CAREER SYMPOSIUM

The First Annual NIH Career Symposium will be held Wednesday, April 9, 2008, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Natcher Conference Center.

Organized by the Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE), in collaboration with the Graduate Student Council, NIH Fellows Committee, and the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, the symposium aims to provide NIH trainees with solid information about career options across science and medicine and the opportunity to network with established professionals in these fields.

There will be 15 panel sessions—on scientific writing, education, grants administration, public policy, clinical job options, research-intensive careers, and careers away from the bench. Panel speakers include government science policy advisors, patent and grant directors, scientific consultants, medical directors of pharmaceutical companies, and university professors.

Skills workshops will address networking, leadership, and work-life balance. There will be ample time during lunch and at a reception after the event to interact with speakers (and practice networking skills).

The career symposium also marks the official opening of the Career Services Center in the OITE. The center has been in operation for several months (see The NIH Catalyst, Jan.-Feb. 2008) and is staffed by professional career counselors. It provides guidance on career directions, options, and self-evaluation, as well as assistance with interviewing, networking, and CV and résumé development.

All trainees and mentors are encouraged to attend the symposium. For more information or to register, visit the OITE website.

—Caroline Small

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) was formed to create a community for these students and to ensure that NIH has the resources this population needs.

Since the GSC was established in 2001, active membership has ranged from 5 to 8 percent of the graduate student population. The council has had the help of the Graduate Partnerships Program (GPP) in organizing retreats, symposiums, and career development activities; and more recently the NIH Fellows Committee (FelCom) and the Foundation for the Advancement of Education in the Sciences (FAES) have added their support.

Graduate students have been gaining experience teaching an FAES survey course on various laboratory techniques and are currently working closely with FelCom, FAES, and the GPP to expand teaching opportunities for both graduate students and postdocs. The GSC also offers new graduate students the option of pairing up with a student peer mentor.

Among newer developments are student-run scientific interest groups, a community service group, The GSC Chronicles student newsletter, a seminar series, and a recently crafted constitution that delineates the official duties of the GSC representatives and various committee chairs.

At a recent retreat, the GSC decided to create a student-financed budget and to focus on increasing graduate student community participation in GSC decision making, strengthening the relationship of the graduate student population to NIH as a whole, and resolving graduate program–specific conflicts.

To find out more about the GSC and upcoming graduate student–sponsored events and to read GSC meeting minutes and The GSChronicles, visit the GSC website.

—Vanessa McMains

The NIH Fellows Committee (FelCom) is sponsoring the 15th annual Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE 2009) competition.

Winners receive a $1,000 travel award to be used between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2009, to present their research at a scientific meeting. Every year, about 25 percent of FARE applicants receive this award.

Any fellow with fewer than five years postdoctoral experience is encouraged to submit an abstract. Pre-IRTAs doing doctoral dissertation work and visiting fellows not already tenured at a foreign institution are also eligible.

Mentors are encouraged to notify their fellows of this opportunity, which has a relatively painless application process and higher odds of success than most fellows’ awards.

Applications must be submitted electronically (March 14–April 14, 2008) at the "subcommittees/FARE" link of the new FelCom website.

Applications will be judged on scientific merit, experimental design, and overall quality and presentation. Winners will be announced by September 1 and are expected to present their work at the FARE 2009 awards ceremony and to serve as judges for the 2010 FARE competition.

Fellows, staff scientists, and principal investigators are encouraged to volunteer to serve as study section judges for one of the 50 study sections. For more information, contact one of your institute’s FelCom representatives, found at this website.

—Bobbie Ann Austin

The fifth international exposition for NIH visiting fellows will be held
Thursday, May 15, 2008, at the Natcher Auditorium.

FOREIGN SCIENTISTS AT NIH BY COUNTRY
(as of September 24, 2007)