Dates and Program Highlights Announced for SCIENCE2009, Pitt’s Ninth Annual Science Showcase
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 5, 2009 – The essence of dynamic contemporary research will be the focus of the University of Pittsburgh’s ninth annual showcase of science and technology, SCIENCE2009-UNPLUGGED.
The program will be held Thursday, Oct. 15, and Friday, Oct. 16, at Pitt’s Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave., Oakland. Admission is free and open to the public. Registration is required, either on-site or in advance at www.science2009.pitt.edu.
“Discovering new, better, faster and more effective ways of sustaining our research with less in today’s climate of economic uncertainty is a challenge we all face—in achieving great science, in developing new technologies and in translating biomedical research into clinical practice,” said Arthur S. Levine, M.D., senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine. “We chose ‘Unplugged’ as the theme of this year’s event because it connotes a fundamental approach that will serve all of us well in responding to these challenges.”
The SCIENCE2009 program offers diverse events, including four keynote lectures by some of today’s leading scientists; spotlight sessions by more than 50 researchers and others from Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University and local industry; a showcase of new technologies developed on campus that are now available for licensing; research poster sessions; a professional development workshop for early career scientists; and some new highlights, including a special presentation to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy.
“The cross-campus appeal to our graduate and undergraduate students, as well as faculty from our diverse programs in the sciences, engineering, medicine, the other health sciences and computation, is one of the most significant aspects of this annual event,” said James V. Maher, Ph.D., provost and senior vice chancellor. “In fact, we’ve added a special poster session to showcase undergraduate research this year.”
Dr. Maher added, “This program always provides a wonderful opportunity to reach beyond our campus and to welcome other local academic and industrial scientists—as well as anyone interested in science—to come and share ideas and common interests.”
The full program of events for SCIENCE2009 can be found online at www.science2009.pitt.edu.
Highlights include:
Plenary lectures
- The Dickson Prize in Medicine Lecture, “MicroRNAs, from Model Organisms to Human Biology,” will be presented at 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, by Victor Ambros, Ph.D., Lasker Award-winning researcher from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
- The Provost Lecture, “Light and Energy, Mesoscopic Systems for Solar Power Conversion and Storage,” will be presented at 4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, by Michael Graetzel, Ph.D., leading scientist from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
- The Mellon Lecture, “Fifty Years of Solitude: A Circuit for Social Behavior in C. elegans,” will be presented at 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 16, by Cori Bargmann, Ph.D., molecular neurobiology expert from the Rockefeller University.
- The Klaus Hofmann Lecture, “How Do We Sense Infections? Toll-like Receptors and the Genetic Analysis of Innate Immunity,” will be presented at 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 16, by Bruce Beutler, M.D., well-known geneticist from the Scripps Research Institute.
Spotlight sessions
Twelve spotlight sessions will feature some of the latest science being explored by Pitt and Carnegie Mellon researchers. Topics include: What’s Up with Those Little RNAs?; Designing and Building Electronic Materials from the Ground Up; Applied Imaging—From Little to Large, From Slow to Super Fast; Smart Structures and Adaptive Systems; Evolution in Daily Life (Charles Darwin Beyond 200); Matrix-Induced Control of Growth and Differentiation; Behavioral Wiring—How Neural Circuits Develop and How They Generate Behavior; Molecular and Genetic Control of Animal Development; Bad Bugs—Diseases You Really, Really Don’t Want to Get; Innate Immune Sensing and Response; the Epigenome—Was Lamarck Right?; and Single Molecule Techniques.
Science at Work Sessions
In collaboration with industry and other organizations, the role of science in various community settings will be the focus of this year’s Science at Work Sessions. Topics include: the Genographic Project—Exploring the Human Family Tree; Service Science—Universities Collaborating on Essential New Skills and Research; the Essentials of Due Diligence and Commercialization; Inside Intel: Automating Causal Discovery in Artificial Intelligence and Science; Modern Science and Discovery of Scientific Information.
Technology Showcase
The technology showcase will feature a special display of more than two dozen new technologies recently developed by Pitt researchers that are now available for licensing. This event, organized by Pitt’s Office of Enterprise Development and Office of Technology Management, will be held in conjunction with the SCIENCE2009 opening reception at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 14.
Professional Development Workshop
This workshop, presented by the Office of Academic Career Development, Health Sciences and the University of Pittsburgh Postdoctoral Association, will provide practical input for early career science professionals in exploring job prospects. Following opening remarks at 8:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 16, by Maryrose Franko, Ph.D., of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, professionals from various science-related fields will facilitate interactive roundtable discussions.
Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy
As a special feature to mark the International Year of Astronomy, faculty members from the Department of Physics and Astronomy will present a program highlighting the secrets of stars, galaxies, and the cosmos. Weather permitting, this session, scheduled for 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, will feature real-time views of celestial objects in the mid-October night sky telecast from the University of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Observatory. As a preview to this event, starting at 7 p.m., a team of software engineers from Google Pittsburgh will demonstrate Google Sky Map, a new mobile phone application that allows users to point their phone up at the sky and see a map of the brightest stars, constellations and planets in their field of view.
Poster Sessions
Students, postdoctoral fellows, research associates and others will present posters of their recent research on the following topics: Basic Life Science—From Molecule to Mouse; Transitional Life Science—From Animal to Human to Community; Physical Science and Engineering; and New Research Tools and Techniques at 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, and Friday, Oct. 16. New this year will be an undergraduate research poster reception at 5 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, featuring undergraduate students’ faculty-mentored research in medicine, basic science and engineering.
Life Sciences Supplier Show
The SCIENCE2009 Life Sciences Supplier Show will feature laboratory equipment, consumables and supplies from 42 vendors on Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center. In addition to product exhibits, special breakout presentations are planned. The supplier show is being organized by Pitt’s Supplier Management Department. For more information, contact Mike Durica at mdurica@bc.pitt.edu or (412) 624-8586.
Responsible Conduct of Research Workshop
The SCIENCE2009 Responsible Conduct of Research Workshop for Emerging Investigators: Electronic Lab Notebooks and Data in the Digital Age will take place from noon to 3 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 7, in S100, Starzl Biomedical Science Tower. It will feature a presentation by Charles Sfeir, D.D.S., Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine on transitioning to a “paperless lab” and how electronic notebooks change the way scientists share data and results. This workshop is being presented by the Office of Academic Career Development, Health Sciences. For more information, contact OACD at oacd@hs.pitt.edu or (412) 648-8486.