In Brief

SoF Announces Fall Travel Award Winners

The Scripps California Society of Fellows (SoF) has announced the winners of this fall’s travel awards, which support the presentation of scholarly work at a scientific conference. The winners are:

Aime Lopez Aguilar, a research associate in the Wu lab, who will attend the Glycobiology Gordon Research Conference held in California in March.

Kayalvizhi Madhivanan, in the Encalada lab, who attend the Cold Spring Harbor Lab Meeting on Neurodegenerative Diseases: Biology & Therapeutics held in New York in November.

Reginald McNulty, research associate in the Wright lab, who will attend the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) meeting held in California in December.

Award applications will be accepted again in the spring. Postdoctoral researchers who have never attended a scientific meeting to present their current work are encouraged to apply; additionally, previously unsuccessful applicants are urged to re-apply. Visit the SoF website for details.

Winter Course: Effective Career Planning for PhDs

TSRI postdoctoral researchers and graduate students are invited to register for “Effective Career Planning for PhDs,” a seven-week (1 credit) course January 4 –February 15, 2017. Students will meet every Wednesday from 12–2 PM Pacific time/3–5 PM Eastern time in the Graduate Office, Hazen Theory Building in La Jolla, and classes will be streamed live to B158 in Jupiter, with instructors on both campuses.

The course is intended to encourage career planning by equipping students with the skills, resources and self-assessment information necessary to make informed career choices both inside and beyond academia. The course emphasizes developing career-related skills, including networking, self-evaluation, maintaining a professional presence online, goal setting and formulating an Individual Development Plan (IDP).

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Create a career plan poster that synthesizes individual self-assessment results with career interests
Identify at least two PhD-level careers that complement their self-assessment results
Formulate and categorize a list of insightful informational interview questions
Articulate and substantiate three career-related goals

Graduate students can enroll via the course registration system and postdocs should email cpso@scripps.edu to enroll.

Erica Ollmann Saphire Opens 2016-17 Faculty Lecture Series at New Time, Venue

Erica Ollmann Saphire, professor in the TSRI Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, will open the 2016–17 Faculty Lecture Series with a presentation titled “The Molecular Tool-kit of Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers” on Wednesday, November 9.

Please note the new time and venue for this series: The lecture will begin at 4 PM in the Committee Lecture Hall in the Skaggs/Molecular Biology building, followed by a reception in the Beckman building first-floor galleria.

In 2017, other faculty lecturers will include:

February 8: Laura Bohn, professor, Department of Molecular Therapeutics, “Refining Opioid Receptor Signaling to Improve the Therapeutic Index”
March 8: Ben Shen, professor, Department of Chemistry, “Microbial Genomics: New Opportunities for Natural Product Biosynthesis, Engineering and Drug Discovery”
April 12: Francisco Asturias, associate professor, Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, “The ‘Mechanics’ of Transcription Initiation by Mediator”
May 10: Bill Schief, professor, Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, "Germline-Targeting Vaccine Design for HIV”
June 14: Andrew Ward, associate professor, Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, “CryoEM and Structure-Based Vaccine Design”

For further information, see the Faculty Lecture Series webpage. The series is supported by an endowment from the Cochrane-Cartan families, established by TSRI Professor Emeritus Charles G. Cochrane.

Benefits Open Enrollment Ends November 4

Employee Benefits Open Enrollment ends Friday, November 4, 5 PM Pacific time; changes to participant selections, enrollment or re-enrollment in the Health Care and/or Dependent Care Spending Accounts or the Health Savings Account (if applicable) for the 2017 plan year must be completed.

All Open Enrollment communications are available on the Open Enrollment website. It is important to review the information provided in the online Open Enrollment booklet regarding plan information for the 2017 plan year. According to the TSRI Human Resources Department, no changes will be made to the health plan designs or premium deductions this year.

Participants are asked to note that the maximum dollar amount for the Health Care Spending Account is $2,550. Eligible employees who participated in the Health Care and/or Dependent Care Spending Accounts or the Health Savings Account in 2016 still must log on and elect a new deferral amount to participate in 2017. Employees’ 2016 election WILL NOT roll over to 2017. View information on spending accounts on the TSRI Benefits web page.

Upcoming Discussion: Postdoc to Professor at Undergraduate Institution

TSRI students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and staff are welcome to attend a discussion on science careers featuring Adam Urbach, a professor at Trinity University, who will share information on careers at primarily undergraduate institutions. He will cover different types of institutions, faculty life and the balance of responsibilities, undergraduate research, tenure expectations, tips for job applications and finding a good fit.

The event will be held on Tuesday, November 8 from 2 to 3 PM Pacific/5 to 6 PM Eastern, hosted by the TSRI Career and Postdoctoral Services office. The event will be held in the California campus Graduate Office Seminar Room and streamed to room B158 on the Florida campus.

RSVPs are required.

Learn About AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships Nov. 17

U.S. citizens working at TSRI can attend an information session on applying for the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowship. These fellowships provide opportunities to outstanding scientists and engineers to learn first-hand about policymaking and contribute their knowledge and analytical skills in the policy realm. Fellows serve yearlong assignments in the federal government and represent a broad range of backgrounds, disciplines and career stages.

The session will be held Thursday, November 17 from noon to 1 PM Pacific/3 to 4 PM Eastern in the Graduate Office Seminar Room and streamed to room A116 on the Florida campus.

Information will be presented by Salaeha Shariff, director, outreach/recruitment & alumni engagement, AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowships. Online RSVPs are required.

SoF Industry Happy Hour Nov. 10

The Society of Fellow (SoF) and TSRI Career and Postdoctoral Services Office invite employees on the TSRI California campus to the latest Industry Happy Hour on Thursday, November 10, from 5 to 7 PM. This networking event is an opportunity to connect and to interact with TSRI alumni and scientist from all levels and areas.

Entrance is free, and all TSRI employees can attend. Drinks and appetizers are complimentary. RSVPs are required.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

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