Big Data training and symposium

The Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) and Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) programs, both initiatives of the NIH Common Fund, announce their 2018 Summer Research Training Program in Biomedical Big Data Science. This is a research intensive, ten-week training for undergraduate and graduate students starting June 4, 2018. Applications are due on February 1st. For more information on how to apply, and to see past training fellows and their research projects, see the Training and Outreach page of the BD2K-LINCS website.

BD2K-LINCS also announces the 2018 Data Science Symposium, January 31-February 2, 2018, in sunny Miami, Florida. This year's topic is "Studying Systems Biology by Cellular Perturbations". For more information on the symposium, see their News and Events page.

Undergraduate research doesn't just benefit students...

...It also benefits universities, and science knowledge in general. So say David Rovnyak and George Shields in an Inside Higher Ed article entitled, "How Undergraduate Research Drives Science Forward":

Some in the scientific community have a skeptical view of undergraduate research. They may not doubt the benefits it offers students, but for true scientific innovation, it’s best to leave that to the flagships.

Such biases could not be more misguided.

Focusing mainly on PUIs (Primarily Undergraduate Institutions), Rovnyak and Shields explore the advances made, and prejudices suffered, by undergraduate researchers.

NIH will require eRA Commons IDs for students starting 10/1

For the purposes of project reporting, the NIH will be requiring that any graduate or undergraduate student participating on an NIH-funded project for one month or longer must have an eRA Commons username. Please contact our office to set up usernames for any students appearing in your report that need them.

Please also advise your students that since they'll potentially have these accounts for the entirety of their research careers, they may not want to use irreverent handles such as "labrat4lyfe" or "I_can_haz_neuroscience?"