Graduate School Newsblog

Author: smcrisma

Silicon Valley Trip 2014–The Experience of a Lifetime

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Each spring 15 students travel from Michigan Tech to the world hub of start-ups and entrepreneurs–Silicon Valley.  This eye-opening experience focuses on immersing students in real companies, with real players, and the current challenges they face.

The trip to Silicon Valley takes place during Spring Break (March 8-14).  Visits with entrepreneurs, inventors, managers and companies including Brocade, Cisco and Google will provide students with a first-hand understanding of technology built enterprises that are revolutionizing global business.

Brocade is once again sponsoring the trip bringing the cost to $300 per person including airfare, hotel accommodations with breakfast each morning and transportation throughout the duration of the trip.

This trip is open to all Michigan Tech students.  Please pass the information along. Student participation is based on a two-minute interview on “Why you want to work and live in Silicon Valley.”  If students are interested in participating, please have them email Karen Foltz at ksfoltz@mtu.edu. They will be assigned interview times starting at 4 p.m., on Dec. 5.

Published in Tech Today.

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PEER-Power Africa funding opportunity – partnerships between US and African universities

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Program Synopsis: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Sciences Foundation (NSF) are working together to support the third cycle of Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) Science. PEER Science is a competitive grants program that invites scientists in developing countries to apply for funds to support research and capacity-building activities on topics of importance to USAID and conducted in partnership with their NSF-funded collaborators.

Contact Information: PEER Science is being implemented by the National Academies, which will manage the proposal review process and disburse and monitor grants awarded. Beyond the current program cycle, it is expected that solicitations for PEER Science will be issued at least annually, with details to be posted at http://www.nationalacademies.org/peerscience. For further information, please contact the program staff atpeer@nas.edu.

Topics: Areas in which both NSF and USAID have strong mutual interests include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Food security topics such as agricultural development, fisheries, and plant genomics
  • Climate change impacts such as water sustainability, hydrology, ocean acidification, climate process and modeling, and environmental engineering
  • Other development topics including disaster mitigation, biodiversity, water, and renewable energy

When writing their proposals, developing country applicants should consider how their proposed research and/or capacity building activities will contribute to USAID’s development objectives. Collaborative projects involving multiple developing countries that explore regional issues related to these development objectives are encouraged. Pending the availability of funds and the receipt of meritorious proposals, the majority of PEER Science funding will be awarded to projects related to the USAID development areas of interest specified above. Applicants are encouraged to consult the list of projects funded in Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 of PEER Science and in the special PEER-PIRE 2012 cycle for examples of the topics and types of projects supported. Proposals focused on basic science topics without clear relevance to USAID development objectives are strongly discouraged. In addition, no health-related research will be supported under PEER Science. Researchers working on health-related topics may wish to explore opportunities offered by the PEER Health Program.

For more information: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/dsc/peerscience/PGA_071743

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Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship program

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The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi currently awards fifty-one Fellowships of $5,000 each and six at $15,000 each to members entering the first year of graduate or professional study.  Each active Phi Kappa Phi chapter may select one candidate from among its local applicants to compete for the Society-wide awards.

Eligibility:
Open to all active Phi Kappa Phi members or those who have:
  • accepted membership by June 30, 2014
  • applied to enroll as a full-time student in a post-baccalaureate program of study during the coming academic year
Please note:  Students registering in all professional and graduate fields are eligible.
Applicants who have successfully earned 10+ credit hours of graduate study or its equivalent on or before April 15 are not eligible.

Contact your chapter for application deadline information.  Chapter may submit one application to Society headquarters by April 15, 2014.  Recipients will be notified by June 1, 2014.
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NPSC announces graduate fellowships

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The National Physical Science Consortium is a partnership between government agencies and laboratories, industry, and higher education. NPSC’s goal is to increase the number of American citizens with graduate degrees in the physical sciences and related engineering fields, emphasizing recruitment of a diverse applicant pool.

The online NPSC application is now open here.  The deadline is December 8, 2013.  Applicants at any stage of their graduate program may apply, as long as they will be available to accept two summers of paid internship.

The NPSC Graduate Fellowship is unique in being:  open to all American citizens; lasting for up to six years; providing a $20,000 annual stipend; covering tuition; allowing a fellow also to hold a research or teaching assistantship; including one or two paid summer internships with a government agency; providing a mentor and the opportunity for a lasting relationship with the sponsor.

If you have interned, have been employed or are employed by a government agency or laboratory, ask your mentor or research supervisor to nominate you directly for an NPSC fellowship. Contact NPSC for details.

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NRC announces Associateship Programs for 2014

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The National Research Council (NRC) administers competitive graduate postdoctoral and senior research awards on behalf of 26 U.S. government research agencies and affiliated institutions with facilities at over 100 locations throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Annual stipends for recent PhD recipients for the 2014 program year range from $42,000 to $80,000 depending upon the sponsoring laboratory, and are appropriately higher for senior award recipients.  Graduate entry level stipends begin at $30,000 and are higher for additional experience.

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ORAU announces Mickey Leland Fellowship Program – Summer 2014

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The Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) Program, sponsored by the Office of Fossil Energy (FE), U.S. Department of Energy, is now accepting applications for a10-week summer internship.  MLEF’s mission is to improve opportunities for women and minority students majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, but all eligible candidates are encouraged to apply. The program allows students to apply their academic achievements to actual research while gaining hands-on experience.

Application period closes January 15, 2014.

Selected MLEF Fellows will receive a bi-weekly stipend, approved travel costs to/from their host site and will attend a Technical Forum to present their project at the end of the internship.

To qualify for the program, students must:

  • Be at least 18 years of age
  • Be a U.S. Citizen
  • Have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
  • Be currently enrolled full-time in an accredited college or university (sophomore year or higher)

For more information or to complete an application, visit the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program page.

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Research Universities Partner to Increase the Diversity in Future Faculty

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Michigan Tech, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University and Wayne State University are partners on a 3.5-year $1.32 million project sponsored by the National Science Foundation.  Michigan Tech will partner with the other research universities in Michigan to test strategies designed to increase the number of domestic underrepresented minority graduate students pursuing careers in academia.  The project will involve an extensive research component that will test the effectiveness of mentoring and community-building events on graduate students’ persistence toward a degree and interest in continuing on to a career in academia.

“I am very excited about this project because it will result in hard data that can be used to test the importance of mentoring relationships and a sense of community on graduate students’ experiences,” said principal investigator Jacqueline Huntoon.  “I anticipate that by learning more about the graduate experience for students who are not members of the dominant racial/ethnic group, we will learn more about how to better meet the needs of all graduate students regardless of their race, ethnicity or gender.”

This research project is strengthened by the fact that five very different universities will participate in the project.  Their graduate deans recognize that the demographics of the US population are changing dramatically.  The goal of the project is to ultimately diversify the ranks of higher education faculty so that they are more representative of the US population at large and can better meet the needs of students and employers.  The project will ultimately help graduate schools across the country learn more about how to better serve students.

Craig Friedrich (MEEM), Shekhar Joshi (Bio Sci) and Chris Wojick (CEE) are co-principal investigators on the project.

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Applications open for 2014 Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award

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Attention graduate students!  Apply for the 2014 Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award at the American Institute of Biological Sciences webpage.

Application deadline is January 13, 2014.

Award winners will receive a free trip to Washington, DC on April 9-10, 2014 to meet with congressional policymakers about funding for the biological sciences.

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STEM Faculty Openings at the University of Maryland

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The University of Maryland has openings in the following STEM fields:

  • Biological Sciences-Lecturer
  • Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering-Assistant Professor
  • Chemistry and Biochemistry-Assistant/Associate Professor
  • Computer Science and Electrical Engineering-Assistant Professor, Professor of Practice, Lecturer
  • Economics-Assistant Professor
  • Information Systems-2 Assistant Professor, Lecturer
  • Marine and Biotechnology-Assistant Professor
  • Mechanical Engineering- Multiple Assistant Professors
  • Physics-Assistant Professor
  • Psychology-Assistant Professor

For more information and additional faculty opportunities: http://www.umbc.edu/facultydiversity/jobs.html

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The Van Pelt and Opie Library Announces Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech.

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Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech offers the campus a digital repository for worldwide access to its research, scholarship and other academic works created by members of the Michigan Tech community.

Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech has the capacity to provide and preserve access to all types of documents and publications–from articles and reports to books, journals and other creative works. Tools are also provided to manage the publication process, including peer review. Organization can be by college, department or even individual scholar. Access can be open globally, controlled by ISO login or unique passwords when desirable.

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