Calendar of events, awards and opportunities

Every week, we update this list with new meetings, awards, scholarships and events to help you get your ducks in a row. 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.

Aug. 31: Deadline for FASEB's BioArt competition

The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology is accepting submissions for its BioArt Scientific Image & Video Competition until Aug. 31. ASBMB members frequently win this contest, and we encourage you to check out these examples of past winners and to submit your own images/videos. Learn more about the competition: important dates and guidelines.

Aug. 31: Deadline for health disparities award

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities is accepting applications for the 2021 NIMHD William G. Coleman Jr., Ph.D., Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award through Aug. 31. The award supports one-year projects by intramural postdocs and staff scientists and clinicians. (In other words, you must already be an employee of the National Institutes of Health.) Learn more.

Sept. 1: Deadline for PROLAB travel awards

The Promoting Research Opportunities for Latin American Biochemists program allows Latin American graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to spend up to six months in U.S. or Canadian laboratories. Participants get access to technologies and expertise that may not be readily available in their home countries, allowing them to grow their skills and contribute to building capacity in the life sciences at home. Note that the deadline has been extended from this spring to Sept. 1.  Learn more.

The ASBMB Lipid Research Division was born from a grassroots discussion of broad concerns shared by all lipid research scientists. These included issues such as increased national and international visibility for lipid research and increased funding for lipid research. We invite you to join this community.

ASBMB Lipid Research Division Seminar Series

The ASBMB Lipid Research Division features the work of young investigators at noon Eastern on Wednesdays. If you are interested in presenting, please contact John Burke. Register once to access the whole series.

Sept. 9 — Lipids in viral infection

• Unexpected free fatty acid binding pocket in the cryo-EM structure of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein
  Christine Toelzer, University of Bristol
• Structures and distributions of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins on intact virions
  Zunlong Ke, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology

Sept. 16 — Lipids in autophagy

• Membrane characteristics tune activities of endosomal and autophagic human VPS34 complexes
  Yohei Ohashi, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology
• A PI3K-WIPI2 positive feedback loop allosterically activates LC3 lipidation in autophagy
  Chunmei Chang, University of California, Berkeley

Sept. 23 — Dynamic roles for lipids at membrane contact sites

• PDZD8 interacts with Protrudin and Rab7 at ER-late endosome membrane contact sites associated with mitochondria
  Yael Alon, University of California, Davis
• Phagolysosome resolution requires contacts with the endoplasmic reticulum and phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate signalling
  Roni Levin, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto

Sphingolipids in physiology and pathology

Christopher Clarke (Stony Brook Medicine), Giovanni D’Angelo (EPFL) and Liana C. Silva (Universidade de Lisboa) have organized a webinar series focused on sphingolipids, with support from LIPID MAPS and Avanti Polar Lipids. See the full list of webinars and register here. All are scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern. You can view past webinars here.

Sept. 7: "A tug-of-war: Flaviviruses and the hijacking of lipid pathways" by Fikadu Tafesse at Oregon Health & Science University

Sept. 7: "Sphingolipids and the unfolded protein response: The UPR activator ATF6 is activated by binding of dihydrosphingosine and dihydroceramide" by Maho Niwa at the University California, San Diego

Oct. 5: "Homeostatic and pathogenic roles of GM3 ganglioside" by Jin-ichi Inokuchi at Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University

Sept. 9–Dec. 9: Webinars about science policy jobs

The University of Cincinnati's student-run science policy group is has invited a bunch of speakers to talk about the work they do. The Sept. 9 speaker will be Chloe McPherson of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. You can see the rest of the lineup in this tweet.

Sept. 10: Deadline to apply for 2020 Stanford.Berkeley.UCSF Next Generation Faculty Symposium

Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Francisco, are teaming up to present a half-day symposium of research seminars by "exceptional early-career scientists in the broad field of quantitative biological and biomedical sciences, with a track record of research productivity and a demonstrated commitment to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion." The event was created to put tenure-track job candidates on the radar of hiring committees before faculty searches even begin. Here's how the event website describes it: "Our primary goal with this program is to dramatically increase the number of talented candidates in faculty search pools who not only demonstrate promise to become great scientists but who will also become the next generation of great professors." Postdoctoral researchers and late-stage graduate students are eligible to apply. The deadline for applications is Sept. 10. You can preview the application here.

Sept. 16–23: Free virtual science festival

Attendees of all ages are invited to SciFest All Access, produced by the organizers of the annual USA Science & Engineering Festival. There will be more than 100 virtual booths and activities, plus performances, recruiters and a scavenger hunt. Learn more.

Sept. 21–22: FASEB Research Conference

The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology has a virtual conference series that culminates with "The Cell Signaling in Cancer Conference: From Mechanisms to Therapy" Sept. 21–22. This conference is being organized by Claus Jorgensen at the University of Manchester, Donita Brady at the University of Pennsylvania and Natalia Jura at the University of California, San Francisco. (Jura recently won the ASBMB's inaugural Early-Career Leadership Award, which was established by the society's Women in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Committee.) 

Oct. 1: Deadline for IUBMB fellowships

The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has three fellowship programs — the Wood–Whelan Research Fellowships, the IUBMB Mid-Career Research Fellowships and the Tang Education Fellowships — and funding for educational activities. The deadline to apply for all of them is Oct. 1.

Oct. 5: Deadline for microbiology award

The National Academy of Sciences is accepting nominations for the Selman A. Waksman Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the field of microbiology and carries a $20,000 purse. Learn about the nomination process. 

Oct. 7: Deadline for DOE community college internship

The U.S. Department of Energy's Community College Internship Program places participants at labs at one of 16 agency locations to help kick-start their technical careers. There are three terms: summer, spring and fall. The agency is accepting applications for the spring term through Oct. 7. This is a paid internship. 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.