Weekly PDA Newsletter-February 22nd, 2021

Mon Feb 22 11:50:08 EST 2021

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MITPDA Newsletter
February 22nd, 2021 | pda.mit.edu<https://pda.mit.edu/>

Contents

"Tough times don't last, tough people do"

NEXT PDA MEETING
March12th, 11 am on zoom<https://mit.zoom.us/j/92248667404?pwd=REF2aUNpUnQ5QVRBTHZ6ditYU2IrUT09>
This meeting is open to ALL postdocs. Please find time to attend to learn more about the activities of the PDA.

PDA & Other Events:

    Survey on Postdoc Housing

    Present a DE&I - Related Journal Article, get $10

    Join the PDA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work

    MIT LEAPS Program

    The next Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB) Boston-Area Postdoc Meeting

    Join the I-Corps Spark Program at MIT (January and February 2021 edition)

      A message from Ombuds

    -Social Events

    Saturday morning run

   -Career and Professional Development

    Entrepreneurship & Innovation Resource Roundup

    MIT European Career Fair (ECF) 2021

    Career Advising for Postdocs

    Check out the Catalyst 2021 webpage and program

    Call for Applications (Australia's Global Talent Program)

    Fund your event via PInG Grant

    Alpha Fellowship

    GLiMPSE Podcast

    More...

Funding Opportunities and Jobs

    An extensive list of fellowships is available here<https://pda.mit.edu/resources/fellowships/>

     Senior Research Associate position at Bolden Therapeutics

    Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program is now accepting applications

    Open Rank Faculty Positions at The University of Texas at Arlington

Miscellaneous

Please scroll down for details

PDA & Other Events

Survey on Postdoc Housing
Just a reminder to all MIT postdocs to take the Postdoc Housing Survey<https://mit.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5vTWoECwZceg67b> and be entered to win one of five $50 amazon gift cards!
The Postdoc Association Advocacy Committee is interested in learning about the postdoc community’s housing experiences in the Boston area with the hopes of identifying key issues that postdocs face relating to housing and relocation. This survey is postdoc-run and anonymous.

  *   Eligibility: MIT Postdocs (both Fellows and Associates)
  *   Survey takes 5-10 minutes to complete
  *   Open now until March 8, 2021

Present a DE&I - Related Journal Article, get $10
Have you read an interesting peer-reviewed article relating to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? Or have you always wanted to read more on DE&I? Consider presenting an article and joining the discussion in the PDA’s DE&I Journal Club! Presenters will receive a $10 gift card to the coffee shop of their choice. All postdocs are invited to attend, learn about relevant research and join the discussion. Past articles have looked at the importance of social support for women of color<http://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/00551c876cc2f027,6faa0b56537600ec,2ea054d60f12f515.html>,  self-affirmation activities<https://science.sciencemag.org/content/324/5925/400>, and bias in postdoc hiring<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-019-01052-w>, to name a few. The next meeting will be March 3rd at 9:30am, and every other Wednesday after that. Sign up to attend or present here<https://forms.gle/LhnAn5tZN8kQBsEJ8>.

Join the PDA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work
All postdocs are invited to join the PDA’s DE&I Committee<https://pda.mit.edu/resources/diversity/> monthly meeting to meet and work with other postdocs interested in the goals of DE&I. Our monthly meeting will be a place to discuss activities of the DE&I Committee, as well as share ongoing activities in different departments and outside of MIT. The next meeting will be held February 22nd at 4:00. A zoom link will be sent after sign up on this form<https://forms.gle/7efDgM7Efgf8mebn7>. The committee runs ongoing diversity - focused book and journal clubs which can also be joined via the same form. 

MIT LEAPS Program

Navigating science career journeys with LEAdership and Professional Strategies & Skills Training
Spring 2021 courses

Open to all Graduate Students and Postdocs at MIT, particularly for School of Science members
8.S396 & 8.S397 (listed as “Special Subject: Physics” -- long story, weird name, but it’s LEAPS!)

8.S396 for Part I -- Sharpen Your Professional Strategies & Skills (from Feb 16 to Apr 1, 2021)
8.S397 for Part II -- Developing Your Leadership Competencies (from Apr 6 to May 20, 2021)

Grad students: Register for the courses as for any other of your courses
Postdocs: Register by filling in this form: https://forms.gle/36S7kuc2WWDYLKTT9

In Spring 2020, a new course on leadership and professional strategies and skills was offered for the first time at MIT in the School of Science. In the past the SoS did not offer any such opportunity but it has been recognized that such training is vital for advancing graduate student and postdoc careers in academia and industry. A large variety of topics useful for all career choices together with interactive components and discussions are covered in this two-part course which will be offered again (online) in Spring 2021.

For more information, please see http://web.mit.edu/physics/mitleaps/
Or connect with the instructors mitleaps at gmail.com<mailto:mitleaps at gmail.com>

The next Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB) Boston-Area Postdoc Meeting

The SCGB hosts a Boston-Area postdoc/student meeting to bring together trainees interested in neural coding and dynamics to discuss ideas and data. You are invited to our next meeting, to be held virtually on Monday, February 22, 4pm Eastern. Event details below:

Tiago Marques
Postdoctoral Researcher, DiCarlo Laboratory
MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
What does the primary visual cortex tell us about object recognition?

Object recognition relies on the complex visual representations in cortical areas at the top of the primate ventral stream hierarchy. While these are thought to be derived from low-level stages of visual processing, this has not been shown, yet. Relating specific low-level properties to object recognition behavior is critical for modeling the primate ventral stream. In this talk, I describe the results of two projects exploring the contributions of primary visual cortex (V1) processing to object recognition using artificial neural networks (ANNs). In the first project, we evaluated hundreds of V1 models based on task-optimized ANNs in how their single neurons approximate those in the macaque V1. We found that, for some ANNs, single neurons in intermediate layers are indeed similar to their biological counterparts, and that the distributions of their response properties approximately match those in V1. Furthermore, we observed that ANNs with intermediate layers that better matched macaque V1 were more aligned with human behavior, suggesting that object recognition is in fact derived from low-level functional properties. Motivated by these results, we studied how the ability of a model to predict neuronal responses in V1 relates to its robustness to image perturbations. Despite their high performance in object recognition tasks, ANNs can be fooled by imperceptibly small, explicitly crafted perturbations, and solving this issue remains a major challenge in computer vision. We observed that ANNs that better predicted V1 neuronal activity were also more robust to adversarial attacks. Inspired by this observation, we developed VOneNets, a new class of hybrid ANN vision models. Each VOneNet contains a fixed weight neural network front-end that simulates primate V1, called the VOneBlock, followed by a neural network back-end adapted from current ANN vision models. After training, VOneNets retained high ImageNet performance, but were substantially more robust, outperforming the base ANNs and state-of-the-art methods on a conglomerate benchmark of perturbations. While current ANN architectures are arguably brain-inspired, these results demonstrate that more precisely mimicking just one stage of the primate visual system leads to new gains in ImageNet-level computer vision applications and can potentially improve current models of primate object recognition behavior.

Registration on EventBrite is encouraged but not required.<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-scgb-boston-postdocstudent-meeting-tickets-140441130201>
Zoom details:

https://simonsfoundation.zoom.us/j/93052539613?pwd=L25nMEpXVTJ0NzVCR2VjbmZ6RTNWQT09
    Passcode: 644989

Join the I-Corps Spark Program at MIT (January and February 2021 edition)
It is a free 3-week program organized to help researchers and engineers explore the potential applications of their new technologies. You will also learn how to apply for $50,000 from the NSF and increase your chances of receiving an SBIR/STTR award. If you are interested, click here <https://form.jotform.com/90114841105950>to apply.

    Below is the information about the next Program:

    Option 2:

    Program KickOff – February 9, 2021 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm

    Final Presentations – March 3, 2021 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm

    Option 3:

    Program KickOff – February 23, 2021 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm

    Final Presentations – March 18, 2021 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm

    Location for all options: Online Workshop via Zoom

For more information, contact: icorps at mit.edu

A message from Ombuds:
MIT Ombuds Office – Any Time, Any Reason
During these uncertain times everyone’s resilience is being tested in countless ways. From navigating the challenges of continuing to learn and work remotely with colleagues and peers under stress, to negotiating new ways of collaborating and communicating. The Ombuds Office is available to offer support and assistance to the MIT community in navigating these challenges and exploring constructive options for success. We are available for confidential phone or Zoom meetings and can also facilitate online sessions and group discussions to help teams function and support good communication skills during this challenging period.  Contact information: email kalina_s at mit.edu<mailto:kalina_s at mit.edu> or call 617-253-5921. More details here<http://ombudsoffice.mit.edu/>
SOCIAL EVENTS - stay connected
Saturday morning run:

To increase our sense of community, we are excited to announce that we are starting a morning weekly running event for postdocs every Saturdays at 9am.

The plan is to meet at 9 AM at 77 Mass Ave for a warm up and then we will go for a run around Charles river. All abilities are welcome. We will form groups ranging from beginners to experienced runners.
After the run, for those of you willing to join us, we will go to Flour in Mass Ave to have at-a-distance breakfast and a coffee.

Please join our Facebook group and mailing list to be updated:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/261187805334152/
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/postdoc-running

See you at the next morning run: February 27th, 9 am.

CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT – advance your career

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Resource Roundup

Wednesday, February 24th from Noon - 1pm ET.
Innovation and Entrepreneurship at MIT is an active, growing, and thriving community of students, faculty, staff, and researchers who believe I&E can make the world a better place. Dozens of campus organizations seek participants of all backgrounds to do their best work and help take their innovations from idea to world-changing impact. Resource Roundup brings many of these resources into one fun, virtual space. Pop in to this casual event to chat one on one and learn about the many innovation and entrepreneurship resources available on campus: classes, sources of funding, mentoring programs, maker-spaces, prize competitions, and more.
Enter the event here: https://mitii.news/resourceroundup

MIT European Career Fair (ECF) 2021

You are invited to attend the MIT 25th ECF. This event is organized by the MIT European Club with the mission to connect top-tier US students and young professionals with European companies, universities and non-profit organizations and to generally inform about career opportunities in Europe.

Details of this event can be found here<https://euro-career.mit.edu/#!/>.

Date: February 25th 2021

Time: 8am-3pm ET

Register here<https://app.brazenconnect.com/events/pPl28>.

Career Advising for Postdocs

Postdocs are eligible for virtual one-on-one career counseling appointments to talk about a wide range of topics including career exploration, conducting a job search (academic or non-academic), review of application materials, practice interviews, advice on job offer negotiations, and any other questions or concerns.

You can schedule an appointment<https://app.joinhandshake.com/appointments/new> via video or phone by using Handshake, under the Career Center tab. Email Simona Rosu, srosu at mit.edu<mailto:srosu at mit.edu>, with any questions.

To receive updates on career and professional development workshops and events, please subscribe<https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/3SJMNHN> to the CAPD Postdoc Career Newsletter sent every two weeks.

Check out the Catalyst 2021 webpage<https://catalyst.mit.edu/apply/> and program and consider attending an info session, and share this information with anyone who might be interested. We seek a multi-talented cohort of individuals with interest and willingness to spend time in research, innovation, and health including engineers, scientists, clinicians, designers, entrepreneurs, MBAs, early-stage professionals, postdocs, fellows, graduate students, clinical, and other professional degree candidates, etc.
Call for Applications (Australia's Global Talent Program)
Australia’s Global Talent Program seeks to support the international mobility of highly talented individuals, innovators and entrepreneurs. The program is designed to accelerate growth in seven future focused STEM target sectors. It offers a streamlined visa pathway with permanent residency on grant of visa!
Benefits include:
·         Priority processing – complete applications can be processed within one month
·         No age limit – the Distinguished Talent visa is flexible enough to allow for exceptionally talented people over the age of 45 years to be considered under the Global Talent Program
·         Live and work anywhere in Australia
·         Bring immediate family to live in Australia permanently
In addition to the flyer, more information about the program can be found here:  Global Talent Program<https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/visas-for-innovation/global-talent-independent-program>
For more information, you can contact Justine Miller at The Embassy of Australia, Washington DC via email Justine.Miller at dfat.gov.au<mailto:Justine.Miller at dfat.gov.au>
Fund your event via PInG Grant
Got an idea to enrich our community? We have funds to help you put it to life. Apply here<https://pda.mit.edu/events/ping/>

<http://glimpse.mit.edu/>Alpha Fellowship

Alpha Fellowship<https://www.alphafellowship.com/?utm_source=direct-outreach&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=launch-planning> is an online education company that provides college students with accelerated, applied training programs in high-demand skills that companies are hiring for — then we connect students with those companies for remote externships during the winter term break. Check out their full range of courses<https://www.alphafellowship.com/courses>.

GLiMPSE Podcast<http://glimpse.mit.edu/>

Listen to GLiMPSE, a PDA-supported postdoc podcast, that hosts renown scientists.

Click here to view<http://glimpse.mit.edu/> recent podcasts.

more…<https://pda.mit.edu/events/calendar/>

Funding Opportunities and Jobs

An extensive list of fellowships is available here<https://pda.mit.edu/resources/fellowships/>

Senior Research Associate position at Bolden Therapeutics

Bolden Therapeutics is a preclinical stage biotech company developing first-in-class therapeutics to treat Alzheimer’s disease and other CNS disorders. Our technology is centered around promoting adult neurogenesis, the endogenous formation of new neurons from neural stem cells in the adult brain. We have identified a novel signaling pathway that can be manipulated to increase adult neurogenesis and improve hippocampal-dependent memory in vivo.

Bolden Therapeutics seeks a highly motivated Senior Research Associate to join their team for a February start date. Research will be performed at LabCentral in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA. This is an opportunity for a reliable and self-motivated person to participate in cutting edge therapeutic development. Primary responsibilities are to design and conduct experiments using molecular and cellular biology approaches. Specific duties are to establish and perform cell-based screening assays.

Requirements

·                PhD or 5+ years of molecular biology and tissue culture lab experience

·                Must be able to work independently and productively within a dynamic,

shared research facility

·                Must be highly organized and document all experiments and results

appropriately

·                Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills

·                Previous industry (biotech/pharma) experience is preferred

LabCentral is a state-of-the-art, shared research facility with extensive amenities, including a kitchen and an open-plan communal space to facilitate interaction with other LabCentral members.

Interested?

If you are excited to get in on the ground floor of a biotech exploring a novel approach for treating neurological disease in an exciting, state-of-the-art work environment, please send your cover letter/CV to jpage at boldentherapeutics.com

Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program is now accepting applications.

The Intelligence Community (IC) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program offers scientists and engineers from a wide variety of disciplines unique opportunities to conduct research in a wide range of topics relevant to the intelligence community. The research is conducted by the postdocs, while working in partnership with a research advisor and collaborating with an advisor from the Intelligence Community. In partnership with the research advisor, the postdoc composes and submits a technical proposal that responds to a research opportunity identified here<https://orise.orau.gov/icpostdoc/current-opportunities.html?utm_source=oraulistserve&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=ic_gen>.

Award Details:
·         Annual stipends range from $75,000 to $79,000, depending on research location.
·         Annual travel budget of up to $6,000
·         Appointments for two years, and option to extend for a third year
·         Host institutions receive an annual laboratory budget of up to $5,000.
·         Research advisors receive a $10,000 stipend and an annual travel budget of up to $2,000.

Postdoc Eligibility: U.S. citizenship required; Ph.D. received within five years of the application deadline

Application Deadline: February 26, 2021

Click here<https://orise.orau.gov/icpostdoc/#utm_source=oraulistserve&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=ic_gen> for additional program information.

Open Rank Faculty Positions at The University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) would like to reach out to let you know that the University is pursuing a University-wide endeavor to recruit the best talent from a wide variety of disciplines, from liberal arts to STEM. UTA is seeking 15 individuals from diverse backgrounds and who will commit to mentoring our diverse student body.  The Biology Department at UTA is a dynamic, growing department with a diverse range of research interests. The Department has had much success in obtaining grants from numerous agencies, including the NIH and NSF.

Because this search is University-wide for all disciplines, the Biology Department will evaluate its own applicants and make suggestions to the search committee, which is composed of individuals from across campus. If you decide to apply, please also send a copy of your application materials to the Biology Department at: mkfujita at uta.edu. The link to the job posting and instructions for applying is below:
https://uta.peopleadmin.com/postings/12931<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttps-3A__uta.peopleadmin.com_postings_12931%26d%3DDwMFAw%26c%3DJeTkUgVztGMmhKYjxsy2rfoWYibK1YmxXez1G3oNStg%26r%3Dczh7v9lsi4EdqVtoagNSWVOnGM1kEORv_kwEo2ZQVww%26m%3DM5bV2a8qEzUrixdBwfo2VGN89OaeZVMoMK8nwK8yezA%26s%3Dga6lfUcpTVmiu6hUCS-iFjdqJbC5Q-QNRBD42dGS178%26e%3D&data=04%7C01%7Cpiya.ghose%40uta.edu%7Cca9c8aeb379a47463ade08d885b3e604%7C5cdc5b43d7be4caa8173729e3b0a62d9%7C1%7C0%7C637406355089521761%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=YWKuU6X5AWp3mMyrDB%2F%2F0wOzvKf23hno7WVtuPc%2BPAs%3D&reserved=0>

Get to Know Each Other
We would like to feature YOUR honors, awards and accomplishments. Send an email to atiamiyu at mit.edu<mailto:nbarbour at mit.edu>

Miscellaneous

A new book by Matteo Tardelli for PhDs/Postdocs transitioning to the industry or academia
Order here<https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H6QDX3M>

Broadening Engagement through Engineering at MIT (BEEAM)

Details here<https://pda.mit.edu/broadening-engagement-through-engineering-at-mit-beeam/>

Simons Collaboration on Global Brain Boston Area Postdoc Meeting

Details here<https://www.simonsfoundation.org/collaborations/global-brain/events/>

MIT Creative Arts Council

Postdocs are invited to attend concerts and lectures on campus, Details here<http://calendar.mit.edu/calendar?event_types%5B%5D=102755>

MIT Spouses & Partners Connect
Details here<https://spouses.mit.edu/>

Career Advising and Professional Development

Schedule an appointment here<https://capd.mit.edu/explore-careers/services-alumni-and-postdocs>

CAPD events<https://capd.mit.edu/events>

MIT Writing and Communications Centre
Details here<https://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/>

Peer-to-peer scientific communication resource: Comm Lab
Details here<http://mitcommlab.mit.edu/find-comm-labs/>

MIT Work Life Centre
Details here<https://hr.mit.edu/worklife/center>

MIT Employee Resource Group
Details here<https://hr.mit.edu/diversity-inclusion/ergs>

MIT Alumni Association’s Infinite Connection
Details here<https://pda.mit.edu/resources/career-after-mit/alumni/>
MIT Alumni Job Board<https://alum.mit.edu/careers/jobs>

MBTA Access: Visit the Atlas Service Center (E17-106)

Free Membership to the National Postdoctoral Association

Details here<https://www.nationalpostdoc.org/general/register_member_type.asp?regkey=B87D7B9B-5C95-48F6-9ECA-A5014531B05D>

MIT Postdoctoral Association
Contact us<https://pda.mit.edu/about/contact/> | Get involved!<https://pda.mit.edu/about/get-involved/>

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