Faculty Search at George Washington University

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND AMERICAN CULTURE:  The Department of American Studies at The George Washington University seeks to appoint a tenure-track assistant professor beginning Fall 2012. Basic Qualifications: All requirements completed for Ph.D. in American Studies or related discipline by August 1, 2012. Research experience/potential as demonstrated by works in progress or scholarly publications, and teaching experience at the college level. Preferred Qualifications: Research and teaching interests in the history and/or meaning of science or technology in American culture, environmental history, urban sustainability, medical humanities, environmental anthropology, ethnography of science, or the geopolitical impact of American scientific enterprise. Please send a cover letter, CV, three letters of recommendation, and a thirty-page writing sample to: Science and Technology Search Committee, Department of American Studies, The George Washington University, 2108 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052.  Review of applications will begin October 15, 2011, and continue until the position is filled. Only complete applications will be considered. The George Washington University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and particularly encourages applications from women and persons of color. Visit our website: http://departments.columbian.gwu.edu/americanstudies/

Conference on Biomass and Energy Efficiency

Dear Colleagues

We are very pleased to announce the 'WSED next!' conference for young researchers and young professionals on biomass and energy efficiency.

It will be held as one of the conferences of the World Sustainable Energy Days 2012 from 29 February - 2 March 2012 in Wels/Austria.

The event will: - present the work and achievements of young researchers in the fields of biomass and energy efficiency - offer a platform for interaction with experts and decision makers from industry and institutions

We invite senior students, young researchers and young professionals to submit contributions at www.wsed.at/call by 5 October 2011. Submissions are invited from any scientific field (e.g. technology & engineering, economic and social sciences, law, arts, etc.).

The organisers will cover the costs for accommodation, meals, participation and local transport for up to 60 selected participants for 3 conference days.

We would be very grateful, if you were able to help us to promote this event and the opportunity offered by it!

With more than 800 participants every year, the World Sustainable Energy Days conference is one of the largest annual conferences on sustainable energy in Europe. In the last 10 years, the conference attracted more than 10,000 participants from 99 countries!

Further information: www.next.wsed.at

We are looking forward to receiving contributions by 5 October and to welcoming you to the World Sustainable Energy Days Conference 2012!

Best regards

Christiane Egger

Conference Director

Centre for the History of Medicine at the University of Warwick Faculty Search

The Centre for the History of Medicine at the University of Warwick invites applications for the following new post: Wellcome Trust University Award Assistant Professor of the History of Medicine

Further details on the post can be found via the University website: https://secure.admin.warwick.ac.uk/webjobs/jobs/academic/job9124.html.

Further information about our the Centre for the History of Medicine at Warwick and our History Department can be found via: www.go.warwick.ac.uk/chm www.go.warwick.ac.uk/history

Threat to NSF funding for STS

From Laurel Smith-Doerr:

Dear Colleagues,

The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice & Science (CJS) is considering changing the 2012 appropriation to eliminate the Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences (SBE) directorate at the NSF, which includes the STS Program.  The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), a coalition to which the ASA belongs supporting Federal funding for the social sciences, is encouraging its members to write to their House Representatives and Senators, urging the House to continue to support the human sciences at NSF.  Having had the privilege of serving recently as one of the Program Officers at the NSF in the SBE directorate, I want to endorse COSSA's request, believing that eliminating SBE would be disastrous for the social sciences in the US and for sociology in particular.

So I encourage you to write to your House Representatives and US Senators, ideally before the CJS Subcommittee meeting on 7 July, or before the full House Appropriations Committee meeting on  13 July, and at least before the floor discussion scheduled for the week of 25 July.

You may want to copy Subcommittee Chair Frank Wolf R-VA and Ranking Member Chakah Fattah D-PA and perhaps other members of the Subcommittee (http://www.appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/Subcommittee/?IssueID=34794) and Appropriations Committee Chair Harold Rogers (R-KY) and Ranking Member Norm Dicks (D-WA) (http://www.appropriations.house.gov).  You can find contact information for your representative using the ?Write Your Representative? feature at https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml, and you will find a list of Senators, sortable by state, at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

We all lead busy lives and if you prefer to send something more or less ready made I suggest something along the lines of the letter made available by the previous Assistant Director of SBE (a linguist) at http://www.lsadc.org/info/NSFSBEletter.pdf.  You may copy and paste the text from this letter (make sure the formatting has copied appropriately) and if you have the opportunity, elaborate and tell your representatives something about our field. Furthermore, you might strengthen your argument by pointing to NSF-supported work being conducted at a university in the representative's area.

Support will be particularly valuable from the Republican party. I wrote to Scott Brown, using the AD's letter as a starting point. My letter is pasted below (unformatted).

Please feel free to forward this request to colleagues, I have taken parts of it from the linguists but obviously it is important for representatives to hear from all of the social sciences.

Laurel Smith-Doerr


July 1, 2011
Scott Brown
US Senator
2400 JFK Federal Building
15 New Sudbury St.
Boston, MA 02203

Dear Senator Brown,
I am alarmed to hear that the House Commerce, Justice & Science Committee is considering eliminating or severely cutting back the directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

In the US, basic research in the social sciences is funded alongside the natural sciences and engineering, through the same agency. This is unusual from an international perspective and means that the social sciences are done better here, by being more closely integrated with work in the other sciences. Having the full range of basic science funded within one agency has led to more collaborative, interdisciplinary work, with better results on all sides.

One major example of this integration is our study of scientific innovation itself, one of the most important drivers of a strong economy (as acknowledged in the 2007 America COMPETES Act, which was led by the Bush Administration but supported across parties). Somehow basic science conducted at lab benches and engineering projects started in garages produce new knowledge products that spark new industries like biotechnology and information technology which give the United States a real competitive edge in the global marketplace. This innovation process is not yet well understood but is a central concern across social sciences including sociology, economics, psychology, and science policy studies. The importance of better understanding the innovation process (in order to facilitate it) has generated the new interdisciplinary area called the science of science and innovation policy (SciSIP). This program at NSF is funding research to scientifically understand the innovation process and which policies are more effective at producing beneficial outcomes in science and technology.

NSF is unique in combining experts from the social sciences with experts in natural sciences and engineering. For example, social scientists and chemists in Massachusetts (and other states) have received grants in a collaborative initiative at NSF between SciSIP (in Social/Behavioral/ Economic Sciences directorate) and Chemistry (in Math/Physical Sciences directorate). An article in this week?s Chemical and Engineering News ('Measuring Chemistry's Impact') announces the initiative and its importance to understanding the chemical sciences. This initiative 'Pathways to Innovation in the Chemical Sciences' would not have been possible if social sciences were not part of NSF. More information about this initiative and others in the study of innovation and science policy can be found at the following website: (http://www.scienceofsciencepolicy.net/page/about-sosp).

The integration of all the basic sciences at the NSF represents one of the national treasures of the US, which has yielded much competitive advantage. Massachusetts has been at the forefront of this kind of interdisciplinary research, as it has led innovation and science in general.  I urge you to oppose any efforts to weaken that integration, which will be detrimental to our state and our nation.

Sincerely,
Laurel Smith-Doerr
Associate Professor of Sociology
Boston University

Two-year Postdoc Fellowship in Research Ethics and Integrity

Biological Futures in a Globalized World
A joint initiative of the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Research Ethics/Research Integrity
Deadline: Friday, July 22, 2011

Biological Futures seeks applications from recent PhD’s for a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship, beginning in September 2011. The Postdoctoral Fellow will play a pivotal role in developing an integrated, cross-campus research ethics training initiative in the (non-medical) natural and social sciences at the University of Washington. The position is open with respect to discipline, but a strong background in analytic value theory is necessary and familiarity with practice-grounded research ethics, particularly in the biological sciences, is an asset. We especially encourage applications from scholars who have a demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across disciplines.

This Postdoctoral Fellowship carries a salary of $50,000 a year (calculated on a monthly basis); the appointment is initially for one year, beginning September 2011, renewable for a second year pending budgetary approval. 
• For application guidelines and qualifications:  http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/biofutures1011.html
• Questions? Please contact Alison Wylie: aw26@uw.edu 

Patenting Genes and Life - UCSD Biomedical Ethics seminar

Patenting Genes and Life

Len Deftos, MD, JD, LLM

June 15, 4:30-6:30 pm

Medical Teaching Facility (MTF) 175

UCSD School of Medicine Campus

CME credit available; light refreshments served

Abstract

U.S. Law allows the patenting of genes and life forms, including  

mammals. But other countries differ and consider moral issues in  

reviewing patent applications; the U.S. does not. Since U.S. Patent  

Law is currently under revision, should moral and ethical issues  

become part of the patent review process?

The UCSD and Donald Shapiro 2010-2011 Biomedical Ethics Seminar Series

is supported by a generous gift from The Institute of Health Law at

the California Western School of Law (CWSL), which co-sponsors with

UCSD a Masters Degree in Health Law. It meets once monthly for

faculty, staff, and students to discuss selected ethics topics.

DIRECTIONS

For parking instructions and directions to UCSD:  http://blink.ucsd.edu/facilities/transportation/visitor/directions.html

MAILING LIST

To subscribe/unsubscribe to the ethics-l mailing list, please go to http://lists.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/ethics-l

Contact: mdevereaux@ucsd.edu

Scholarships to attend APHA Annual Meeting

Need-based scholarships available for students to attend American
Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting

APHA is proud to announce the availability of need-based scholarships,
sponsored by External Medical Affairs, Pfizer Inc., for student
members to attend the 139th Annual Meeting and Exposition in
Washington, DC from October 29-November 2, 2011.  Twelve students will
be granted registration and up to a $500 stipend to use towards food,
lodging and transportation.  An additional four students will be given
Annual Meeting registration only.  Recipients of the scholarships will
be chosen based on financial need and essay.  As part of the award,
students will be strongly encouraged to attend at least one Section
business meeting.

Visit: www.apha.org/meetings/registration/scholarship for complete
details and application.

Please contact Pooja Bhandari at pooja.bhandari@apha.org with any questions.

------
H-MedAnthro: H-Net Network on Medical Anthropology
To post messages to the list, send them to: h-medanthro@h-net.msu.edu
Network page: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~medanthro/
Society for Medical Anthropology website: http://www.medanthro.net/
To manage your subscription, visit:
http://www.h-net.org/lists/subscribe.cgi

UCSD Clinical Research Education Series

The Clinical Trials Office (CTO) Clinical Research Education Series

Presents Rachel Nosowsky, JD, CHRC, speaking on:

    "The Informed Consent Process and the HIPAA Privacy Rule"

Ms. Nosowsky  serves as Principal Counsel to the University of

California system specializing in the area of research and clinical

trials, focusing on human research protections.

Her presentation will be held Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 2:00 pm, Comer

Commons (2nd Floor), at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center.  The CTO invites

anyone who may be interested to attend.

For more information, please contact:

Kirsten Erickson, MPH

Assistant Director, Clinical Trials Office

Moores UC San Diego Cancer Center

858-822-5366_

_kderickson@ucsd.edu

Charles Donald O'Malley Short-term research fellowship at UCLA

2011-2012 Charles Donald O’Malley

Short-term Research Fellowships

For Research in the History of Medicine and

Allied Fields at UCLA

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and History and Special Collections for the Sciences in UCLA Library Special Collections are pleased to announce the availability of the Charles Donald O’Malley 2011-2012 Short-term Research Fellowships to further investigation into the history of medical thought and healing practice and art from the earliest times to the recent past.  Two fellowships will be awarded, each of which carries a grant of up to $1,500 to defray travel and residence costs for research conducted at UCLA special collections libraries between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012.

The award commemorates the work of Charles D. O’Malley, PhD (1907-70), the Vesalian scholar and first full-time chair of the Department of Medical History at UCLA.  O’Malley pioneered the study of the history of medicine at UCLA and facilitated its growth.

Eligibility:  U.S. citizens and permanent residents with a legal right to work in the United States who are engaged in graduate level, post-doctoral, or independent research are invited to apply. The fellowships are available to visiting scholars and UCLA graduate students primarily interested in using History and Special Collections for the Sciences, the Library Special Collections division located in the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. Other special collections at UCLA also may be used, including the William Andrews Clark Library, Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections, and University Archives.

Application Instructions:  Applications must be received on or before June 15, 2011 and must include:

-          Cover letter

-          Curriculum vitae

-          Outline of research topic and special collections to be used (two pages maximum)          

-          Brief budget for travel, living, and research expenses

-          Dates to be spent in residence

Two letters of recommendation from faculty or other scholars familiar with the research project

Application materials, including letters of recommendation, can be submitted in print format by mail to the address below, or in PDF format by email to rjohnson@library.ucla.edu. Applications in PDF format by email are preferred.

Review Process and Notification:  A committee will evaluate the research proposals, and applicants will be notified of the selection committee’s decision by email by July 1, 2011.  Fellows will be asked to speak briefly about their recent or ongoing research at an informal brownbag session with local scholars during their visit.

Submit applications or direct questions about the fellowships to: 

Charles Donald O’Malley Short-term Research Fellowships
c/o Russell A. Johnson
History and Special Collections for the Sciences

Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA                         

12-077 Center for the Health Sciences                                   

Box 951798                                                                                                                                        

Los Angeles, California 90095-1798

Phone:    310.825.6940

Fax:           310.825.0465

Email:       rjohnson@library.ucla.edu

http://www.library.ucla.edu/specialcollections/biomedicallibrary

Postdoc opportunity at Yale

Yale University: Postdoctoral Research Fellow The Yale Project on Climate Change Communication invites applications for a full-time Postdoctoral Research Fellow to contribute to our ongoing research on public climate change knowledge, risk perceptions, policy preferences, and behavior. The program involves survey research (including national, international, and globally representative surveys, community and membership organization surveys, etc.), message experiments, in-depth interviews, and audience segmentation research. The program also includes several national outreach projects to engage the public and policymakers in climate change science and solutions. Candidates must have a PhD in a relevant social science discipline, and a track record of published journal articles and/or conference papers on relevant topics such as risk perception, communication (climate change, science, environment, public health, or political communication), behavior change, applied psychology, political science, social-ecological models, or informal science education. Proficiency in survey research and quantitative data management and analysis is a requirement. Experience with qualitative data collection, strategic planning, and climate science are preferred, as are excellent organizational and project management skills, and writing and presentation skills. The review of applications will begin on April 22, 2011 and the position will remain open until filled. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. The position is a full-time appointment for one year, with full benefits, and with the possibility of renewal for a second year, dependent upon performance and availability of funding. Members of under-represented groups are particularly encouraged to apply. Applicants must submit an application to climatechange@yale.edu. Applications should include (a) cover letter including a statement of research interests and career goals, and names and contact information of two professional references, and (b) a curriculum vita.