News at 11:00: XSEDE Partners in the News
UC San Diego Researchers Induce Alzheimer’s Neurons From Pluripotent Stem Cells
Led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, scientists have, for the first time, created stem cell-derived, in vitro models of sporadic and hereditary Alzheimer’s disease (AD), using induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with the much-dreaded neurodegenerative disorder. “Creating highly purified and functional human Alzheimer’s neurons in a dish – this has never been done before,” said senior study author Lawrence Goldstein, PhD, professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program. “It’s a first step. These aren’t perfect models. They’re proof of concept. But now we know how to make them. It requires extraordinary care and diligence, really rigorous quality controls to induce consistent behavior, but we can do it.” To read further, please visit http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressreleases/researchers_induce_alzheimers_neurons_from_pluripotent_stem_cells/.
Fungi and Renewable Fuels: NICS Helps Researchers Look for Answers
The National Institute for Computational Sciences (NICS) provides the large-scale systems that help scientists like Gregg Beckham and Mike Crowley study how to resourcefully convert biomass—plant matter like waste wood chips or wheat straw—into liquid fuels. Their group is particularly interested in cellulose, a polymer of the sugar glucose, which forms much of the structure of plants on Earth, but is very resistant to deconstruction. “Plant matter such as wood and straw contain significant amounts of cellulose, but breaking the chemical bonds linking the glucose building blocks is quite difficult,” explained Beckham, a senior engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado. “But some organisms breakdown cellulose using cocktails of enzymes. We’re trying to figure out why cellulose is so hard to breakdown and how these groups of enzymes do it at the molecular level.” To read further, please visit http://www.nics.tennessee.edu/Beckham.
Webinars, Seminars and Workshops
Rice University Webinar - Conferencing: Publishing and Presenting Your Work
February 9, 2012 – 10:00am PT, 12:00pm CT, 1:00pm ET
The ELA Mentoring Program is hosting the next webinar session featuring Dr. Yolanda Rankin who will discuss "Conferencing: Publishing and Presenting Your Work". The webinar includes networking strategies and learning about different venues and peer review processes. To join the hour-long session, sign up online here by Thursday, February 9, 8:00am CT.
Rice University and TACC Offer Online Computing Workshops
February 9, 2012 – Part I - 4:00pm PT, 6:00pm CT, 7:00pm ET
February 23, 2012 – Part II – 4:00pm PT, 6:00pm CT, 7:00pm ET
Also on Thursday, February 9, ELA is hosting an online computing workshop featuring Dr. Dan Stanzione, who will discuss the topic of Parallel Programming. There will be two hour-long sessions dedicated to this topic, part I on 2/9/12 and part II on 2/23/12. To join these online workshops, sign up here by Thursday, February 9, 8am CT.
2012 Broadening Participation in Data Mining Workshop – Call for Participation
April 27-28, 2012 – Anaheim, California
The primary aim of the workshop is to foster mentorship, guidance, and connections of underrepresented groups in Data Mining, while also enriching technical aptitude and exposure. Graduate students and postdocs from underrepresented groups and those with disabilities are encouraged to apply. To apply for the workshop, please submit your application through our web portal at http://dataminingshop.com/application.php. For further questions or information about the Broadening Participation in Data Mining Workshop, please visit the website at http://dataminingshop.com/ or email questions@dataminingshop.com.
Free Online Courses Offered by MIT, Stanford and UC Berkeley
MIT OpenCourseWare or OCW (found at http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity. You can find computing-related courses at http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/. Another wonderful resource for free online courses taught by Stanford and UC Berkeley faculty is Coursera. which can be found at http://www.cs101-class.org/hub.php. "Software Engineering for Software as a Service" is going to be taught by UC Berkeley professors Dave Patterson and Armando Fox and will begin on February 20, 2012. Please register for this course at http://www.saas-class.org/.
In Case You Didn’t Know – XSEDE Also Offers Online Workshops
XSEDE also offers one-day online workshops. Course calendar and registration can be found at https://www.xsede.org/web/xup/course-calendar. Course materials from past sessions are at http://www.tacc.utexas.edu/user-services/training/course-materials.
Student Engagement and Opportunities
NASA Ames Research Center Seeks Research Fellows
NASA Ames Research Center has an established track record in biotechnology and fundamental biology research, with applications in astrobiology, radiation biology, biosensors, biofuels, bionanotechnology, human health and bioregenerative life support. Ames is seeking to infuse synthetic biology into these and other applications. Two positions are available for Research Fellows in the newly established Synthetic Biology Innovation Laboratory, a cross-disciplinary research group formed to create new technologies that meet NASA needs. Fellows will be expected to develop research projects in collaboration with NASA scientists, engineers and outside experts with the intention of demonstrating, publishing and/or patenting relevant new technologies and applying them to NASA missions.
Research will create both enabling technologies for space exploration and foundational tools to make biological systems easier to engineer. Projects taking advantage of flight opportunities on the International Space Station and aboard small satellites are encouraged. Fellows may also participate in mentoring a student team to take part in the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM). Applicants should have a Ph. D.., substantial experience in molecular biology and a strong drive to bring synthetic biology concepts to space exploration. To view the official job posting, please visit http://nasaames.theresumator.com/apply/job_20101118003403_9KRFT3V0HPQYSOZN/Research-Fellow.html?source=INDE.
Greater San Diego Science & Engineering Fair
March 20-25, 2012 – Balboa Park, San Diego, California
Our mission of the Greater San Diego Science & Engineering Fair is to maintain a continuous process that encourages and rewards professional excellence, promotes educational enrichment, and provides unique opportunities for independent achievement in science and technology for the thousands of seventh through twelfth grade students of all private, parochial, and public schools of the Greater San Diego Region wishing to participate. For more information, applications and volunteer opportunities, please visit http://www.gsdsef.org/home.asp.
Faculty Opportunities
NASA Glenn Research Center Faculty Fellowship Opportunity
Application Deadline – February 24, 2012
NASA John Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is accepting applications from full-time, qualified STEM faculty in accredited US colleges and universities, for the summer 2012 NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowship Program (NGFFP). The ten-week Fellowship starts on Monday, June 4, and ends on Friday, Aug. 10. The opportunity is open to US citizens. However, US permanent resident faculty members who are interested in analytical/fundamental research will be considered. Under-represented faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are encouraged to apply. For more information, please visit https://rt.grc.nasa.gov/main/university-affairs/ngffp/.
Last but Not Least – Odds and Ends of Interest
MIT Mints a Valuable New Form of Academic Currency
Excerpt from the Chronicle of Higher Education
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has invented or improved many world-changing things—radar, information theory, and synthetic self-replicating molecules, to name a few. Last month the university announced, to mild fanfare, an invention that could be similarly transformative, this time for higher education itself. It's called MITx. In that small lowercase letter, a great deal is contained. MITx is the next big step in the open-educational-resources movement that MIT helped start in 2001, when it began putting its course lecture notes, videos, and exams online, where anyone in the world could use them at no cost. The project exceeded all expectations—more than 100 million unique visitors have accessed the courses so far. To read further, please visit http://chronicle.com/article/MIT-Mints-a-Valuable-New-Form/130410/.
