This message from Dean Paul Goldbart, highlighting a new event series in Natural Sciences, went to college faculty, staff and researchers. It includes news about a Feb. 13, 2019 event for members of the Natural Sciences research community and colleagues in the Dell Medical School.
One of my priorities as dean is ensuring that, within the College of Natural Sciences, we are doing our part to support our scientists, mathematicians and technologists as they branch into research areas ripe for exploration with colleagues across UT. As I have heard from many of you already about your own research collaborations, as well as through newer efforts like the Vice President for Research's Bridging Barriers Initiative and Pop-Up Institutes, there is great value in going beyond our traditional disciplinary boundaries and partnering across campus.
In this spirit, I am introducing a new events series, called Cross-Cutting Conversations. The idea is simple. We will come together to enjoy a reception and company with fellow researchers, both from Natural Sciences and other units across campus whose work intersects with our own. At these gatherings, we shall also hear moderated conversations between leading players from different units, as they think broadly about emerging areas for research around a given theme.
In 2019, I have invited colleagues at the Dell Medical School to play a central role as partners on these events. Our first event will be an exploration of Frontiers in Brain Research, featuring Neuroscience Chair Michael Mauk, Neurology Chair David Paydarfar and moderator and Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology Alison Preston. This event will be held Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. here on campus in the Peter O'Donnell, Jr. Building's Avaya Auditorium. Please RSVP to let us know whether you will attend.
Faculty members, graduate and medical students, postdocs and staff from across CNS and DMS are welcome. Whether you study the brain directly or work in a field that follows brain research closely – from artificial intelligence to evolutionary biology – I encourage you to join us for what is sure to be a lively first conversation. I hope you also will attend a second conversation in April, when Natural Sciences and Dell Medical School faculty will embark on another important conversation about research. I look forward to being with you and hearing these cross-cutting conversations together.
