In Brief

CA Outstanding Mentor Award Nominations Open

Nominations are due Friday, August 15, for the Scripps California 2014 Outstanding Mentor Award, recognizing "the considerable dedication of faculty who consistently and enthusiastically serve as effective mentors of graduate students and postdocs." The award is sponsored by the Society of Fellows (SoF) and the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office.

The award recipient, to be announced during the National Postdoctoral Appreciation Week September 15-19, will be honored with a plaque and $1,000 in funding to support team building or training efforts in the winner’s lab. Previous winners include TSRI Professors Ian Wilson and Hollis Cline and Adjunct Professor M.G. Finn.

Postdocs and graduate students may nominate any faculty member "who has guided and contributed to their personal or professional development through a mutually trusting and respectful relationship." Specifically, nominees should be faculty who:

Develop mentees' research and professional skills.
Respect and support scholars' goals.
Offer valuable career planning and job search assistance.
Model effective leadership.

Nominations will be reviewed by TSRI’s director of graduate studies, SoF Executive Committee members and the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office.

The nomination form and a list of required documentation is available at the SoF website. Previously nominated mentors will be considered with a 2014 nomination form; nomination materials submitted in previous years are on file. Prior award recipients are not eligible.

Send nominations and supporting materials to the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office, Mail Drop TPC-19, fax (858) 784-2802 or cpso@scripps.edu. For additional information, contact Ryan Wheeler, director of Career and Postdoctoral Services, at x4-9740 or rwheeler@scripps.edu.

Career Workshop: Interview Skills Training

Interview skills workshops will be held Monday, July 28, from 3 to 4:30 PM on both Scripps California and Florida campuses. During the small-group workshop, which includes a videotaped mock interview/feedback session, participants will practice techniques and strategies for effective interview communications.

Jean Branan, Career and Postdoctoral Services program coordinator, will conduct the California campus workshop in the Graduate Office conference room, 3377 building, suite 300. Mike Matrone, Career and Postdoctoral Services program coordinator on the Florida campus, will facilitate the session in room A114.

RSVP is required. Details on other career services are available on the Career and Postdoctoral Services Office website.

Industry Bridge Program to Visit Pfizer, San Diego

Pfizer’s San Diego facility is the next Industry Bridge Program (IBP) destination, scheduled for Wednesday, July 30, from 9.30 AM to 3.30 PM. Sponsored by the California campus’s Society of Fellows (SoF), the IBP event is open to TSRI postdoctoral fellows and graduate students.

Attendance sign-ups are currently full; however, a waiting list is available on the IBP webpage. Preference is given to researchers with backgrounds in vaccines, medicinal chemistry or oncology and first-time IBP participants.

The 25-acre Pfizer campus, located in La Jolla, focuses on oncology and vaccines therapeutics. In addition to presentations, lab tours and panel discussions, the Pfizer visit will include a hypothetical "Drug Development Case Study Exercise." Applicants are asked to indicate their discipline/research fields in the “Research Topic Keywords” section of the online IBP application.

For information on other SoF activities and resources, visit the group’s website.

Lunch & Learn: Coping with Stress

The impact of stress will be explored in the next Lunch & Learn presentation, “Got Stress?: Adding Balance and Self Care to Your Life, ” on Monday, August 4, noon to 1 PM, in the Beckman building’s Keck Amphitheater on the California campus.

Diana Bull, the newest member of the TSRI Counseling and Psychological Services Office, will conduct the session. She has held positions at a variety of institutions, including San Diego State University and the University of California San Diego, and has specialized experience working with anxiety and stress-related conflict.

Workshop topics will cover the definition of stress, its physical effects and stress-coping tips. For further information on the Lunch & Learn series and other resources offered by Counseling and Psychological Services staff, visit the office’s website.

CA ScrippsAssists Backpack Drive Deadline:
August 1

The donation deadline for the California ScrippsAssists annual Back-to-School Backpack Drive is Friday, August 1. Faculty and staff are encouraged to donate new, unused backpacks and essential school supplies, including notebooks, pencils, pens, rulers, erasers, etc., for children in at-risk San Diego families struggling to make ends meet.

ScrippsAssists will use donated backpacks and supplies to assemble backpack kits, which can cost $30-$35. ScrippsAssists community partner Home Start will distribute the backpacks. A complete list of needed items is available under the backpack project description on the group’s website. Cash or gift card donations are also accepted.

Donated items can be dropped off at three campus locations: Human Resources front desk, Beckman Lab526 (office 522) or Science Park 3030, North Lobby (box next to elevator). For additional information, contact project lead Mishelle McClanahan-Shinn at x4-2738 or mshinn@scripps.edu.

ScrippsAssists to Hold CA Blood Drive August 14

Blood donors are particularly important during summer months and holidays, often times of critical blood shortages. Appointments are now available for the next ScrippsAssists blood drive on Thursday, August 14, from 9 AM to 2:30 PM on the California campus. The San Diego Blood Bank (SDBB) bloodmobile will be located in the parking lot adjacent to the Skaggs/MBB building, 10596 N. Torrey Pines Road.

Eligible donors are asked to make an appointment on the SDBB website [https://www.mysdbb.org/Appointment/location.html?did=67113]. Walk-in donors also will be welcomed. Guidelines and eligibility requirements are also listed on the blood bank website [http://www.sandiegobloodbank.org/donating-blood]. Donors should bring photo identification, a record of medications they currently take and a list of locations visited outside the United States in the past three years.

All donors will automatically be entered into a prize raffle. For further information on the blood drive, contact project coordinator Leslie Madden at lmadden@scripps.edu.

CA IBC Meeting Materials Due August 1

The TSRI Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, August 13, from 3:30 to 4:30 PM, in the DAR Conference Room. To receive committee consideration, registration documents must be submitted to Environmental Health and Safety via email to rachellv@scripps.edu by August 1.

At the Auditorium: SummerFest Concerts

The La Jolla Music Society will hold two Sunday concerts in its annual SummerFest series: on August 3, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” will feature a performance of the Mozart opus, plus Schubert’s Octet in F Major and a premiere of “Piano for Four Hands” by Stephen Hartke; on August 20, the Miró Quartet will perform Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor and the Brahms String Sextet No. 2 in G Major. The concerts begin at 3 PM. Ticket and additional information is available on the society’s website.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

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