Chemical catalysts are the change agents behind the production of just about everything we use in our daily lives, from plastics to prescription drugs. When the right catalysts are mixed with the right chemical compounds, molecules that would otherwise take years to interact do so in mere seconds.

However, developing even one catalyst material to trigger this precise choreography of atoms can take months, even years, when using traditional wet chemistry procedures.

Astrid Müller, assistant professor of chemical engineering, and three of her PhD students–Ryland Forsythe, Connor Cox, and Madeleine Wilsey–describe in a Chemical Reviews article how using pulsed lasers in liquids can shorten the process dramatically, quickly creating carefully tuned, systematic arrays of nanoparticles that can be easily compared and tested for use as catalysts.

The students conducted an exhaustive review of almost 600 previous papers involving the use of pulsed lasers in liquids. As a result, the article is the most comprehensive, up-to-date survey of a technology that was first developed in 1987.

Read more.

This year’s Sawyer Seminar focus on “Unbordering Migration in the Americas: Causes, Experiences, and Identities” will be reflected in the Humanities Center’s work-in-progress workshops.

The annual workshops offer a space for faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students to present and receive feedback on their ongoing research in a supportive, semi-structured format. The goal this year is to “sustain a broader conversation on the Sawyer Seminar themes over the course of the academic year,” says Daniel McDonald, a Humanities Center postdoctoral fellow facilitating the workshops.

The workshops will be held one Wednesday per month, 12-2 p.m. in Conference Room D (Room 202) in the Rush Rhees Library.

The fall schedule:

• September 15: Daniel McDonald, postdoctoral fellow, Humanities Center, “Exodus: Mobility and Citizenship in Developmentalist Brazil.”
• October 13: Bethany Lacina, associate professor of political science, “Settlers and newcomers: When does migration lead to anti-government violence?”
• November 10: Jae-Un Kim, PhD candidate in political science, “Examining the Effects of Exclusion on Immigrant Assimilation Efforts during the Chinese Exclusion Era (1882-1943).”
• December 15: Justin Grossman, PhD candidate in history, “Shared Land, Shared Identity: Women’s Power and Leadership Among the Aquinnah Wampanoag Since 1862.”

Faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students of any social science and humanities discipline from all Rochester-area institutions of higher education are invited.

COVID permitting, lunch will be served. All participants are required to wear masks as per the latest University advisory. Contact Daniel McDonald for more information.

Meghan Underhill-Blazey, an assistant professor at the School of Nursing, and a nurse practitioner and member of Cancer Control and Prevention at the Wilmot Cancer Institute, who has been chosen as an American Academy of Nursing fellow.

The Academy is composed of more than 2,900 nursing leaders who are experts in policy, research, administration, practice, and academia.

Underhill-Blazey’s program of research focuses on building and implementing clinical innovations that transform the focus of cancer genetics from an illness model to a wellness focused model that directly responds to the needs of individuals and families. She has widely disseminated research findings both through publications and presentations and has served as the nurse scientist on multidisciplinary teams which have had national and international impact. Read more.

Facebook Fellowship for PhD students

A global program designed to encourage and support promising doctoral students who are engaged in innovative and relevant research in areas related to computer science and engineering at an accredited university.

Winners are entitled to receive tuition and fees paid for the academic year (up to two years/four semesters), a $42,000 annual stipend to cover living and conference travel costs, a paid visit to Facebook headquarters for the annual Fellowship Summit and various opportunities to engage with Facebook researchers. Deadline: September 20, 2021. Learn more

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Supports outstanding graduate students in National Science Foundation-supported STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution.

Deadlines:

• October 18, 2021 (Monday): application deadline for Life Sciences
• October 19, 2021 (Tuesday): application deadline for Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Materials Research, Psychology, Social Sciences, STEM Education and Learning
• October 21, 2021 (Thursday): application deadline for Engineering
• October 22, 2021 (Friday): Chemistry, Geosciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physics and Astronomy
• October 29, 2021 (Friday): application deadline for Reference letter

Website: https://www.nsfgrfp.org/

DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program

Prepares graduate students for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers critically important to the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science mission, by providing graduate thesis research opportunities at DOE laboratories. Applications are due November 10, 2021 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

Website: https://science.osti.gov/wdts/scgsr

Application Link: https://apps.orau.gov/SCGSR/Account/Login

In order for research to improve society, scientists must work effectively within an infrastructure of governmental funding, patent laws, and regulations to ensure adequate, evidence-based responses from government.

A workshop on “The Necessity of Science and Scientists in Policymaking,” from noon to 1 p.m. September 8 in the Class of ’62 Auditorium, will explore how science and scientists influence public policy through historical and current events, and how attendees can become involved in science policy, including through opportunities facilitated by the University of Rochester Science Policy Initiative (UR SPI).

The workshop will be hybrid via Zoom. Register here.

UR SPI is a group of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who are passionate about science and public policy.

The group organizes skill building events and workshops so that trainees can get hands-on experience with science policy. In addition, the group hosts seminars to facilitate discussion about science policy, better understand key issues that the nation and local government is facing, and provide an opportunity to explore different career paths.

Hiring your first employee as an early-stage investigator can be challenging.

In the second Rochester Early-Stage Investigator Network (RESIN) seminar, from 4-5:30 p.m. Thursday, September 23, a panel of representatives from Human Resources, University administration, the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI), and two early-stage investigators who have successfully hired their first laboratory and clinical staff members will answer your questions.

Topics will focus on:

• qualifications for an appropriate employee,
• how to create a job posting, and
• how to navigate the hiring process.

At the conclusion of the seminar, you will able to describe the pathway of hiring a new person for research at the University of Rochester Register here.

RESIN seminars are hosted by the UR CTSI and the Office for Faculty Development’s Junior Faculty Biomedical Research Association (JFBRA) at the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

The JFBRA is an academic peer group designed to serve the unique needs of early-stage Ph.D. and M.D. faculty to promote their success in scientific discovery, funding, publications, mentoring, teaching and service to the University of Rochester and the greater Rochester community.

For more information or to be added to the JFBRA distribution list, contact co-directors Elaine Hill, associate professor of public health sciences, and Homaira Rahimi, associate professor of pediatrics, or email faculty_development@urmc.rochester.edu

Are you looking to recruit undergraduates to participate in a research activity during the fall semester? The UR Office of Undergraduate Research in collaboration with RocLab (a student software development club) has created a new website called AURA that connects faculty research mentors with interested undergraduates using a simple and intuitive web interface.

AURA allows research mentors to easily advertise research opportunities and identify students that are best qualified for their projects.

Positions posted on AURA will be viewable on the Office of Undergraduate Research website and advertised on our social media platforms. AURA is expected to become the primary site that undergraduates will be directed to by the Office of Undergraduate Research when they are seeking research positions.

Explore how a history of racism has shaped the relationships between doctors/researchers and patients/research participants who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

In this free program, University of Rochester research faculty, trainees, and students as well as community members from local community-based organizations will learn that racism, and not race, causes health disparities.

Please register your interest in participating in the course by Monday, September 20.

If you have questions, email Laura_Sugarwala@URMC.Rochester.edu.