Category: Announcements

With the increased enrollment of students who openly identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (GLBTQ), the Michigan Tech Safe Place Program has been redesigned to be a comprehensive and in-depth resource to better prepare faculty and staff to address the needs of these students.

The revamped training program addresses a wide range of terms that GLBTQ students use to define their identities, issues that GLBTQ students often deal with during the coming-out process, concerns that GLBTQ students face both in and out of the classroom, ways that faculty and staff can create inclusive classroom and office environments, where faculty and staff can refer students who need to report harassment and the on- and off-campus resources available to students.

Faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate student employees are invited to participate in the program. The fall 2012 training times and the online registration form are available at Safe Place.

Published in Tech Today

The President’s Council of Alumnae and the Michigan Tech chapter of the Society of Women Engineers are bringing 10 successful women to campus for Ignite Night at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in the Memorial Union Ballroom. There will be a question-and-answer session, refreshments and a chance to chat informally with the speakers after the program. The event is free and everyone is welcome.

Oil company vice presidents, automotive engineers, geologists, professors and other female leaders in their fields will talk about the challenges they’ve faced and how they’ve handled them.

Speakers include Colleen Cervantes, vice president of product supply and trading for Chevron; Diane Doser, professor of geological sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso; Birgit Sorgenfrei, a professional engineer at Ford Motor Co.; Patricia Henderson, president of Cygany Inc.; Shanon Lemke, a senior geologist at Vitruvian Exploration II; Marilyn Clark, CEO of the Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation SmartZone; Christine Manninen, director of the Great Lakes Commission’s Great Lakes Information Network; and Lee Rouse, president and CEO of Omni Tech International.

Their topics include: “What I Wish I had Known at the Beginning of My Career”; “From Wallflower to Sunflower–Why Networking is Important, Even for Shy People”; “Why You Don’t Need to Know What You Want to Be When You Grow Up”; “Communicate Early and Often”; and “Putting Your Best Foot Forward.”

Published in Tech Today

The National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity.  The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.

Sponsored Program Enhancement will offer a seminar/workshop series to mentor students in developing competitive applications.

All sessions are from 12:00 to 12:50 and are located in the Pat Nelson Graduate Conference Center on the fourth floor of the Administration Building.  Please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) with any questions. Feel free to bring your lunch!

September 13th  “Overview of Different Funding Opportunities and Resources for Domestic and International Students”

Dr. Jodi Lehman, Coordinator of Proposal and Fellowship Development, Sponsored Program Enhancement (SPE)

• Why apply
• Eligibility and Benefits of Diverse Funding Opportunities
• Resources for finding funding
• Resources for developing competitive application material

September 20th  “Pulling Together Competitive NSF GRFP Application Material”

Dr. Jodi Lehman, Coordinator of Proposal and Fellowship Development, SPE

• Broader Impacts and Intellectual Merit
• The Personal Statement: A 5 point elevator speech
• Previous Research Experience: Thinking outside the traditional lab experience
• Proposed Plan of Research: A template for success
• Exceptional Letters of Recommendation

September 27th   “Harness Your Brilliance: A Revision Process”

Mark Hopkins, NSF Fellow (awarded fellowship after second submission and tons of hard work) and PhD Candidate

Kara Sokol, Director of Integrated Marketing, University Marketing and Communication

• Why start early
• Who needs to be involved in the revision process
• Writing strategies and revision processes that worked

Tentative: October 4th   “An Insider’s Perspective on the Review Process”

Dr. Debra Charlesworth, Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School for Professional Development, Biomedical NSF GRFP Panel Chair

• Understand the review process
• High impact tips to make your reviewer happy J

October 11th   “Broader Impacts…huh?”

NSF GRFP Reviewer and Tech Alumni, Dr. Caryn Heldt

• How to address broader impacts
• What activities and projects reflect clear interdisciplinary initiatives or implications, benefits to society, engagement with diverse groups, strong collaborations and partnerships, current and consistent outreach, ability to publish and present and future plans to do so.

October 18th or 25^th “The Review Process”

Workshop: Gain a hands-on reviewer’s perspective and understand the importance of addressing the merit criteria – all in 45 minutes

TBA in early November “Mock Review”

Evening Workshop: Review applicant drafts while receiving feedback on your own drafts

The Graduate School is pleased to announce its summer seminar series, where graduate students can learn new skills in an hour.  Register online to reserve your seat and receive confirmation of the time and location.

MAY 16 | SUBMITTING YOUR THESIS OR DISSERTATION

• Learn how format a thesis or dissertation and submit it to the Graduate School

JUNE 6 | INTRODUCTION TO ADOBE ACROBAT

• Learn tips and tricks for using Adobe Acrobat to create a PDF of a thesis or dissertation

JUNE 20 | TECHNOLOGY FOR A PAPERLESS OFFICE

• Learn about current technology that can digitize notes
• Use the power of an iPad for research

JULY 10 | SECRETS TO SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH

• Join a panel discussion of faculty as they share their secrets to research success

For more information, email Debra Charlesworth in the Graduate School at ddc@mtu.edu

Attending the 2012 SACNAS National Conference in Seattle, Washington from October 11-14 is another way for you to expose yourself to incredible resources and the validating and inspiring environment of SACNAS where you have the unique opportunity to engage with science, culture, and community.

The deadline  to apply for a travel scholarship and/or submit an abstract is April 26th.  For more information about the national conference visit the SACNAS website.

Abstracts
Undergraduate and graduate students have the opportunity to present their research to a national audience of peers and professionals while practicing their presentation skills in a supportive and nurturing environment.

For more information visit: Student & Postdoc Research Presentations

Travel Scholarships
SACNAS offers travel scholarship awards for students to attend the National Conference.  The award includes round-trip airfare to/from Seattle, Washington and lodging through the conference dates.

For further details visit: Travel Scholarships

NOTE: Abstract submissions and travel scholarship applications are independent of each other. If you are interested in submitting only a travel scholarship you do not need to submit an abstract and vice versa.