Be sure to keep up with the numerous events coming to the College of Natural Sciences.
Dear Students,
After many of you return from Easter travels we will be hitting the ground running. I often feel like Spring semester is so hectic because of preparations for graduations or making summer plans; one of the really satisfying things about spring, however, is the opportunity to pay tribute to all of you. So this is a week of celebrations. Highlights are:
- CNS Town Hall April 9 (Monday) 5-6pm in Welch 2.246
- Disease Detective Conference April 10 in SAC
- Entrepreneurial Forum April 12 1-4:30 in WEL and John Paul DeJoria Lecture 5:45 in LBJ Auditorium
- Undergraduate Research Forum April 13 11am-3pm in Welch Foyer
- CNS Honors Day, April 13, 7:30pm in the Erwin Center
- CNS Scholarship application deadline April 15
More details on each of these events is below. Best wishes for a very exciting week!
CNS Town Hall Monday April 9, 5-6pm in WELCH 2.246: The Natural Sciences Council student organization will host the next Town Hall Meeting for you to hear from and pose questions to the College leadership. Interim Dean David Laude will be present, as well as Karen Landolt, director of our Career Design Center, Dr. Sarah Simmons, Assistant Dean for Honors, Research, and International Study, and myself, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education. We value your input and look forward to these events. It is an opportunity for us to learn your views and engage in constructive discussions about real issues facing the college and university. Creating the kind of academic community capable of fostering student success requires everyone's constructive participation. I look forward to seeing you there.
Disease Detective Conference April 10th: Public Health is one of the newest majors in our college, and brings in the tools of biology and statistics toward quantitative analysis of the spread and impact of disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has sponsored this event for the 5th time (a one-of-a kind event in the nation), which will occur 12 pm - 9 pm on April 10th in the Student Activity Center. There will be 13 scientific presentations in the afternoon, a keynote address at 5 pm by Dr. Peter Hotez, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, and an Exhibit Hall featuring more than 30 exhibitors, top graduate schools of public health, the CDC, fellowships and career opportunities. A special presentation about Level 4 viruses by Drs. Joseph McCormick and Susan Fisher-Hoch will feature a BSL Level 4 suit. In addition, this year features lecture and activity about how to survive the Zombie Apocalypse. You can find out more at http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/diseasedetective/ or on FACEBOOK and TWITTER. All events and the copious food are free.
Entrepreneurial Research Forum April 12th: The first ever ERF will take place this week in Welch Hall. From 1-4:30 booths byt student orgs and programs and outside organization will showcase opportunities for students, 2-3:30 in WEL2.224 will be a panel of scientists from local tech companies, and 5:45-6:45pm will be a distinguished lecture by John Paul DeJoria, founder of Paul Mitchel hair products and Patron Spirits Company. DeJoria is a rags-to-riches example of how to turn ideas into entrepreneurship and today is an active philanthropist. To gaurantee a seat in this lecture, students should RSVP at this web site. More information about the event can be found here. A recent story on National Public Radio highlighted the challenges and excitement of scientists getting in to the entrepreneurial world, and even Gordon Moore (of Moore's Law fame and the founder of Intel) faced many challenges getting started. By getting started now, you'll be so much better off.
Undergraduate Research Forum April 13 in Welch Hall: Every Spring, the college celebrates its student-scientists at this one-day poster session. More than 150 students present posters describing their research. The best and most innovative posters and presentations are recognized with awards totaling $10,000. Posters will be judged and sponsored by the university, faculty, our alumni and scientists from industry. If you are curious what is happening in our college, or want to get a sense of what you someday could do for research, I encourage you to come, 11-3pm.
As Rex Tillotson, CEO of Exxon-Mobile recently wrote in the Dallas Morning News, students at the nation's leading universities will have the skills to take us in to the next century's economy by having the skills to research, innovate, and create new technology, and the integration of research in to education is one of the most important things a university can do. He even cites the leading example of his alma mater -- THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
CNS Honors Day April 13 7:30pm in Erwin Center: We'll be celebrating students at the CNS Honors Day ceremony will take place Friday April 13 at 7:30pm in the Frank Erwin Center, with the University-wide event to follow the next day. Students on the University Honor Roll, receiving College Scholarships, or CNS Book Awards will be invited to be recognized. Who are these students? They are the students who worked hard to figure it out. How to study, how to learn, how to get help from their peers and instructors, and how to overcome difficulty. Studying science and mathematics are challenging, and one of the things I always enjoy in speaking to these students is the collection of strategies they had to learn to get where they are, and meeting some of the friends and family that helped them along the way. All of us are invited to go and celebrate these students' accomplishments. It is a celebration of our College at work.
Scholarships: The online application for the 2012-2013 scholarships, which includes scholarships given through the Dean’s Office, Health Profession Scholarships and Out-of-State Tuition Waivers, and the Natural Sciences Council, are now available.
- Scholarships and tuition waivers from the Dean's office: Students can access the online application via our scholarship website. The deadline to submit both the online application and letter(s) of recommendation is April 15, 2012.
- The Natural Sciences Council will be accepting applications for the Natural Sciences Council Scholarship. Students meeting the academic requirements and who have also demonstrated leadership and service, especially to the College of Natural Sciences will be considered for scholarships for the 2012-2013 academic year. The application form is available here. The deadline for this scholarship is Monday, April 23, 2012 at 5:00pm.
Please contact Adrianne Chacon at adrianne.chacon@cns.utexas.edu with questions or concerns.
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