Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Graduate Students and Postdocs in Science organization will hold its second annual Scientific Research Day on June 18 at the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences.
The free event will feature oral presentations and poster sessions. In addition, the George H. Boyd Keynote Lecture will be given by Athens native and UGA alumna Cornelia Bargmann, head of Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior at Rockefeller University in New York.
Bargmann,who received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from UGA in 1981, has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 1995. She is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
At Rockefeller, Bargmann serves as associate director of the Shelby White and Leon Levy Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior. Her studies focus on how the nematode C. elegans’s neural circuits develop, identifies the genes and neural pathways for its actions and investigates how sensory inputs regulate those circuits.
“This event will bring together members of the scientific research community here at UGA to exchange ideas and promote positive interactions between different scientific disciplines,” said Alecia Septer, GSPS associate executive chair and microbiology graduate student. “This is a great opportunity for participants to receive feedback on their own research from scientists who they normally would not interact with and can likely provide a fresh perspective and new ideas.”
Created in early 2009, GSPS provides a forum for graduate students and postdoctoral associates at UGA to prepare for science careers through professional development and networking opportunities. The organization has more than 260 members from 30 departments and six colleges.
In addition to its annual research day, GSPS organizes a yearly career symposium and hosts regular open forums to address topics ranging from balancing family and career goals to finding postdoctoral fellowships.
The keynote lecture is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Additional sponsors include the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, the Odum School of Ecology and the departments of chemistry, cellular biology, psychology, microbiology, biological and agricultural engineering, pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences, poultry sciences, and biochemistry and molecular biology.
Cash prizes will be presented to the best oral and poster presentations and a “Science Department of the Year” award will be given to the department with the most participation and awards.
For more information about GSPS or to learn more about the upcoming Scientific Research Day, see http://www.gsps.uga.edu.