein-compound binding assays, and kinetic assays in low- to-medium throughput format (96-well plate) to identify and characterize lead compounds
- Use standard microbiological techniques to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations for lead compounds, including time kill assay, and identification of resistant bacterial strain
- Expression and purification of target proteins from a variety of expression systems, performing general protein biochemistry (SDS-PAGE and Western blotting), molecular biology techniques (sub cloning, PCR), and tissue cultureCompile data into spreadsheets for analysis and reporting
- Follow standard operating procedures and organize experimental data in a form suitable for manuscripts and PowerPoint presentations
- Maintain database and reconcile laboratory expenses and account balances
Critically evaluate scientific literature, perform experiments and draw conclusions
Skills and Qualifications:
- University degree (B.Sc.) in biochemical sciences and/or microbiology plus at least 2 years of related research experience
- Strong background in biochemistry and enzymology. Experience in drug discovery is desirable
- Prior experience with biochemical and biophysical assay technologies and general biochemistry techniques (SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, affinity chromatography, etc.) is mandatory
- Proven experience in compound screening (96-well plate format) and identification of small molecule inhibitors
- Strong experience with microbiological techniques to assess antibacterial activities of compound hits on various Level 2 bacterial pathogens
- Background in bioinformatics an asset
- Advanced knowledge of Excel, PowerPoint and web-based database
- Excellent record-keeping skills required
- Ability to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Accuracy and attention to detail
- Ability to prioritize tasks to meet project deadlines
- Ability to handle multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
- Effective oral and written communication, interpersonal and organizational skills
- Excellent analytical thinking skills
- Self-motivated and adaptable work ethic
Internship funding to be provided by MITACS and Indel Therapeutics Inc. (www.indelrx.com).
For more information contact: Raymond See at rsee@indelrx.com.