FASEB-MARC Program invites under-represented minority graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are USA citizens or permanent residents of USA to apply for “Leadership Development and Grant Writing Seminar Program for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows” during the last week of August 2009. This two-day program is scheduled to be held August 28-29, 2009 in Virginia Beach , Virginia .  Participation is limited to 45 graduate students/postdoctoral fellows, and the application process is competitive.  Program registration, travel (air and ground transportation,) hotel lodging and meal expenses will be provided for applicants who are approved to participate in this program. The URL with detailed information and the registration/application form is: http://marc.faseb.org/pages/page2d2.htm.  The application deadline date is July 10, 2009.

The 2009 Recovery Act is creating summer research opportunities for high school and college students and teachers at biomedical laboratories across the United States. A number of NIH-funded researchers have funds available to support a limited number of summer research interns.  https://science.education.nih.gov/SummerScience

Developmental Biology voted among 100 most influential journals in the past 100 years by Special Libraries Association

The BioMedical & Life Sciences Division (DBIO) of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) convened an international panel of nine subject experts to compile a ballot of its membership to select the 100 most influential journals of biology and medicine over the 100 years of existence of the association.  Developmental Biology, published by Elsevier under the auspices of SDB and the Company of Biologists’ Development won out in close competition with Developmental Cell (Cell Press) and Genes & Development (Cold Spring Harbor Press).  For details:  http://units.sla.org/division/dbio/publications/resources/dbio100.html

Notice # 131: NSF’s important notice on the Recovery Act which supplements its fiscal year 2009 funding by $3.0 billion is now available at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/issuances/in131.pdf?govDel=USNSF_109.  Information on implementation, policies, procedures and FAQs is at http://www.nsf.gov/recovery/.  All grants issued with ARRA funds will be standard grants with durations up to 5 years, and proposals currently in house including those declined on or after October 1, 2008 may be considered.  Contact your cognizant program officer. Related Activities for proposals that are already in house and will be reviewed and/or awarded prior to September 30, 2009.

NIH has posted on its website “NIH’s Role in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)”  summarizing the priorities and funding mechanisms for the funds, available through September 2010.  Check the NIH website in the next few days for announcements of the funding mechanisms, which will have a very fast turn-around time. 

Appropriately, in the year that marks Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book “On the Origin of Species,” two of the 2009 SDB Awards recipients are pioneers in the field of evolutionary developmental biology.  The Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize recipient is Sean Carroll, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and HHMI investigator, for his extraordinary ability to captivate and communicate to the public and other non-specialists the excitement of scientific discoveries and how molecular genetics can explain the process of evolution. In addition Sean is recognized as an outstanding scientist and mentor.  The Edwin G. Conklin Medal goes to David Kingsley, professor at Stanford University and an HHMI investigator, who uses molecular genetic approaches to study vertebrate skeletal development and how the same molecular mechanisms are used during the evolution of very different animals. The Developmental Biology-SDB Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Donald D. Brown of the Carnegie Institution Department of Embryology, for his trail-blazing work on gene expression during development and metamorphosis before the days of recombinant DNA by using ribosomal RNA purified from frog genomic DNA, the development of one of the first gene expression screens and for his tireless mentoring of a large number of young scientists.  All three awardees will give talks at the SDB 68th Annual Meeting Awards Lecture.

Sean B. Carroll – http://www.molbio.wisc.edu/carroll/,
http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/carroll.html 
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/evolution/index.html
http://seanbcarroll.com/

David M. Kingsley – http://kingsley.stanford.edu/,
http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/kingsley.html 
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/evolution/index.html

Donald D. Brown – http://www.ciwemb.edu/labs/brown/index.php
http://www.ciw.edu/news