Scientific Report 2005

Society of Fellows

In its 43rd year, the Society of Fellows took pride in maintaining its mission to serve the scientific community at Scripps Research, with particular emphasis on enhancing the trainee experience of junior scientists. We enjoyed a great year of bringing graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members together in both professional and social arenas.

Our Distinguished Lecturer Series brought several prominent scientists to lecture and, more importantly, to interact with junior scientists. The society is thankful to the speakers for their excellent presentations: Jon Cohen, Ernst Th. Rietschel, Paul Reider, and Charles M. Deber.

The society also sponsored a wide range of career development workshops and seminars. These events included Peggy Wallace, who spoke on improving networking skills, and Doug Allen, who talked about doing science in the 21st century. Notably, the society sponsored its first seminar in collaboration with BIOCOM and the San Diego Workforce Partnership, featuring Dave Jensen. In addition to these speakers, we thank Al Levin, Lynne Friedmann, Kris Oden, Laurie Hill, Susan Shelby, Gail Baughman, Barbara Coleman, and Patrick Reilly for their insightful presentations.

Two research symposia were organized to draw postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and faculty members together. In total, we accepted abstracts for presentation from 71 postdoctoral scholars and graduate students, all of whom received $20 gift certificates and 16 of whom received $700 or $300 travel awards. We thank our keynote speakers: Melvin Cohn, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Howard L. Fields, University of California, San Francisco; Brian K. Kobilka, Stanford University; and Partho Ghosh, University of California, San Diego.

This year’s social event calendar was packed with adventurous trips, including a wine trip, a day trip to the Wild Animal Park, bowling, a scuba course, and our annual Big Bear ski trip. We also hosted a Chinese New Year’s party and brunch. Happy hours were held to promote interaction among scientists at Scripps Research and the nearby science institutions. This year’s big summer bash at Canes Bar and Grill, with a special performance by Soul in the Machine, was a memorable event.

The Society of Fellows was also active on more than a local level. Responding to the devastation caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami, the society made a financial donation to the American Red Cross. Furthermore, we have pledged to make an annual contribution to charities from any excess revenue that we hold at the end of our fiscal year. The society was also proud to participate in the Sigma Xi postdoctoral survey. The survey will be instrumental in improving the training and research environments for postdoctoral fellows. The society and the Network for Women in Science also conducted a survey to better understand the childcare needs of the Scripps Research community. Our aim is to work with Scripps Research administrative officials to provide childcare necessities.

Finally, at the annual spring vendor show, the society played host to approximately 100 scientific vendors nationwide, who displayed their latest scientific equipment and technology.

The Society of Fellows executive committee expresses its sincere gratitude to the Office of the President and Postdoctoral Services at Scripps Research for enthusiastic and continued support of the society’s activities.

Executive Committee 2004–2005