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.

ASBMB advocacy town halls

The ASBMB public affairs team is hosting a series of public forums in September and October. These are meant to be highly interactive events, wherein the most dominant voices will be ASBMB members'. Please consider attending these virtual events and sharing your perspectives.

Sept. 29 | 2–3 p.m. EDT — Women in STEM and gendered challenges: Women in STEM face myriad challenges that can prevent them from succeeding in academic research careers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, women have been disproportionately burdened with childcare, elder caregiving and other domestic responsibilities. Early reports indicate that domestic and emotional labor disparities are affecting women scientists’ productivity, which is likely to have long-term effects on their careers. Tell us about your experiences so that we can make the case for policy changes to ensure gender equity in the sciences.

Oct. 6 | 2–3 p.m. EDT — The pandemic's impact on non-COVID research: Non-COVID-19 research has taken a back seat during the pandemic as scientists scramble to better understand the Sars-CoV-2 virus and develop therapies and vaccines. But it remains important for the scientific community to strongly advocate for sustained investment into non-COVID research. Share your experiences and perspectives to help inform our policy solutions to sustain non-COVID-19 research.

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. 30 — Phospholipases and disease

• Structure of phospholipase Cε reveals an integrated RA1 domain and previously unidentified regulatory elements
  Angeline Lyon, Purdue University
• Phospholipase D1 ablation disrupts mouse longitudinal hippocampal axis organization and functioning
  Tiago Gil Oliveira, University of Minho

Oct. 7 — Signaling to lipids in flies and worms

• Innate immune signaling in Drosophila shifts anabolic lipid metabolism from triglyceride storage to phospholipid synthesis in an ER stress-dependent manner
  Brittany Alexandra Martinez, University of Virginia
• Olfactory specificity regulates lipid metabolism through neuroendocrine signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans
  Sena Mutlu, Baylor College of Medicine

Oct. 14 — Lipids in viral infection: part 2

• A global lipid map defines a network essential for Zika virus replication
  Fikadu Tafesse, Oregon Health & Science University
• β-coronaviruses use lysosomal organelles for cellular egress
  Nihal Altan Bonnet, NIH/NHLBI

Sept. 30: Deadline for Ben Barres Fellowship applications

The Ben Barres Fellowship provides $2,000 to $5,000 for professional-development activities to trans, intersex, and nonbinary graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in STEM fields. According to the website, "Examples of eligible purposes include research support; conference/workshop attendance, or research travel; equipment/supplies; research assistant or translation services; and/or other professional uses." Learn more.

Sept. 30: "COVID-19 Science & Coverage" webinar series

The National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing are hosing a free virtual series on Wednesdays starting Sept. 30. The website says: "Topics will include an analysis of COVID-19 coverage thus far, the challenges scientists and science writers face as the pandemic and politics converge, and how COVID affects children, families, and college students." The Sept. 30 even is titled "The politics of the pandemic" and will be moderated by FiveThirtyEight.com's Maggie Koerth. Learn more.

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. 

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.

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

Oct. 19:Talk by Ilya Levental at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Oct. 19: Talk by Aurélien Roux at the University of Geneva

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.

Women in STEM series

The ASBMB student chapter at Texas Weslayan University is running a series of webinars during September and October featuring women in STEM careers. The lineup is as follows. RSVP to get the webinar links emailed to you.

Oct. 13: Terri Kane, associate professor of nurse anesthesia and program director at Texas Wesleyan University

Oct 20: Viola Denninger, lead application scientist (clinical) at Fluidic Analytics

Oct. 15: Deadline for Women in STEM²D award

Johnson & Johnson is seeking applicants for its 2021 Women in STEM²D Scholars Award for assistant or associate academic professors. According to a press release, "For three years, each recipient will receive mentorship from leaders at Johnson & Johnson and a total $150,000 ($50,000 each year)." The deadline to apply is Oct. 15. 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.

Nov. 1: Register for ABRCMS virtual meeting

The Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students will be held virtually Nov. 9–13. Though organizers are no longer accepting abstracts for presentations, you can still register to attend through Nov. 1. See the schedule. See the plenary speaker lineup. As usual, the ASBMB will be an exhibitor at the meeting. We hope you'll stop by our virtual booth!

Dec. 1: Grants for grad students with disabilities

The Foundation for Science and Disability gives out $1,000 grants to disabled fourth-year undergraduates who've been accepted by a graduate program and to students already enrolled in graduate programs. The Science Student Grant Fund is meant to support work on a project or thesis. You can use the grant, for example, to gain access to assistive devices or otherwise facilitate your work. Learn more.