Deadlines & important upcoming dates | FOR RESEARCHERS 2025 BMSC Research Applications - due February 1, 2025 For new or returning researcher, please submit a Research Request Form as part of the application process. Research Request Form | FOR EVERYONE Canadian Bioinformatics Hub - survey open until February 3, 2025 Help Tailor Bioinformatics Training in British Columbia. Survey in English Survey in French | FOR FACULTY 2025 Faculty of Science Academic Equipment Fund competition - departmental deadline by February 12, at 5:00pm to zoology.info@ubc.ca If you are planning to apply, please run your ideas and costs by Jeff Richards, and Shawn Mansfield if you are cross-appointed, so we can ensure that we can support the application. To apply and more information | | FOR FACULTY & GRADS Killam GTA Awards - due February 24, 2025 The award is open to any UBC Graduate TA who has been acting in the position during the 2024-25 and/or 2023-24 academic years. Please nominate GTAs and GTAs are encouraged to self-nominate! Application: a teaching dossier limited to a maximum of 14 pages - excluding the cover page - in a single PDF document. Guidelines | FOR FACULTY & STAFF Sexual Misconduct Policy and new mandatory training for faculty and staff - please complete by February 28, 2025 UBC has updated its Sexual Misconduct Policy and has launched new training for all faculty and staff to ensure everyone understands UBC’s expectations under the revised policy. To complete the training More on Sexual misconduct policy | FOR FACULTY who are applying for these awards with undergrad students NSERC USRA Applications - due February 20 to zool.gradprgm@ubc.ca SURE Applications - due February 20 to zool.gradprgm@ubc.ca Undergraduate Research Opportunities | | ⏰ 2025-Zoology Department Meetings🗓️ 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm Next meeting: February 18, MSL 101 March 31, TBA April 28, TBA | Assistant Professor in MBIM IMM search: candidates, research seminar and chalk talks schedule: Feb 11th, 12.30pm, LSC3, Itziar Martinez Gonzalez Immunological memory of ILC2s; host: Ninan Feb 18th, 12.30pm, LSC3, Ran Jing Harnessing Human Pluripotent Stem Cells for T Cell Development and Cancer Immunotherapy, host: Kelly Brown, Marc Feb 25th, 12.30pm, LSC3, Sarah Crome Innate lymphoid cells as rheostats of adaptive immunity, host: Jim Mar 4th, 12.30pm, LSC3, Sue Tsai Adaptive immunity at the immuno-metabolic interface, host: Kelly Brown Mar 11th, 12.30pm, LSC3, Benjamin Hurrell Decoding the playbook: key elements regulating ILC2 function in inflammation, host: Ninan Mar 13th, 12.30pm, LSC2, Jeff Dong Understanding oxidized phosphatidylcholines as key mediators of chronic neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis, host: Marc | 🖥️ ZCU TIP 💽 IMPORTANT REMINDERS: 1. Personal e-mail accounts, like gmail, hotmail etc. cannot be used for work purposes. Also, if a support ticket is submitted not from UBC e-mail, it may cause a delay, as ZCU would have to verify the requestor’s identity before processing the ticket. UBC Privacy Matters 2. Fraudulent Phone Calls: UBC has been impacted by this trend, with fraudulent calls - also known as spam or spoofed phone calls - targeting phone numbers in the university’s 604-822-XXXX and 604-827-XXXX ranges. How to identify a fraudulent phone call: fraudsters generally employ a practice called "Caller ID spoofing", which causes the phone call to appear on your caller ID as if it is coming from a legitimate source: - the phone number shows as a 10 digit number (spoof) instead of the last 5 digits (legit)
- The person answering the phone will hear a message indicating that they have won a prize from a major corporation, like a national airline. They will be prompted to press “1” to accept.
- They will be connected to a live operator to assist with claiming “the prize".
- The operator will attempt to gather financial and/or other personal data from the person who answered the call. For example, request your 16 digit credit card number.
It is critical to disconnect from the call as soon as you become suspicious; personal or financial information should not be shared with an unverified party. Fraudulent Phone Calls 3) Outlook Exchange Online Migration Exchange Online Migration 4) VPN update: in its next version update, the VPN application AnyConnect will be replaced with a new, rebranded version: Cisco Secure Client. This change will occur on February 18th, 2025, at 9:00 am. After the update users will notice a new name (Cisco Secure Client) and a refreshed look. Functionally, the VPN client will stay the same, and the steps for connecting to VPN will also stay the same. Windows and Mac users: the update to Cisco Secure Client will be automatic, and you will notice the new name and refreshed look the next time you connect using VPN after February 18th at 9:00 am. Linux users: must download and install the update manually from the UBC Downloads page at https://it.ubc.ca/downloads | ⛑️ Safety TIPs ☣️ ❄️ Snow? The forecast says that snow is on the way! For information on ice prevention, snow removal and links to campus notifications and protocols visit the UBC Facilities website. | Committees and other units - updates | Graduate Program - Program Policy Updates: the new guidelines for PhD thesis proposals have now been published on our Zoology Graduate Handbook:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/zoolgradhandbook/#proposal We now include a proposal rubric and tips for writing your proposal! - Funding Policy Updated: our funding policy has been updated retroactive to Sep 2024 and is reflected in our handbook here:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/zoolgradhandbook/#funding-policy Any questions can be directed to Mimi - Zoology 3 Minute Thesis Heat!
Thursday, February 20 at 2:30pm in Biosciences Rm 1000 Coffee & pastries will be served at 2:00pm outside Biosciences Rm 1000 Join us for our 3rd Annual Zoology 3MT Heat! Zoology students will have just three minutes to explain the breadth and significance of their research project to a non-specialist audience, and a panel of our 3 judges! Our winner and runner up will advance to the UBC Semi-Finals! - Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards
Department deadline: February 24 to zool.gradprgm@ubc.ca The award is open to any UBC Graduate Teaching Assistant at UBC Vancouver who has been acting in the position during the current academic year (2024-25) and/or the preceding academic year (2023-24). People are encouraged to nominate GTAs and GTAs are encouraged to self-nominate! Skylight Teaching Series - Study Buddy Learning is Associated with Academic Success in Undergraduate Science Courses Date: Thursday, February 6, 2025 Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm Location: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC), Peña Room 301 Registration: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_008NdFQnBWw5QOO Presenters: - Eden Fussner-Dupas, Assistant Professor of Teaching (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UBCV)
- Warren Williams, Associate Professor of Teaching (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UBCV)
Description: This study reports on the outcomes of a formal peer-learning program for undergraduate science students. We implemented a cohort-based study buddy program in which high-scoring students (mentors) and lower-scoring peers (protégés) were grouped based on their first assessment scores in a given course. We then compared the performance of participants versus non-participants on subsequent assessments, while examining separately the effects for mentors and protégés. Results showed similar participation benefits for students in both mentor and protégé roles. Mentors benefited particularly when there was greater group diversity in first assessment scores, while protégés showed gains regardless of first score diversity. These findings emphasize the value of reducing barriers to collaborative learning in higher education and highlight the study buddy program as a cost-effective and scalable approach to enhance students' educational experiences. Food and drinks will be provided. CIEE-ICEE - Graduate students: Apply to participate in the CIEE Living Data Project working group “Blitz the Gap"
Canadian biodiversity is likely rapidly changing with climate and land-use change, but we don’t have enough data to be able to detect reliable trends for most species. In some cases, we are missing estimates of the range extent for species, their finescale habitat requirements or northward range limits. Why does this matter? Because management and conservation depend on good spatial information on species such as assessments of at-risk species, predictions of climate-change impacts on range shifts, and calculations of biodiversity indicators and ecosystem services. Working Group Leaders: Laura Pollock (McGill), Katherine Hébert (McGill), David Hunt (McGill), Diane Srivastava (UBC) Date of Working Group: April 7-11th, 2025 (full time) In person location: University of BC in Vancouver and McGill University in Montréal Apply here by February 12, 2025: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Cb5v85kBPzNk6G Canadian Bureau for International Education Applications for two short-term scholarships supporting students to come to UBC through the Visiting International Research Students program. Go Global is currently accepting applications for the following programs: 1. Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (UBC deadline Monday, March 3, 2025) 2. Study in Canada Scholarships (UBC deadline Monday, March 3, 2025) Application Process: EduCanada requires all applications to be submitted by a single representative at UBC on behalf of the student. As such, Go Global plays a coordinating role in this process, and submits all applications on behalf of UBC (Vancouver and Okanagan campuses). The internal UBC deadline for both programs is Monday, March 3, 2025. We ask that the complete application be submitted to go.global@ubc.ca by this date in order to ensure that applications can be reviewed and processed in time. We are attaching here copies of the Faculty Supervisor and Candidate Information forms. | BIOLOGY COMMUNITY PANTRY - please contribute to replenish the pantry! Who is it for? Biology undergraduate students Where is it? Biosciences, 2nd floor, East wing | | REFUNDABLE CONTAINER RECYCLING in Biological Science Building: 100% of the money collected will go to purchase food for the Biology Community Pantry ⬆️ ⬅️ Look out for the refundable recycling bins | | All members of the department are welcome! February 7 - BRC February 14 - Biosci February 21 - LSC room 1416 February 28 - BRC Please remember to bring your own mug! Venues might change - for the latest updates, please check the zoology website: Friday Coffee and Donuts schedule | | Please disregard the unsubcribe button below - you are receiving this message because you are a member of the Department of Zoology. If you have question or any NEWS or UPDATES to share EMAIL US | | | | | |