CNS Faculty Speaker Series

Moving fast on a sinking ship: COVID-19 and the democratization of diagnostics.

Dr. Andrew Ellington, Professor of Molecular Biosciences

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Organized for CNS students by CNS students

UT is a hub of exciting science research, but taking stock of all that the university offers, and connecting with those opportunities on campus as an undergraduate student, can be unimaginably difficult. Research can feel like this unapproachable facet of STEM education that we want to partake in but find the barriers to entry exceedingly high. This lack of connection disheartens faculty as well. Thus, TIDES presents to you the CNS Faculty Speaker Series!

The Speaker Series aims to lower the gap in science communication amongst practicing and aspiring scientists, reminding you that our professors are people too. As the scientific problems we face grow more complex, we hope the seminars energize your interest in multidisciplinary STEM education — the solutions you’ll build one day will draw from countless subfields, many of which you might even learn exist from this series.

That’s why the talks are set up to mirror conversations more so than presentations; TIDES wants to keep it fun, digestible, and succinct (they’re only 50 minutes!). They might even help you answer questions you never even knew to ask, from “What does academic research actually look like?” to “How did my professors end up as professors?”

COVID-19 has made building connections that much harder, and TIDES hope the seminars this semester offer moments of levity, however fleeting. You’ll get to hear about how professors fell in love with their respective fields, successes and failures through their journeys, and the complexity of the research enterprise as a whole. Most importantly, you’ll leave more informed and well-equipped to handle all the challenges your future research career throws your way, knowing that you have an entire community of fellow scientists behind you.

You can contribute ideas and speaker suggestions for this series:
This series is organized and designed to be managed by students in CNS. If you have ideas for how to build this series, suggestions for future speakers, or would like to participate in its management, please email Rose at tides@cns.utexas.edu.