OSU student research funding: The Office of Undergraduate Research is soliciting applications for the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and the Arts (URSA) program’s URSA-ENGAGE undergraduate research program from OSU students to do research with OSU professors in almost every college. Eligibility: OSU students in their first or second year, or transfer students in their first year at OSU. Funding covers either spring (up to $1000) or spring and fall terms (up to $1500). Opportunity descriptions and applications http://oregonstate.edu/students/research/. Questions: Kevin Ahern aherk@onid.orst.edu. Deadline: Feb. 11, 5 p.m.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) – Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) is soliciting applications from eligible colleges and universities located in the U.S. and its territories, nominating undergraduate students to participate in the NIST – SURF Gaithersburg or Boulder Programs. The programs will provide research opportunities for undergraduate students to work with internationally known NIST scientists, to expose them to cutting-edge research, and to promote the pursuit of graduate degrees in science and engineering.

Applications consist of two parts: (1) The student’s university must submit a grant proposal that provides details about its academic program and must nominate one or more students; (2) Students must provide copies of their transcripts, two letters of recommendation, and a letter of intent or personal statement.

The University Honors College (UHC) will take the lead in submitting proposals from Oregon State University (OSU). Please contact Kevin Stoller (kevin.stoller@oregonstate.edu) if you are interested in applying to the NIST – SURF Gaithersburg or Boulder programs.

Complete NIST – SURF information: http://www.nist.gov/surfgaithersburg/

NIST – SURF Deadline:  February 15, 2013

Here are some recent funding and other opportunities that have been announced.

NSF IGERT — Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship

The Research Office is requesting letters of intent from interested faculty for the National Science Foundation (NSF) – Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program.

Even though the official NSF request for proposals has not been posted, the Research Office would like to get in front of this opportunity.

Letters of intent submission deadline to the Research Office: Friday, March 1, 2013

Guidance for preparation of letters of intent may be viewed at

http://oregonstate.edu/research/incentive/integrative-graduate-education-and-research-traineeship-nsf-igert-program

NSF – Next-Generation National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NG NNIN) program.

The Research Office, Incentive Programs is requesting letters of intent .

Deadline to the Research Office, Incentive Programs: Monday, February 11, 2013

Guidance for preparation of letters of intent to the Research Office, Incentive Programs:

http://oregonstate.edu/research/incentive/nsf-ng-nnin

Office of Naval Research (ONR)

Summer Faculty Research Program and Sabbatical Leave Program

https://onroutreach-summer-faculty-research-sabbatical.com/

CLOSE:  Center for Latin@ Studies and Engagement provides summer research stipends.

Summer 2013 Faculty Research Stipends Applications Due:  Friday, February 22, 2013 by 12:00 p.m.

http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/content/centerforlatinostudies/for-faculty

CREATE:

NSF-Funded Professional Development Workshop Opportunity

http://www.teachcreate.org

This is an interesting faculty development opportunity to learn how to teach students using contemporary research articles.  If you have a journal club or would like to teach a course in this new way, you could take advantage of work this group has already done.  This may be a fantastic Broader Impacts opportunity.

Although the Department still prefers you work through contracted travel agents and the main office…

Please review the updated FIS Policy 411-01 Air Transportation.  This update allows travelers the ability to purchase airfare from non-contracted vendors without the requirement to obtain a quote from a contracted travel agent.

The Graduate School and Research Office are hosting a NSF – Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) workshop featuring Dr. Richard Boone, NSF Program Manager for IGERT.  The workshop will include a presentation by Dr. Boone on NSFs expectations for IGERTs and tips on how to meet these expectations, with plenty of time for discussion.  There will also be a strategy session that includes PIs and Co-PIs from former and current IGERT programs on developing and conducting successful IGERT programs.  A detailed agenda will be shared in advance.

Date:  Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Time:  9:00 am – 11:30 am

Location:  Memorial Union Journey Room

Advanced registration is requested so that we can provide appropriate refreshments, but not required. Please email Barbara Bond to register at  barbara.bond@oregonstate.edu.

For more information contact Barbara Bond.

Guidelines for NSF – IGERT letters of intent to the Research Office: http://oregonstate.edu/research/incentive/integrative-graduate-education-and-research-traineeship-nsf-igert-program

Letters of intent submission deadline to the Research Office: Friday, March 1, 2013

In addition to the special edition of the journal, his colleagues put on a scientific meeting to celebrate my birthday. This was a two day meeting in September at SOLEIL (the newest French synchrotron) devoted to “High-resolution spectroscopies of isolated species”. It was attended by many of his friends, including at least one former OSU graduate student (Michele Siggel-King) and a number of people who have been at OSU as visitors.

ELSPEC Article

Here is a collection of pictures from the event.

Residents near Chinese e-waste site face greater cancer risk

January 22, 2013

Chemist Staci Simonich examines a vial containing air pollutants at her lab at Oregon State University. (Photo by Tiffany Woods)

Residents living near an e-waste recycling site in China face elevated risks of lung cancer, according to a recent study co-authored by Oregon State University researchers.

Electronic trash, such as cell phones, computers and TVs, is often collected in dumps in developing countries and crudely incinerated to recover precious metals, including silver, gold, palladium and copper. The process is often primitive, releasing fumes with a range of toxic substances, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, a group of more than 100 chemicals.

PAHs, many of which are recognized as carcinogenic and linked to lung cancer when inhaled, were the focus of the study. Over the course of a year, researchers collected air samples from two rooftops in two areas in China. One was in a rural village in the southern province of Guangdong less than a mile from an active e-waste burning site and not surrounded by any industry. The other was Guangzhou, a city heavily polluted by industry, vehicles and power plants but not e-waste.

The scientists concluded that those living in the e-waste village are 1.6 times more likely to develop cancer from inhalation than their urban-dwelling peers.

“In the village, people were recycling waste in their yards and homes, using utensils and pots to melt down circuit boards and reclaim metals,” said Staci Simonich, a co-author of the study and a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology at OSU. “There was likely exposure through breathing, skin and food – including an intimate connection between e-waste and the growing of vegetables, raising of chickens and catching of fish.”

The researchers estimated that of each million people in the e-waste area, 15 to 1,200 would develop lung cancer on account of PAHs over their lifetimes, while the likelihood in the city is slightly lower at 9 to 737 per million. These approximations do not include lung cancer caused by smoking.

The study also found that the level of airborne carcinogenic PAHs exceeded China’s air quality standards 98 percent of the time in the e-waste area and 93 percent of the time in the city.

The study was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The OSU Superfund Research Program provided assistance for the study. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided funding for the study.

Eight researchers collaborated on the project, including OSU graduate student Leah Gonzales and scientists from China.

Author: Daniel Robison

Source: Staci Simonich

Link to press release

Congratulations to Oleksii Motorykin for winning the ACS Environmental Chemistry division Graduate Student Award!

Undergraduate Research Funding Opportunity: The Research Office is now accepting applications for the Undergraduate Research, Innovation, Scholarship and Creativity (URISC) program for Summer term 2012-13. This program supports undergraduate research activities from all academic disciplines within the University. Program description and application: http://oregonstate.edu/research/incentive/urisc. Information: Debbie Delmore at debbie.delmore@oregonstate.edu. Submission Deadline: Feb. 25.

At its December meeting, the OUS Provost’s Council approved OSU’s proposal to offer a Graduate Certificate in College and University Teaching. The certificate program will be effective Fall 2012.

This 18-credit hour graduate certificate is designed to provide advanced coursework and experiential learning opportunities to current OSU graduate students who plan to pursue careers in teaching and instruction in higher education settings or who plan to pursue careers that require similar skill sets in facilitation.  While seeking their respective degrees, OSU graduate students can now earn a credential that certifies their teaching and facilitation skills and thus confers advantage in competitive hiring environments. This certificate program is an important investment in the quality of undergraduate instruction at OSU as well as in the future of the teaching professoriate. Congratulations to all who developed and reviewed this proposal.

For more information, contact Dr. Brenda McComb, Dean of the Graduate School at brenda.mccomb@oregonstate.edu.