Week of May 20th, 2024

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Graduate Program & PDF Newsletter

Useful information for Graduate Students & PDFs in Pathology and their Supervisors.

EVENTS THIS WEEK  (see below for more information) :

May 21st - PaSA Meeting @ 4:30pm via Zoom

May 22nd - G+PS Workshop "Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP)" Register

May 22nd - BioConnect BC (aka D.R.I.N.K.S) at Mahoneys at Stamps Landing (False Creek at 601 Stamps Landing - http://mahonyandsons.com/)

PaSA: PATHOLOGY STUDENT ASSOCIATION (pasa@pathology.ubc.ca)

Find Us: Twitter @UBCPathologySA| Instagram @ubcpasa|Facebook at UBC Pathology Students Association

SLACK: https://join.slack.com/t/pathologystud-ogs6617/shared_invite/zt-1arrr1g5h-cGsWP~ZuDFOGwJcuh4wxDA

Announcements:

📣 Join the PaSA Team and Make a Difference in Your Pathology Program! 📣

Attention all pathology students! PaSA is currently seeking passionate individuals to fill key positions within our organization. Are you ready to step up and enhance your own and your fellow students' graduate school experience?

We are specifically looking for a new president to lead our team and drive positive change in our pathology program. Additionally, we are seeking individuals to fill roles such as External Affairs Coordinator, Administrator, and Event Coordinator. If you have leadership skills and a vision for the future, this could be the perfect opportunity for you!

We have many other roles that need to be filled, each offering a unique opportunity to contribute to our vibrant community. Whether you're interested in event planning, communications, student advocacy, or administration, there's a role for you.

To learn more about the specifics of each position, please refer to this form. If you're interested in any of the positions or have questions, don't hesitate to email us at pasa@pathology.ubc.ca.

Input needed: Final PaSA Event of the Year

PaSA wants to hear from the students of the pathology department! What you would like to see as our final PaSA event of the year?

Please fill out the below survey indicating your preference for the end-of-year wrap up event for the students of the Pathology department! We will also keep these ideas and preferences in mind for events for the Fall!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeHQaitrDTdndsrI19nL7uEN1a8IH3EOLLiMytq6T0Sygg0Mw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Meetings:

PaSA invites everyone to join the next PaSA Meeting which will be held on Tuesday, May 21st at 4:30pm via Zoom. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/63631399673?pwd=OUwrMEY3L0s0NEJjMjVqVnZhRndIZz09 

Meeting ID: 636 3139 9673
Passcode: 628541

GRADUATE STUDENTS & PDFS

🍷BioConnect BC (AKA D.R.I.N.K.S.) Wednesday May 22nd🍺

BioConnect BC (AKA D.R.I.N.K.S) is happening on Wednesday, May 22nd at Mahoneys at Stamps Landing (False Creek at 601 Stamps Landing - http://mahonyandsons.com/). Our sponsor will be Amgen Canada (https://www.amgen.ca/) , one of our valued anchor sponsor organizations. Amgen Canada applies science and innovation to help fight serious illness and dramatically improve people’s lives. With main operations located in Mississauga’s vibrant biomedical cluster, and a research facility in Burnaby, British Columbia, Amgen’s Canadian affiliate has been an important contributor to Canada’s biotechnology sector since 1991. PALM Students - This is a great opportunity to connect with people from industry!

The FOM Faculty Leads for Research in Postgraduate Medical Education Present:

Title: Strategies for Publishing Success with The Lancet

Speaker: Sherrie Kelly, PhD, Senior Editor, The Lancet

Date and Time: Wednesday, May 22, 2024 1:30 – 3:30 PM

Location: Room 2267 (2^nd floor) , Diamond Health Care Centre, 2775 Laurel St, Vancouver, V5Z 1M9

Zoom Meeting ID: 91067 093313 (Passcode: 093313)

Summary: Join us for an engaging view into the behind-the-scenes world of editorial decision-making at a high-impact medical journal-The Lancet.

Dr. Kelly will share what editors are looking for in paper submission, and what the common pitfalls can be for prospective authors.

Following the presentation there will be time for Q&A.

Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies:

GradUpdate In this issue:  Advanced Research Computing Summer Program, Choosing a Citation Management Tool, The Interdependence of Instructor and Student Motivation, CTLT Spring Institute (Teaching), Summer writing consultation hours, and more.

Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) workshop
Online | Learn about eligibility criteria, application process, work eligibility during the transition to a PGWP, and important considerations when staying in Canada after graduation: Wednesday, May 22 | 12 - 1 pm Register

Certificate Program in Advanced Teaching and Learning
Sep 2024 - Sep 2025 | Open to all UBC graduate students who have completed an ISW and will remain graduate students until Sept 2025.Learn more and apply by May 31.

Teaching as Research Workshop Series
Online and multi-access | May - June | This series of workshops will prepare grad students to implement an educational research project in their discipline regardless of previous experience. Sessions include:

• Online| May 29, 11 am – 1 pm | Epistemology of SoTL/TAR
• Online | Jun 4, 10 -11:30 am | Refining Your Research Question & Exploring SoTL/TAR Methods
• Online| Jun 11, 2 – 3:30 pm Classroom Evaluation and Research: Do I Need Ethics Approval?
  (pre-work recommendation: finish the BREB Mandatory Ethics Course, approximately 4 hours)
• Online | Jun 18, 10 – 11 am Accessing the SoTL Literature
• Multi-access | Jun 28, 10 am – 12 pm | Drop-In Application Help Session

View all workshops

Teaching as Research Award
Eligible graduate students can apply for the competitive CIRTL TAR Graduate Stipend Award (GSA). Successful applicants will become TAR Awardees and receive a stipend award of $3,000. Learn more and apply by Jul 3

Advanced Research Computing Summer School Program
Enhance your skills in high-performance computing to support research that uses large datasets and computation, including tips and tricks for determining research risk, and using parallel computing.
In-person | Jul 8 - 11 | various times| for grad students, postdocs, & research faculty. Learn more and register.

Professional Development:

Research Computing Training for Western Universities

Research Computing Summer School

The week-long Research Computing 2024 Summer School at SFU will take place in-person on June 3-7, organized jointly with the Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology and hosted by SFU's Big Data Hub. This exciting opportunity is open to all academic researchers at SFU, UBC, BCIT and other local post-secondary institutions. Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, postdoc, faculty member, or staff, researchers of all levels are welcome to register. For more details, please visit the school website.

Link to sign-up and listing of all upcoming webinars here .

Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Newsletter - May

UBC Library Research Commons Newsletter  - May

UBC Library Public Events -  “ CGS-D Proposal: Crafting a Compelling Research Story ” July 3, Register

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Launch of Workday Student

As of today, all UBC students – both new and continuing – will receive an email notification with details of their access to Workday Student. This marks a crucial step forward in enhancing our student experience and administrative efficiency.

The Student Service Center (SSC) will continue to be used by current students for activities related to the 2023 Winter and 2024 Summer sessions and Workday Student will gradually become the primary interface for the functions that students currently perform in SSC starting with the activities for 2024 Winter session.

For a period of time - known as the Coexistence Period - both systems will be in use. During coexistence, students will need to conduct some tasks in both Workday Student and the SSC. These include changes to student personal information that do not require staff approval. For example, if a student wishes to add or update their preferred name, they will need to change it in both systems themselves.

Learn more about what dual-entry tasks will be required of students here.

What students need to do before registration

Ahead of the registration period, students have been asked to complete tasks in Workday Student including reviewing, entering, validating or updating their:

1. Personal information including pronouns, gender, and preferred name
2. Third-party authorization 
3. Direct deposit details
4. Academic record, including year level (formerly class standing) and program of study

Information about how students can complete these tasks can be found on the following websites:

UBC Vancouver: workday.students.ubc.ca

UBC Graduate Students: grad.ubc.ca/workday-student-support

For more details on student access to Workday Student, including information about student supports, visit https://irp.ubc.ca/student-readiness.

Financial Needs Bursary

With inflation on the rise and the cost of living skyrocketing our finances sometimes come up short, and a bit of help is all we need to get by. The PALM Financial Needs Bursary is designed as a short-term solution for anyone experiencing a demonstrated financial need. These awards are strictly confidential, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you need assistance. The application can be downloaded here.

Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies:

Grad Student Support Group

Feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or challenged in balancing work & life? This support group is for grad students to connect in a non-judgmental & welcoming space to help navigate the unique challenges of grad school.

In-person | Wednesdays | 3 - 4:15 p.m. | Learn more and register

Deadline Reminder for Spring 2024 Graduation

PhD:

FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2024 - Doctoral dissertation (and supporting documentation) submitted to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for external examination

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2024 - Last Day for Final Doctoral Oral Examination

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2024* - Acceptance of final, approved doctoral dissertation by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

MSc:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2024 - Last Day for Final Master's Oral Examination

FRIDAY, 30 AUGUST 2024* - Acceptance of final, approved master's thesis by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

* It normally takes a minimum of five business days for your thesis to be reviewed after you submit it to cIRcle.Please plan ahead for this and check your email in case you are asked to make corrections. Your submission is not complete and you will not meet deadlines until your thesis has been approved, and you have received an official email receipt.

Professional Development

Graduate Instructional Skills Workshops

In-person | May 25, Jun 1 & 2 | 9 am - 5:30 pm | Apply by May 22
In-person | Jun 15, 22 & 23 | 9 am - 5:30 pm | Apply by Jun 12
See all upcoming ISWs

Applications are now open for SEMERA 2024:

"Semester for Medical Research Aachen”, in short SEMERA, is a 12-week-long, English-taught virtual research program from the Faculty of Medicine, RWTH Aachen University. SEMERA 2024 takes place from September 23rd until December 13th. The program is for students from all health degree programs, with a strong interest in research. You will learn the necessary research skills for your future research projects, and apply that knowledge during the program. SEMERA was designed to be completed parallel to your studies, at your own pace.

The last 3 days of the program will be hybrid: both virtual and in Aachen. During these farewell days, you will get to present your poster in the SEMERA poster walk, which will take place on the last day in a hybrid format. You will get 5 ECTS for successfully completing SEMERA.

Apply now until the 30^th of June, there are limited spots!

Course Opportunities

PATH 548B (3 Credits) Bioinformatics - Machine learning driven analysis of DNA and RNA sequencing data for cancer (Dr. Ali Bashashati) 2024W1

LECTURE - Tu/Th 12:30 - 14:00 (September - December)

Course Outline:

- Implement the steps in analyzing sequencing data
- Employ bioinformatics tools to do quality control, alignment, variant calling, differential expression analysis, etc. and describe the working principles
- Employ machine learning tools to draw insights from sequencing/genomics data

Course Syllabus - here

PATH 548O (1 Credit) - Introduction to Data Clustering and Dismensionality Reduction (Dr. Thomas Sierocinski) 2024W1

LECTURE/LAB - Tu 1:30 - 3:30 (October - December)

This course explores core principles of high dimensionality data processing and their exploratory analysis with an emphasis on data manipulation and visualization.

Course Syllabus - here

PATH 521 (3 CREDITS)  - Introduction to the Pathogenesis of Human Disease (Dr. Honglin Luo) 2024S

(Runs June - July) This course focuses on reviewing current areas of medical research with emphasis on cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and sepsis.

Course Objective and Learning Outcomes:

The objective is to provide students with the ability to understand modern research techniques and how they are being applied to increase our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms. Upon completion of this course, students should be familiar with selected current research topics related to cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and sepsis.

Course Syllabus - here

If you would like to register in any of these courses, please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator Heather Cheadle.

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS

Awards

A comprehensive List of awards for PDF's can be found here: https://www.postdocs.ubc.ca/awards-funding

UBC Internal Banting Competition

UBC Internal Banting Competition is now open. Information is available on the PDFO website. UBC conducts an Internal Banting Competition, which will identify the strongest applicants to receive the institutional endorsement.

It is an applicant’s responsibility to determine their eligibility for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program, and the Supervisor’s responsibility to determine whether the candidate is competitive and would meet the highest standards as defined by Banting. Supervisors must work with applicants in preparing a Banting Application. For submission details and more information, please visit the PDFO website and the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program and check these attached documents.

The deadline to submit applications to the UBC Internal Banting Competition is Monday, July 15, 2024 at 9:00 AM PDT.

Applying for funding

Some funding opportunities require institutional endorsement of applications. Unless otherwise specified, please follow the procedures outlined in the UBC Signature Policy: Application for Research Funding.

SUPERVISORS

Promotion and Tenure P&T Workshop for Faculty Members

Monday, May 27, 2024, 9:00-11:00AM & 12:30-2:30PM (Registration Required)

If you are coming up for tenure and/or promotion, consider attending one of these workshops. Our speakers will guide you through all aspects of the tenure and promotion process at UBC. You'll leave with a better sense of how the process unfolds and your role in it. Please join us to ask questions, discuss concerns and share experiences.

Please note, the sessions on Monday, May 27th are for faculty members going up for tenure and/or promotion. There will be a session on Monday, June 3rd for Heads and Directors.

Speakers: Gage Averill, Provost and Vice-Provost Academic Affairs UBC Vancouver; Rehan Sadiq, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, (9:00-12:00); Moura Quayle, Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President Academic Affair (12:30-2:30); Alex Fisher, Chair, Senior Appointments Committee, UBC Vancouver; Dory Nason, President, UBC Faculty Association; Robin Jane Roff, Associate Executive Director, UBC Faculty Association; Mark Trowell, Executive Director, Faculty Relations & ALDP, UBC Vancouver; Kristin Cacchinoni, Director, Human Resources, UBC Okanagan; 

Please register for your preferred session:

1. Register for 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., May 27
2. Register for 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., May 27

The sessions will be held online via Zoom.

Did you know?

Did you know that our students excel in obtaining external and internal competitive awards? As of April 2024, 58 MSc and PhD students enrolled in our program have together received a total of $2.75M in competitive awards/scholarships, including 4 Vanier awards.

Did you know that we have a process and support clinical faculty and PDF serving on supervisory committees, as long as ≥50% of the committee members are a G+PS members. For PDF, it should not be for a student from their own lab.

Did you know that all our graduate students who do not already hold a major award (≥$35K/y) or 4YF receive a $2000/year “FoM award” from our program (years 1&2 for MSc; 1 to 5 for PhD).

Students Seeking Supervisors

We are posting potential student CV's on our website on our Students Seeking Supervisors page. If you are looking for students, please feel free to review the CV's and check back here often. Among our posted CV's we have strong students from Canada and other countries, including students from McGill, SFU, U of Ottawa, UCSD, and UBC who are looking for Supervisors.  Please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator if you would like to view their transcripts.

If you are contacted by a strong student, but are unable to recruit them, please ask the student whether they would like their CV added to our website and refer them to the Graduate Program Coordinator .

PROGRAM COORDINATOR & GRAD ADVISOR CORNER

👀 Please explore our Program Website for guidance, including the PALM Comprehensive Examination Overview here. 👀

🍵WEEKLY Program Coordinator Virtual Open Office Hours* - If you need advice, have an issue, or just want to chat, Heather will be hosting a one-hour virtual open office every week on Thursday from 1:00am - 2:00pm . Feel free to stop by here: 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://ubc.zoom.us/j/62812937886?pwd=Q0V2eGtJNTVidnJiSU5pVkQ3R2tFQT09

Meeting ID: 628 1293 7886
Passcode: 680021

I am also available in-person in my office at UBC Hospital Koerner Pavilion in room G109A on Mondays.

PALM Student Representatives:

If you know someone who wants to receive this newsletter, advertise an event, or if you have any ideas for how to improve the newsletter, let us know at heather.cheadle@pathology.ubc.ca . We are always accepting content including photos for upcoming newsletters -- just email us!