Calendar of events, awards and opportunities

Every week, we update this list with new meetings, awards, scholarships and events to help you advance your career. If you’d like us to feature something that you’re offering to the bioscience community, email us with the subject line “For calendar.” ASBMB members’ offerings take priority, and we do not promote products/services. Learn how to advertise in ASBMB Today.

May 2: Funds for grad students and postdocs

The Genetics Society of America's DeLill Nasser Award for for Professional Development in Genetics "supports geneticists in their graduate or postdoctoral career stages by subsidizing participation in conferences and laboratory courses." The prize (up to $1,000) can be used for attending virtual or in-person events. Applicants must be members of GSA. Learn more.

May 4: DOE grad student award application deadline

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science Graduate Student Research program is accepting applications until May 4. The program supports U.S. graduate students seeking to conduct part of their thesis research at a DOE national lab or host site with a DOE scientist. The program is open to Ph.D. students who are conducting their thesis research in targeted areas of importance to the DOE Office of Science. Learn more.

May 4: Screening of and panel discussion about film "Coded Bias"

The 2020 documentary “Coded Bias” explores biases embedded into technology. These biases affect the behaviors, outputs and consequences of countless devices, tools and digital spaces and often lead to or perpetuate inequity. Self-driving cars, facial recognition software, motion-activated appliances, job applicant screens and algorithms used for medical decision making — they’re only as good as the code that defines their functions. The film describes in chilling fashion numerous prejudicial and even dangerous outcomes caused by biases hard-wired into data-centric technologies, and it makes the case for systemic changes needed to safeguard users and hold the tech industry accountable. Interested? The ASBMB Women in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Committee is hosting a screening and virtual panel discussion at 4 p.m. EDT on May 4. Committee member Meghna Gupta will moderate, and Jeff Kapler and Marina Holz will be panelists. The link to access the film will be sent to all registered attendees two weeks prior to the event. (The film also can be streamed on Netflix.) Register.

May 6: Oral abstract deadline for gene expression meeting

This in-person meeting in Kansas City, Mo., will showcase the most recent insights into the cis-regulatory code, how cis-regulatory information is read out by transcription factors, signaling pathways and other proteins, how cellular diversity is created during development and how we can study this problem using cutting-edge genomics technology and computational methods. The meeting will simultaneously examine the problem from an evolutionary perspective: how cis-regulatory elements evolve, how regulatory variation affects gene expression and phenotypes, how these changes have shaped development and parallel evolution, and how noise affects regulatory circuits and their evolution. The abstract deadline for those who'd like to be considered for talks is May 6. The abstract deadline for poster presenters and the registration deadline is May 25. Submit an abstract. Learn more in this Q&A with two of the organizers.

May 6: Comments on women and COVID

The National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health has issued a request for information "on research gaps, clinical practice needs, and research opportunities to inform research priority setting at the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and/or long COVID and the health of women." Read the RFI.

May 9: O-GlcNAc meeting oral abstract deadline extended

This conference, to be held in person in Athens, Ga., will address the multitude of roles that the O-GlcNAc protein modification has in regulating nuclear and cytosolic proteins. It will bring together researchers from diverse fields to share their research, tools and experience in O-GlcNAc biology. The oral abstract deadline and the early registration deadline is May 9.  Submit an abstract. Learn more in this Q&A with organizers Gerald Hart and Lance Wells.

May 12: Symposium on women scientists' careers

The National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women’s Health is hosting its annual Vivian W. Pinn Symposium on May 12 to mark National Women's Health Week. The event will focus on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the careers of women in science. Learn more.

May 16: Abstracts due for ASBMB mass spec meeting

This five-day conference will be held Aug. 14–18 in person in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and online. It will be an international forum for discussion of the remarkable advances in cell and human protein biology revealed by ever-more-innovative and powerful mass spectrometric technologies. The conference will juxtapose sessions about methodological advances with sessions about the roles those advances play in solving problems and seizing opportunities to understand the composition, dynamics and function of cellular machinery in numerous biological contexts. In addition to celebrating these successes, we also intend to articulate urgent, unmet needs and unsolved problems that will drive the field in the future. Registration and abstract submission begins Nov. 1. Abstracts are due May 16. Learn more.

May 18: Quantitative cell biology webinar

The American Society for Cell Biology is hosting a webinar "about cutting-edge research and new methods in the field of quantitative cell biology" at 2 p.m. Eastern on May 18. Diane Lidke of the University of Mexico and Alex Mogilner of New York University will moderate. The speakers include Juan Caicedo of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Charlotte Kaplan of the University of California, Berkeley, and Chad Hobson of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus. Register.

May 19: Workshop on membrane protein design

The Protein Society is hosting a virtual workshop on emerging approaches in membrane protein design. It'll include presentations by Joanna Slusky of the University of Kansas, Anastassia Andreevna Vorobieva of the VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology, Sarel Fleishman of the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Patrick Barth of EPFL, who is also the event organizer. Register.

May 19: Building your professional brand as a Ph.D.

For the Versatile PhD's webinar series, career coach Tina Li will provide advice on launching and building your brand online and offline. Learn about the series.

June 1: NASEM event on reimagining science communication

The National Academies is hosting an in-person and virtual event titled "Reimagining Science Communication in the COVID Era and Beyond." The in-person event at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C., will be on June 1. The fully virtual version will be on June 2. Another in-person version will be held in Irvine, California. Here's how they describe the program: "Sessions will feature the latest evidence, insights, and promising approaches for addressing critical challenges facing science communication—communication inequities, political polarization, uncertainty, and misinformation. Together, panelists and participants will generate new ideas and make connections that will help move these ideas into action." Learn more.

June 1: Deadline to apply for ASBMB diversity scholarship

The Marion B. Sewer Distinguished Scholarship for Undergraduates offers financial support to students who demonstrate an interest in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology and enhance the diversity of science. Students whose social, educational or economic background adds to the diversity of the biomedical workforce or who show commitment to enhancing academic success of underrepresented students are eligible. The scholarship provides up to $2,000 toward undergraduate tuition costs for one academic year and can be applied to fall or spring tuition of the year following scholarship award notification. Up to ten scholarships will be awarded each academic year. Applications by individuals from underrepresented groups are encouraged, although all qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin. Apply.

June 16: Symposium on structural biology

The Oklahoma Cobre in Structural Biology at the University of Oklahoma is hosting its 10th annual structural biology symposium on June 16. Confirmed speakers include Hao Wu of Harvard University, Breann Brown of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Lorena Saelices of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Satish Nair of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Erica Ollman Saphire of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. Check here for details and to register.

 

June 29: ASBMB book club's first meeting

The ASBMB Women in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Committee has launched a book club focused on gender equity for ASBMB members. The first book up for (virtual) discussion will be “What Works: Gender Equality by Design” by Iris Bohnet. Save the date: 2 p.m. Eastern on June 29. (Link to come!) Karlett Parra of the University of New Mexico and Susan Baserga of Yale University will lead the discussion. The next meeting will be about “The No Club: Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead-End Work” by Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund and Laurie Weingart. Register.

July 10: Deadline for papers about open science policies

The Journal of Science Policy & Governance, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Major Group for Children and Youth announced in February a call for papers for a special issue on "open science policies as an accelerator for achieving the sustainable development goals." The deadline for submissions is July 10. To help authors prepare their submissions, the group will be hosting a series of webinars (April 8 & 29, May 20, and June 10) and a science policy paper-writing workshop (March 26–27). Read the call for submissions and learn more about the events.

July 15: Deadline to apply for Colorado PRIDE–AGOLD program

Head to beautiful Denver, Colorado, for a summer experience as a PRIDE (Programs to Increase Diversity Among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research) scholar. PRIDE is an initiative of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute that trains junior faculty from underrepresented backgrounds and/or with disabilities to advance their scientific careers and make them more competitive for external research funding. The University of Colorado PRIDE (led by Sonia C. Flores, who also leads the ASBMB Minority Affairs Committee) is one of nine national PRIDE sites. Its focus is on the "impact of ancestry and gender on omics of lung and cardiovascular diseases" (which is why it's called PRIDE–AGOLD). The program consists of two consecutive summer institutes (two and one week, respectively) that offer comprehensive formal instruction on multi-omics, data sciences and bioinformatics, with an emphasis on interpretations based on ancestry and/or gender; career development and grant-writing tools; pairing with expert mentors; and pilot funds to develop a small research project. Learn more.

July 14: Oral abstracts due for transcriptional regulation meeting

This in-person meeting will be held Sept. 29 through Oct. 2 in Snowbird, Utah. Sessions will cover recent advances and new technologies in RNA polymerase II regulation, including the contributions of non-coding RNAs, enhancers and promoters, chromatin structure and post-translational modifications, molecular condensates, and other factors that regulate gene expression. Patrick Cramer of the Max Planck Institute will present the keynote address on the structure and function of transcription regulatory complexes. The deadline for oral presentation abstracts is July 14. The deadline for poster presentation abstracts is Aug. 18. Learn more.

Aug. 2: Abstracts due for epigenetic regulation and genome stability meeting

Most meetings on epigenetics and chromatin focus on transcription, while most meetings on genome integrity include little attention to epigenetics and chromatin. This conference in Seattle will bridge this gap to link researchers who are interested in epigenetic regulations and chromatin with those who are interested in genome integrity. The oral and poster abstract deadline and early registration deadline is Aug. 2. The regular registration deadline is Aug. 29.  Learn more.

Call for virtual scientific event proposals

The ASBMB provides members with a virtual platform to share scientific research and accomplishments and to discuss emerging topics and technologies with the BMB community.

The ASBMB will manage the technical aspects, market the event to tens of thousands of contacts and present the digital event live to a remote audience. Additional tools such as polling, Q&A, breakout rooms and post event Twitter chats may be used to facilitate maximum engagement.

Seminars are typically one to two hours long. A workshop or conference might be longer and even span several days.

Prospective organizers may submit proposals at any time. Decisions are usually made within four to six weeks.

Propose an event.

Take over the JLR Twitter account

If you are a graduate student, postdoc or early-career investigator interested in hosting a #LipidTakeover, fill out this application. You can spend a day tweeting from the Journal of Lipid Research's account (@JLipidRes) about your favorite lipids and your work.

IUBMB relocation support for displaced trainees

The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is offering $2,000 to graduate students and postdocs displaced from their labs as a result of natural disaster, war or "other events beyond their control that interrupt their training." The money is for travel and settling in. Learn more and spread the word to those who could use assistance.