Copy
Information for PRISM mentors and other science faculty about program activities and other events. Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

We wish you a wonderful holiday season and an enjoyable winter break!  This newsletter is full of dates and deadlines.  We thought you might have a little more time in January to devote to some of these items, so we wanted to make sure to give you all of the necessary information before break.  However, we understand the dates can be overwhelming so we will send you a reminder email in mid-January, just in case you aren't marking them all down yourself now.    See you in the New Year!
 
In This Issue:


Request for Proposals - $300,000 Available for Equipment

PRISM periodically makes money available to faculty mentors for the purchase of research equipment to be used in mentoring activities.  This year, we anticipate making up to $300,000 available with the expectation of funding between one and five proposals.  Click here for more information.  Applications are due by February 16 to Ed. 
 

Faculty Nominations for 2015 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher

Each year, PRISM looks to honor one of its students as the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher, to be announced at the Symposium, where that student will give an oral presentation of his/her research work.  In order to properly select the recipient, we need you to nominate your best student!  Please click here to review the nomination criteria.  It is imperative that your letter tells the whole story, even more so this year than in the past; an outside panel of judges will be utilized using only the letter and the student’s research most current research proposal.  Nominations are due by February 15 to Ed.

Some Dates to Know

December 22:
-  Veteran Student Mandatory PRISM Meeting
January 14:
-  PRISM Outing to Brookhaven National Lab
January 20-22:               
-  PRISM Research Training Workshop
January 28:               
-  Spring Semester - Classes Begin
January 30:               
-  Mentoring Plans Deadline to Submit
February 6:               
-  Deadline to Submit Mentor Bio and Picture for The Chronicle
February 11:               
-  Proposal Workshop for New Students
February 15:
-  Deadline to Submit Nominations for Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher
February 18:               
-  PRISM Monthly Meeting for Students
February 23:               
-  PRISM Sponsored Lecture - Pathologist
February 25:               
-  Spring Research Proposals Deadline
February 25:               
-  Mentor Meeting with Guest Speaker            
April 29:               
-  PRISM Symposium
 


 

PRISM Attends ABRCMS

The 14th Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) was held in San Antonio, Texas earlier this month (November 12-15). Twelve PRISM students attended, presenting posters about their scientific research at John Jay.



ABRCMS is one of the largest undergraduate research conferences in the United States, with more than 1,700 students presenting their research in about twelve fields in biomedical sciences. Our students presented their work in diverse projects (chemistry, toxicology, cellular and molecular biology, environmental sciences, and microbiology), showcasing the diversity of scientific research being performed at John Jay.

For a complete recap of the ABRCMS conference, additional pictures, and student accounts, please visit the PRISM website. 
 
 

"PRISM Wednesdays" Continue in Spring

This spring, PRISM will continue to hold monthly meetings, trainings, orientations, and many optional events during community hour on Wednesdays.  We have asked students to avoid scheduling classes, lab sections, tutoring appointments, work, etc. during that time so that they can be present.   We appreciate any accommodations you may make to facilitate this.
 
 

The Chronicle - Your Biographies and Pictures

The Chronicle, our annual PRISM magazine, highlights the great work you do with the students and it showcases your lab to prospective new ones.  Please send your profile text and photo to Eric at edillalogue@jjay.cuny.edu by February 6, 2015, using the guidelines linked here.  If you have an existing profile, you can either choose to reuse the existing text or to update it.  If you are a new mentor, please be sure to send us a profile and photo, even if you don’t have current students in your lab.  If you would like us to take your picture, just let us know!   

 

Mentoring Plans - Due Jan 30

Please submit your mentoring plans by January 30 to Ed in the PRISM office.  You may use this template if you wish, but feel free to edit or add to make it work best for your lab and students.  Please be sure to sign it before submitting. 
 
 

Student Research Proposals - Due February 25

February 25 is the deadline for PRISM students to apply for research funding for the spring semester.  We recommended to students that they take advantage of winter break to work on the proposals and to review them with you.  New students who will be trained in January may have time to craft and submit a spring proposal, provided that they get set up quickly with a mentor like yourself and work diligently after training.

On February 11, we will host a “New Student Orientation and Proposal Workshop” to go over the guidelines with students applying for the first time. Please help students to properly follow the updated spring guidelines and procedures for submission from the PRISM website.
 

February Mentor Meeting with Guest Speaker - Feb 25

Please recall that we will be having our next mentorship meeting on February 25, 2015 during community hour in room 05.66.01.  We will be joined by Dr. Joel Oppenheim, Professor Emeritus of Microbiology at NYU Sackler Institute to discuss the role of mentoring in STEM education.
 


 

Lab Shadowing Program - Running in January

This January, PRISM will be asking you to open up your labs to visitors as part of our lab shadowing program.  Partner CJA forensics majors, Macaulay Honors College students, and SSTEM scholars are among those eligible to participate.  Lab shadowing will pair your PRISM student researchers up with a visitor for about 3 hours to get a realistic experience in a research lab.  PRISM students are ultimately in charge of the shadowing experience but we appreciate your willingness to allow the visitors and to ensure only safe protocols are followed.    

As mentioned in the mentor meeting, upper level PRISM students may be required to host visitors as part of the new student mentoring plans required of us by our grants.
 
 

Recommend a Great Student to Be an MSRC Tutor

The Math and Science Resource Center (MSRC) is asking for your help to recommend students to apply to be tutors for the spring semester.  Many of you have personal experience with students in your courses or your labs and are in the best position to recommend them for these positions.  Science and math core courses are the subjects in greatest demand. 

MSRC tutors are paid positions and can be the ideal way for your students to fit in an extra “job” without impinging too much on their academic schedules.  You can recommend students directly to apply using this weblink.  Or you can email Michele Doney to give her the names and then she will reach out to invite them to apply.  The deadline to apply is January 8. 


 
Copyright © 2014 Program for Research Initiatives in Science and Math, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
PRISM, John Jay College
524 West 59th Street, Room 05.61.00
New York, NY 10019