Week of May 13th, 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 16th - PALM Alumni Reunion - 5:30pm @ UBC Medical Student & Alumni Center Register

May 16th - UBC G+PS Workshop "Breaking Patterns of Procrastination" Register

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!

Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies:

GradUpdate In this issue:  Leveraging your Strengths to Strategize for Success, Certificate Program in Advanced Teaching and Learning, Teaching as Research Award and Workshops, Collaborative Summer Projects (Fac of Arts), and more.

Breaking Patterns of Procrastination
Online | Thursday, May 16 | 9:30 am - 12:30 pm Register

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

Professional Development:

The Wellington Laboratory is looking to expand their team! Please see the links below for more information regarding doctoral student and postdoctoral fellow opportunities to join their group:

Postdoctoral Fellow - Wellington Laboratory

https://www.postdocs.ubc.ca/ad/57881 (reference number: PDFO-57881)

Please feel free to spread the word! You can find the Wellington Laboratory's Twitter post on @WellingtonUBC here: https://x.com/WellingtonUBC/status/1766365679647699370?s=20 

Health Research BC - Mitacs Industry-Based Program

The Michael Smith Health Research BC-Mitacs industry-based program supports graduate students and postdoctoral fellows across British Columbia to gain experience working within BC's life sciences sector. Learn more and apply here .

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 .

UBC Library Research Commons Newsletter  - May

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

GRADUATE STUDENTS

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.

PALM Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Committee (GPSC) Student Representative Opportunity

The key role of the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Committee (GPSC) Student Representative is to act as liaison between the department of Pathology’s graduate student body and the governing body of the graduate program (the GPSC). To aid in this task, the GPSC student rep will attend the regular bi-monthly GPSC Zoom meetings (meets ~10x per year total hours required are ~15), offer input into discussion on behalf of the student body, and occasionally perform tasks as assigned by the GPSC. Regular communication may be needed and is expected to occur between the GPSC student rep and the Pathology Student Association (PaSA) and attendance of PaSA meeting may occasionally be required. Additional communication via email or virtual meetings may also be required to further communication between the GPSC, PaSA, the Department Graduate Student Society Council representative, as well as other student reps within the department. Communication between the student body, student representatives and GPSC is crucial to the continued success of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Should you be interested in this position, please send a short CV (2 pages or less), and an Expression of Interest (1/2 page or less) to Heather Cheadle at heather.cheadle@pathology.ubc.ca no later than 4pm on Friday, May 17th, 2024.

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.

Awards

Spring Graduate Awards Competition

A number of university awards for the upcoming academic year are available to current and incoming graduate students. The maximum value of funding that can be offered to a student is $16,000, or up to $22,000 for the #491 Rick Hansen "Man in Motion" Fellowship, or $25,000 for the #6495 Andrew Nord Fellowships in Rheumatology and the #6887 Clifford Alexander Robson and Else Loella Robson Memorial Scholarship respectively. Applicants will apply via their graduate programs with a single application that may be considered for as many of the Spring Graduate Awards as they are eligible for, taking note of the following important considerations:

• Eligibility: To be eligible to receive funding, applicants must meet both the overall eligibility requirements as outlined on the award webpage (ex. months of study) and all of the eligibility requirements for each individual Spring Graduate Award they apply for. Applicants will not be considered for an award if they do not clearly meet the criteria for the award.
• Selection: While award recipients will be selected based on the evaluation criteria, priority will be given to eligible candidates who do not hold significant scholarship funding (i.e., $16,000 or higher) for the 2024/2025 academic year (September 2024 to August 2025). If a student is offered Spring Awards funding, and later receives other scholarship funding of $16,000 or higher for the same period, the Spring Awards funding offer would normally be rescinded.
  • Exception: Some of the Spring Graduate Awards have very niche award descriptions (eligibility requirements). For example, the #6362 award ‘James and Setsuko Thurlow Scholarship in Peace and Disarmament Studies’. If a Spring Graduate Award receives a very low number of eligible applications, it may be awarded to a student who already has significant scholarship funding.

Application deadline The deadline for submission of your complete application is 4 p.m. on Monday, May 13th, 2023. Please let me know if you plan to apply in advance, so I can pull your transcripts for attachment to your application. I am able to generate your UBC transcripts for you, and normally have originals of your transcripts from other institutions on your file.

For more information, such as the complete eligibility requirements and application materials, please refer to our webpage: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/spring-graduate-awards-competition

CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC CGS Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements – Spring 2024 Competition

The Canada Graduate Scholarships - Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement (CGS-MSFSS) Program supports high-caliber Canadian graduate students in building global linkages and international networks through the pursuit of exceptional research experiences at research institutions abroad. By accessing international scientific research and training, CGS-MSFSS recipients will contribute to strengthening the potential for collaboration between Canadian and foreign institutions.

• Eligibility: Open to Canadian citizens or permanent residents who hold a Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) at the Master's or doctoral level or a Vanier CGS.
  • Please note that international students who hold a Vanier CGS are not eligible for this award. SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship holders and NSERC PGSD holders are also not eligible (as they do not hold a "CGS").
• Value: Up to $6,000 for 2 to 6 months research study abroad
• Application deadline: 4:00 pm PT on May 17, 2024, to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Applicants apply directly to G+PS)

For details about this competition, please see: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/canada-graduate-scholarship-michael-smith-foreign-study-supplement

Professional Development

Graduate Instructional Skills Workshops

Check out additional upcoming ISWs .

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 student entering directly in the PALM PhD Program only take 4 credits of courses (two x 2 credit core courses, both taught at VGH), and MSc students only take 12 credits of courses (two x 2 credit core courses plus 8 elective credits)? This is fewer credits than many other graduate programs.

Did you know that our Program admits students four times per year (January, May, July, September) with our rolling admissions, and can admit strong students on short notice?

Did you know that the PALM Comprehensive Examination has been revised to allow students to develop project ideas more closely related to their thesis?

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!