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Author Archive for Melinda Miller

Call for Applications: Smithsonian Douglas M. Lapp Endowment Internship in Education

By Melinda Miller · Friday, April 27th, 2018

The Douglas M. Lapp Endowment Internship in Education is funded through an endowed fund in honor of Douglas M. Lapp, the first Executive Director of the National Science Resources Center (NSRC), now named the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC).

Awardees of the Lapp Endowment Internship are appointed based on a demonstrated interest in the field of science education.

Internships are available for graduate students only who are interested in pursuing a career in the communications, marketing, or public relations fields.

This program was established in honor of Douglas M. Lapp, founding Executive Director of the National Science Resources Center (NSRC) from 1985 to 2002, now called the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC).   The SSEC’s mission is to transform the teaching and learning of science for K-12 students throughout the nation and the world.

Intern will conduct original research within science education and audience engagement and write original content at the intersection of policy and science education for our target audiences.

Eligibility: U.S. Citizens and U.S. permanent residents, Graduate students are preferred.  To be considered for this opportunity one must currently be enrolled as a graduate student with plans to pursue a graduate degree in the communications, marketing, or public relations fields of study.

Deadline has been extended until May 15, 2018.

Please visit the Smithsonian Science Education Center website for more information and to apply.

Categories : Announcements, Careers and Opportunities, Funding and Fellowships, highlights
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Student Research Assistant/Intern: Drawing and Neuroscience Project, Teachers College

By Melinda Miller · Monday, March 26th, 2018

Teachers College instructor seeks a student research assistant/intern to support several workshops for an NSF-funded research project: Harnessing the Power of Drawing for the Enhancement of Learning across Levels of Vision Function, which investigates drawing and its effects on cognitive, visuospatial, and motor skills.

Though humans have been drawing for at least 30,000 years, and across the world people draw and understand drawings without prompting or even any formal learning, little is understood about the activity cognitively– and its deep roots are not tapped in learning.  Recent scientific findings about drawing suggest that it can facilitate learning. It also appears that the capacities learned through drawing cross many more cognitive domains than previously assumed, including those involved in emotion, memory and attention.  Drawing could be a very potent, underutilized learning tool. A collaboration from the fields of neuroscience, art, education, neuro-rehabilitation, psychology, and embodied cognition has been funded by the National Science Foundation to seek information about the brain mechanisms involved in drawing, drawing’s impact on learning, and also to better understand the learning that occurs in drawing across sensory modalities—without the limiting assumption that the cognition is visual.

The TC workshops build on recent findings from a drawing-based training created by Dr. Lora Likova (Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute) used with the congenitally blind, that showed rapid enhancement of various spatial capacities, and a transfer of these to everyday skills, driving brain plasticity.

The study seeks a student research assistant/intern to support this research starting as soon as possible through August 2018. This is an unpaid position. Research experience in psychology, neuroscience, education, or a related field is a plus but not required.

Responsibilities include:

  • Researching available visual memory tests
  • Compiling a literature review for relevant studies
  • Outreach to and pre-screening of participants
  • Managing scheduling with participants
  • Tracking completion of pre-screening and consent forms
  • Copying and compiling test packages and stimulus drawings
  • Assisting with set-up, clean-up, and procuring materials and snacks for workshops
  • Photographing drawing process and the drawings themselves
  • Scoring test results and examining/scoring STEM diagram tests and spatial drawings
  • Checking PowerPoints and computer set-ups for workshop
  • Finding and training raters for drawing evaluation
  • Organizing participant file folders
  • Keep notes during workshop on students’ comments, questions, and drawing strategies

The commitment would begin as soon as possible and involve roughly 4 hours per week through August 2018, with 10-15 hours/week during 2 workshops. The first workshop is:

Monday, April 9: 7:00-9:30 PM
Wednesday, April 11: 7:00-9:30 PM
Friday, April 13: 7:00-9:30 PM
Saturday, April 14, 11:00-3:00 PM
Sunday, April 15, 11:00-3:00 PM
Monday, April 16: 7:00-8:00 PM
Wednesday, April 18: 7:00-8:00 PM

The position requires an individual with strong research, computer, and organizational skills as well as the ability to take direction and work unsupervised. Accuracy, confidentiality, and attention to detail are absolutely required of the incumbent.

If interested, please email Tara Geer at [email protected].

Categories : Announcements, Careers and Opportunities, highlights, Other Opportunities

Job Opportunity: VISTA Postdoctoral Fellowships, York University

By Melinda Miller · Friday, February 23rd, 2018

Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) is a collaborative program at York University funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund that builds on York’s world-leading interdisciplinary expertise in biological and computer vision. In collaboration with over 50 academic, public, and for-profit partners from around the world, VISTA will propel Canada as a global leader in the vision sciences by integrating visual neuroscience with computer vision to drive innovation.

The central scientific question that drives VISTA is ‘How can neural and/or machine systems be integrated to provide adaptive visual behavior in real-world conditions’. Answering this question will provide fundamental advances to vision science and exciting, widespread applications for visual health and technologies. Our overarching aim is to advance visual science through research that spans computational and biological perspectives and results in real-world applications.

VISTA will support interdisciplinary training programs across its core fields and will support training opportunities with partners in industry and public service that will enhance the postdoctoral experience. Funding is available for up to two years.

Fellowship and Distinguished Fellowship postdoctoral awards are available. A Ph.D. or equivalent degree must be completed by the start date of the program. Following review of the eligibility criteria, and confirmation of a VISTA core member supervisor, applicants should submit their application to [email protected] by the application deadline.

Application Deadline: April 16, 2018.  Please visit the the VISTA website for full details and eligibility information.

 

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Call for Applications: LifeSci NYC Internship Program

By Melinda Miller · Wednesday, February 14th, 2018

The LifeSci NYC internship program is designed to ensure both the success of the life sciences industry in New York City and the employability of New York City college students majoring in the life sciences and in support functions (management, finance, accounting, legal, IT, and others) connected to the life sciences.

The program will provide quality internships for college and graduate students, while offering curriculum and training support with refined “hard” skills in the sciences and “soft” skills of professional and personal development. Additionally, it will convene a working group of academic and industry partners to problem-solve around the gap between student preparedness and industry needs. This will strengthen the internship program in the short term, while creating a feedback loop to enable industry to help shape academic curricula so students develop skills necessary for industry careers

Application Deadline: March 31, 2018. However, placements are on a rolling basis. Applying early increases your chances of securing an internship.

The program is particularly interested in:

— Students interested in business – especially among students who have lab and/or industry experience. Students should be sure to indicate in their personal statement that they are interested in serving in a business role.

— Junior and Senior undergraduates with art or design skills. Students should indicate their interest in using these skills in their personal statement.

— Students in Ph.D. or postdoc programs in Drug Delivery, Biotech, Biochemistry, Biomaterials, Materials Science, Polymer Chemistry, Rheology, or Chemical Engineering; requires lab experience and/or genetic engineering expertise. Medical students and/or those with ophthalmology training are also great candidates.

— Masters and Ph.D. students interested in business roles in the life sciences: In many cases, there is no requirement for a major in biology, the life sciences or a related field. However, applicants with expertise in medicine, digital health, data science, consulting, finance and/or advocacy are encouraged.

— Masters or doctoral students with expertise in immuno-oncology – note that this opportunity requires students who could travel to Pearl River, NY.

— Undergraduates, ideally in biomedical engineering, who could travel to Pearl River, NY.

Program Objectives:

— Assemble a cohort of participating interns that reflects the diversity of New York City university students with a special focus on students from disadvantaged communities and economic backgrounds.

— Work with New York City life sciences industry partners to develop relevant and attractive experiences in New York City’s industry, including frameworks, resources, and structured activities to expand, diversify, and cultivate emerging talent pool.

— Position New York City’s life sciences industry as a valued partner to the university community to identify student career development needs, share resources and information to support fieldwork/career experiences, inform short- and long-term program outcomes, and disseminate program learnings to make internships scalable and sustainable/

— Attract and prepare a diverse range of New York City students for careers in the life sciences sector to ensure that the sector has a wealth of talent to fill the industry demand for good quality jobs.

Please visit the LifeSci NYC website for additional details and full application instructions.

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Call for Proposals: Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience Seed Grants

By Melinda Miller · Friday, February 9th, 2018

ELIGIBILITY: All full-time faculty at Columbia University and Barnard College. Non-faculty may apply with the support of a faculty co-investigator.

AMOUNT: Up to $50,000.00 for projects one-year in duration, with the possibility of renewal for a second year of funding.

DEADLINE: One-page Letters of Inquiry due March 19, 2018.

PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS: See below or download as a PDF here.

The Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience Program (PSSN) invites Letters of Inquiry for interdisciplinary projects that lie at the intersection of neuroscience and the arts, humanities, and/or the social sciences.

Faculty Seed Grant Competition

The PSSN Program will offer annual seed grants to enable collaboration between Columbia and Barnard faculty in the humanities, arts, or social sciences, and faculty in the natural sciences whose primary focus is the empirical study of mind, brain, and behavior. This request for proposals is open to all full-time faculty at Columbia University and Barnard College who contribute to these interdisciplinary goals. Applications from non-faculty (including postdocs and senior Ph.D. students) will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, with at least one full-time faculty member serving as a co-investigator. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions regarding eligibility.

Unlike previous years, a Letter of Inquiry will be the first step in the application process for 2018. The committee will invite selected applicants to submit a full proposal. Grants will be awarded on or before July 1, 2018.

Letters of Inquiry should outline interdisciplinary research that involves either direct collaboration between neuroscientists and researchers from other disciplines, or traverses traditional disciplinary boundaries in order to investigate issues relevant to society and neuroscience.

Instructions for Letters of Inquiry

1) Letters of Inquiry should be no more than a single page with one-inch margins in 11pt font.

2) Please include the title of the proposed project and list the principal and co-investigator(s) and their departmental affiliations.

3) All letters should include a short summary of the project, a brief statement of interdisciplinarity, and should briefly describe the timeline and the total funding amount sought.

Generally, proposals that involve research already in progress or stand-alone curriculum development will not be funded.  All Letters of Inquiry must be received in full by 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday, March 19, 2018.  Please submit letters as a PDF or Word file and email to [email protected].

For a list of prior Seed Grant awardees and their projects, please click here.

Categories : Announcements, Careers and Opportunities, Funding and Fellowships, highlights

Call for Applications: Smithsonian Margaret Henry Dabney Penick Resident Scholar Program

By Melinda Miller · Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018

The Margaret Henry Dabney Penick Resident Scholar Program supports scholarly research into the legacy of Patrick Henry and his political circle, the early political history of Virginia, the history of the American Revolution, founding era ideas and policy-making, as well as science, technology, and culture in colonial America and the Early National Period.

Deadline: January 15, 2018. Scholarships are offered every other year.

The stipend for this long-term post-doctoral fellowship is $30,000 for six consecutive months. Applicants must hold a PhD by September 1 of the year they apply. Senior scholars are particularly encouraged to apply. Fellows are expected to give at least one public lecture during the tenure of their fellowship, as well as to submit a research report and to show definite progress toward a publishable manuscript by the end of the fellowship period.  Fellows may be asked to cooperate with the Smithsonian Libraries’ administration in planning and organizing a scholarly program in their area of expertise.

For more information and to apply, please visit the Smithsonian Libraries website.

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Call for Applications: Smithsonian Dibner Library Resident Scholar Program

By Melinda Miller · Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018

The Dibner Library Resident Scholar Program awards stipends of $3,500 per month for up to six months for individuals working on a topic relating to the history of science and technology who can make substantial use of the Dibner Library’s Special Collections. Doctoral students and post-doctoral scholars are welcome to apply.

Application Deadline: January 15, 2018 for residencies between September 1, 2018 – August 31, 2019.

Scholars are expected to be in residence at the Smithsonian full-time during their award tenures, to devote full-time effort to the research proposed, and to be regular users of the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology. The scholar will have access to the Smithsonian Libraries’ other collections and patron privileges such as interlibrary loan services. Scholars will be invited to address an informal colloquium of Smithsonian Institution staff and fellows on the topic of his or her research.

For more information and to apply, please visit the Smithsonian Libraries website.

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Call for Applications: James Smithson Fellowship Program

By Melinda Miller · Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018

The James Smithson Fellowship Program offers an early career opportunity for post-doctoral scholars interested in gaining experience in both scholarship and policy through a Smithsonian lens. The fellowship provides an immersion experience working with Smithsonian scholars and relevant collections. In addition the fellows will develop an inside view of how policy is crafted and how resource plans are designed by participating in a well-planned program offering direct experience internally with Smithsonian leaders, and externally with leaders throughout the Washington, DC network.

Applications are now open for 2018 James Smithson Fellows. Deadline: January 15, 2018. The theme for 2018 is History, Memory, Authenticity. Candidates must be U.S. citizens and not more than five years beyond receipt of their doctorate degree. Candidates with terminal professional degrees are also eligible to apply.

Although debate about public symbols and what they represent is as old as our nation itself, recently the volume of public discourse attempting to reconcile meaning attached to historic people, objects, and places has increased. As discussion about history’s “authenticity” in social media and modern society has surged, so too has dialogue about the meaning of scientific research and its uses in public life.

This public desire for modern life to be better informed by history and science presents an opportunity for researchers to engage in a number of pressing conversations on the national and global level.

In no particular order, subjects for independent study or research through the 2018 James Smithson Fellowship might include but are not limited to:

  • Names and Namesakes: What Places and Buildings are Called
  • When Research Meets Politics
  • Divisive Symbols in Public Spaces
  • Remembering the Past, Honoring Victims
  • The Ethics of Using Historical Data Obtained Unethically
  • Historic Figures, Modern Norms: The Question of Context
  • The Changing Meaning of Material Culture
  • Documenting and Preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage
  • Iconoclasm
  • When Seeing and Believing Collide
  • Popular News and Climate Change
  • The Life of Monuments in the 21st Century
  • Democracy and Public Spaces
  • When Science was Wrong in the Past
  • Portraiture and the Face in a Digital Age
  • Contemporary Ethnography as a Lens to Pre-History
  • Nostalgia and Reflection in History and Policy
  • Ambivalent or Unwanted Legacies
  • War Memorials, Trauma, and Identity
  • National Narratives in a time of Changing Borders

For more information and to apply, please visit the Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships website.

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Call for Proposals: Precision Medicine and Society Program at Columbia University

By Melinda Miller · Wednesday, November 22nd, 2017

The Precision Medicine and Society (PM&S) Program was established as part of the University’s overall Precision Medicine Initiative to address the ethical, legal, economic, social, and humanistic issues relating to precision medicine and advances in genomics. As part of this effort, the PM&S Program is pleased to issue a request for workshop and seminar proposals. This call for proposals is aimed at encouraging the Columbia community to explore the issues critical to realizing the potential benefits of precision medicine in an equitable fashion.

Potential topics include:

  • Economics of Precision Medicine
  • Social Impact of Precision Medicine
  • Benefits and Challenges of Genomic Reproductive Technologies
  • Legal Aspects of Precision Medicine
  • Precision Medicine and the Humanities

Faculty, research scholars and research scientists across the University are eligible to apply for funding.  At least one applicant per workshop or seminar team must be a full-time faculty member.

Submission Deadline: December 15, 2017. For more information, please visit the Columbia Precision Medicine website.

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Linda Hall Library Fellowship Program for Science and Technology Historians

By Melinda Miller · Monday, October 23rd, 2017

The Linda Hall Library invites pre-and post-doctoral scholars of exceptional promise to apply for its 2018/19 fellowships in the history of science and related areas of science and technology studies. Fellowships, lasting anywhere from one week to a full academic year, are awarded to outstanding projects in the history of science, environmental history, and related science and technology studies fields that make use of the Library’s collections. Graduate students are also encouraged to apply for the 80/20 fellowship, which allows them to collaborate with staff on a public history project based on their research.

The Linda Hall Library, located next to the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Kansas City, Mo., is among the world’s leading independent research libraries, boasting extensive primary and secondary sources related to engineering, physics, chemistry, earth science, astronomy, environmental science, meteorology, and the life sciences. The Library’s collections include more than 10,000 rare books dating from the 15th century to the present, as well as 500,000 monograph volumes and more than 48,000 journal titles from around the world, with especially strong holdings in Soviet and East Asian science. Its collections also contain conference proceedings, government publications, technical reports, and over 200,000 industrial standards. Fellows at the Linda Hall Library participate in a vibrant intellectual community alongside in-house scholars and colleagues from nearby research institutions.

Deadline: January 19, 2018. For more information and to apply online, visit the Linda Hall Library website.

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