|
Deadline for applications for the position of Executive Director for the Genetics Society of America is August 1, 2011. To review responsibilities and qualifications, please see the ad at the link above. For more information on GSA, please see our website. Please pass this information along to colleagues who would be interested in this position.
G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, the GSA’s new open-access journal launched in June, is accepting manuscript submissions. G3 publishes high-quality foundational research and experimental resources in genetics and genomics. G3 provides full access to research data as well as article-level links to genes and other objects in model organism databases. Rapid peer review and fast time-to-publication ensure that manuscripts are handled quickly and fairly. Be sure to check out the latest issue!
The website for the 53rd Annual Drosophila Genetics Conference is now live! Bookmark it for updates on registration, abstract submission, schedule of events, educational programming, and much more. The meeting will be held from March 7-11, 2012, in Chicago, Illinois. Applications are now being accepted for the Larry Sandler Award. Thesis advisors are encouraged to enter their students for this prestigious award. Abstract submissions will open on September 22.
The GSA e-News will be going on summer break! We will return with a new issue on August 24.
Policy
NIH Director Francis Collins provided a detailed breakdown of the rationale behind establishing the
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) in the July 6, 2011 edition of Science Translational Medicine. Collins states that the
foundational research surrounding medical problems is excellent, as are the premarket clinical trials. NCATS would be dedicated to improving the middle of the translational medicine pipeline, its mission to “catalyze the generation of innovative methods and technologies that will
enhance the development, testing, and implementation of diagnostics, therapeutics, and devices across a wide range of human diseases and conditions.”
The House Appropriations Committee has postponed the markup of the FY 2012 Labor, Education, Health and Human Services bill, originally scheduled for July 26, 2011, due to the unresolved issues surrounding the
debt ceiling. The bill includes the FY 2012 budget for NIH, which requested a 2.4 percent increase in funding. The
House Appropriations Committee did approve funding for the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill at
$6.9 billion, which is equal to the FY 2011 enacted level. This includes a $43 million increase for NSF’s basic research activities. The bill still needs to be approved by the entire US House of Representatives.
At a July 15, 2011 meeting of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a
U.S. National Academies panel charged with assessing the future of U.S. research institutions looked for feedback about “collaborative research programs with other components of the research enterprise (e.g., national and federal laboratories, federally-funded research and development centers, and corporate research laboratories.” The
Study on Research Universities committee, chaired by Charles Holliday, was looking for ways to accomplish this collaboration “without infringing on the quality of research environments and academic freedom,”
according to Eugenie Samuel Reich, reporting from the hearing via the Nature News blog.
Jeremy Berg’s last day as Director of NIGMS was July 12, and Judith Greenberg stepped in the following day as
Acting NIGMS Director. To read Berg’s farewell and Greenberg’s welcome, see the NIGMS Feedback Loop.
Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education has reported that libraries at several large institutions are
abandoning package deal subscriptions with publishers in response to the current economic climate. University libraries have been
renegotiating “Big Deal” contracts with publishers, and have so far limited their subscription cancellation to journals with little or no traffic. However, as university budgets continue to see decreases, there is some worry that this will begin to effect subscriptions to more widely-used journals. This can be
especially worrisome to STEM faculty, staff, and students, since science and engineering are “the fields with the most expensive journals.”
Other Meetings of Interest
Registration is now open for the 20th Annual International Genetic Epidemiology Society, September 18-20, 2011 in Heidelberg Germany.
Early registration is available until August 1. After that registration prices increase. For more information, see the link above.
|
|
|
July Issue
GENETICS
July Issue
|
|
Do you have a brief announcement to submit to GSA e-News?
E-news items include news about GSA members -- new position, book publication, awards or grants received and obits; short policy items; brief research news items and grant programs; and, award nomination announcements. Deadline for next issue:
August 17, 2011. Send items to Phyllis Edelman, pedelman@genetics-gsa.org
|
