Tuesday, August 17, 2010

DREAMS program at Dalhousie

A recent and exciting development at Dalhousie University is the award of a new multi-investigator materials research program entitled DREAMS (Dalhousie Research in Energy, Advanced Materials and Sustainability). This program is funded by an NSERC-sponsored Collaborative Research and Training Experience grant.

The purpose of DREAMS is to train a cohort of researchers (Masters and PhD students, undergraduate summer research students and postdoctoral fellows) at Dalhousie University who will address important aspects of energy production/storage and sustainability. DREAMS student researchers play a pivotal role in renewable energy production and storage as well as the sustainable production of environmentally acceptable or re-usable materials. The DREAMS cohort tackles some of the world's most important energy and sustainability problems through advanced materials research.

Both Canadian and international students in Chemistry, Physics or Mechanical Engineering are eligible for the DREAMS program. Students will be supervised by Dalhousie DREAMS team members Heather Andreas (Chemistry), Jeff Dahn (Physics/Chemistry), Rich Dunlap (Physics), Dominic Groulx (Mechanical Engineering), Ian Hill (Physics), Harm Rotermund (Physics), Mary Anne White (Chemistry/Physics) and Joe Zwanziger (Chemistry/Physics).

DREAMS trainees will carry out collaborative interdisciplinary research in Dalhousie's world-leading laboratories with innovative new courses and direct experience working with industrial partners. The DREAMS program is designed to facilitate the transition of new researchers from trainees to productive participants in the worldwide economic community.

What differentiates DREAMS from other programs is its mix of traditional and non-traditional training. Students will complete new and novel graduate courses, such as

• Advances in Solar, Thermoelectric and Energy Harvesting Materials
• Advances in Battery, Fuel Cell and Supercapacitor Materials
• Sustainable Materials Issues

One of the most exciting aspects of the DREAMS program is the opportunity to work in industry. For example, each of our PhD students will spend two internships (work terms) of two to four months, in an external industrial or government lab. Working alongside industry researchers will provide valuable research experience and connections for future employment. External work term partners include labs both in Halifax, and around the world (for example Axion Power International and 3M in the USA, and Toshiba in Japan). Students' travel and accommodation expenses are covered by the DREAMS program.

DREAMS facilitates interdisciplinary and collaborative research. For example, PhD students will carry out research in two Dalhousie labs, and they will be jointly supervised by two or more members of the DREAMS team. This approach will greatly enhance their research skill set and their interdisciplinary experience.

Other novel approaches of the DREAMS program include training in non-traditional subjects such as IP issues, marketing aspects of materials, and how to be interviewed by the media, plus workshops on the transition to employment, such as résumé writing and interview skills.

The DREAMS program offers Dalhousie students an innovative mix of traditional and experiential learning that will help them to become some of the world's top young materials researchers. Much more information, including application material, can be found at http://irm.dal.ca/DREAMS

Josef W. Zwanziger, Dalhousie University
http://jwz.chem.dal.ca/

"Canadian NMR Research" News Bulletin

As we prepare for another back to school season, this Summer issue of the "Canadian NMR Research" news bulletin is also all about students. In his Guest Editorial Joe Zwanziger writes about DREAMS, a unique training opportunity at Dalhousie University. Kris Ooms reports from the Western Canadian Undergraduate Chemistry Conference. And, quite fittingly, a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry is announced to honour Rod Wasylishen and his remarkable research and teaching career. We hope you'll enjoy browsing through this bulletin and will share it with your colleagues and students.

http://nmr900.ca/nmr_bulletin.html

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

NMR Scientist position at the University of Toronto Scarborough

The Environmental NMR Centre and the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough are seeking a Senior NMR Research Associate to oversee the daily operation, training, and management of the Environmental NMR Centre. The position has a very large research and development component and the candidate is expected to work closely in and with the facilities Directors to maintain the centre at the cutting-edge of Environmental NMR globally and be central to pioneering new developments in NMR in general.

The Environmental NMR Centre currently houses two unique, Bruker BioSpin NMR systems. The first is a fully hyphenated 2D-HPLC-SPE-NMR-MS, and is novel both in Canada and Environmental Research in general. The second system has capabilities to perform in situ multiphase NMR analyses of heterogeneous samples that contain solid, gel and solution phase samples, the hardware is globally unique and being co-developed directly with Bruker BioSpin. The Centre focuses on the development and application of NMR techniques to study a range of environmental problems. The current topics of research include: environmental metabolomics, LC-SPE-NMR-MS applications to complex environmental mixtures, in vivo NMR spectroscopy imaging, hyperpolarization, DNP, development of multiphase NMR methods (solids, HR-MAS, solutions NMR as a single technique). In addition, the Centre focuses on the development and application of novel NMR approaches to complex systems (including soils, ocean sediments, atmospheric deposits (particles, rain, snow, glacial ice), cells, tissues, small organisms and other environmental matrices) to better understand structure and environmental reactivity.

After an initial probationary period, this will be a continuing full-time appointment.

The NMR scientist will report to the Chair of the Department and work closely with the Director and Associate Director of the Environmental NMR Centre. The research associate will be responsible for instrument maintenance, training of graduate students/postdoctoral fellows/visiting scientists assist in writing grant applications to upgrade the centre and co-publication of research with the facility's principal investigators and collaborators. The candidate will also be expected to lead research projects publishing both as a primary and secondary author. The successful candidate will take an active role in all aspects of the research of the NMR Centre and will strive to ensure that he/she becomes recognized as a leader in the field of Environmental NMR spectroscopy.

The candidate will also be involved in undergraduate thesis supervision in the Department's chemistry program and will be encouraged to apply to instruct one course in the undergraduate chemistry program on a yearly basis. The candidate will also oversee the operation/maintenance of a teaching/research Departmental NMR system (Bruker BioSpin 500MHz Avance) and ensure that faculty and students can acquire high quality data required for the teaching and research programs. These duties will include the set up of new experiments, training of students/faculty, maintenance and calibration. Candidates should note that the departmental NMR system is fully automated (BACS) with a single automatic tuning and matching probe (ATM) and that the department has only a small number of users, once running smoothly should require minimal intervention on a daily basis.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in Chemistry or related discipline with a very strong background in NMR spectroscopy and a drive/passion for the development of NMR spectroscopy. In exceptional circumstances, an established leader in the field with a MSc degree but more than 10 years of experience may be considered. In addition, experience with metabolomics, chromatography, mass spectrometry and working with complex biological and/or environmental systems are a strong assets. Experience with pulse programming, custom processing of NMR data (MATLAB, ACD, etc.) and programming/webpage design is also beneficial. Experience with Bruker instruments is very important and the ideal candidate will have experience in (or enthusiastic to learn) all areas of NMR including solutions, HR-MAS, solids and imaging.

Salary will be commensurate with the candidate's qualifications and experience.

Applicants should send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a statement of research, a statement of teaching and three letters of reference to:

Rose Jones (Assistant to the Chair)
NMR Scientist Search Committee
Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences
University of Toronto Scarborough
1265 Military Trial
Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4

Email submissions should be sent to: rjones "at" utsc.utoronto.ca

Unfortunately, applications that are not accompanied by at least three references cannot be considered.

We will start reviewing applications beginning September 13, 2010, although the search will remain open until the position is filled.

The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from visible minority group members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, members of sexual minority groups, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, UTSC
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~physsci/

Andre Simpson's Environmental research group
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~asimpson/

Myrna Simpson's Research Group in Environmental Chemistry
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~msimpson/

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Chemistry honouring Rod Wasylishen


The Canadian Journal of Chemistry, the Canadian Society for Chemistry's principal medium for publication of research, is preparing a special issue to honour the career contributions of Professor Roderick E. Wasylishen, Canada Research Chair in Physical Chemistry at the University of Alberta. The issue is scheduled to be published in July 2011.

Rod continues to have enormous impact on the field of NMR spectroscopy in Canada and worldwide. He has won numerous awards including the Gerhard Herzberg Award from the Spectroscopy Society of Canada, the John C. Polanyi Lecture Award, and the Alumni of Honour Award from the University of Waterloo. He has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Killam Senior Fellow, a CIC Fellow, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Fellow of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance.

Rod's high-quality and prolific research output is evidenced by more than 300 peer-reviewed publications in top-notch scientific journals, as well as book chapters and reviews. Rod has consistently chosen to publish in the Journal and to promote the Journal among his colleagues. Beginning in 1969, Rod has published over 75 manuscripts in Can. J. Chem. Rod has also had a major impact on the training of the future generation of NMR spectroscopists in Canada.

The Canadian Journal of Chemistry is a monthly journal reporting current research findings in all branches of chemistry, including the traditional areas of analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical-theoretical chemistry and newer interdisciplinary areas such as materials science, spectroscopy, chemical physics, and biological, medicinal and environmental chemistry.

It is our pleasure to invite you to contribute an article, communication, or review article dedicated to Rod Wasylishen. All submitted manuscripts will be subject to normal peer review procedures. We anticipate and hope that this will be a very popular issue, and as such reach a large international audience. Instructions to Authors can be viewed at the journal web site:

http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/journals/forauthors_cjc.html

Please confirm by e-mail to Judy Murdoch if you intend to submit a manuscript (jmurdoch "at" uwo.ca) and submit your contribution via the online submission program at http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cjc/osprey as soon as you can but not later than November 1, 2010. Please suggest at least three suitable reviewers two of which must be from a North American research institution in your cover letter or in the space provided in Osprey.

Sincerely,

Yining Huang, University of Western Ontario
David Bryce, University of Ottawa
Gang Wu, Queen's University

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Pacifichem 2010: Registration is open

The 2010 International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies Pacifichem 2010 will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii, December 15-20, 2010 and will be hosted by the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC).

Registration and housing reservation for Pacifichem 2010 is now open. The deadline for early bird registration is November 1, 2010.

Canadian NMR will be well represented by four symposia focusing on biological systems, polymers and inorganic materials. The technical program of Pacifichem 2010 and the full list of speakers are now available online at http://www.pacifichem.org/.

To see the NMR symposia schedules go to http://pacifichem.abstractcentral.com/planner.jsp
no need to login, just hit "search" and enter "nmr" in "Session Title Search"

NMR Symposia at Pacifichem 2010

NMR Spectroscopy of Polymers - Innovative NMR Strategies for Complex Macromolecular Systems (Symposium #12) Peter Macdonald, University of Toronto

Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics - Recent Advances in NMR (Symposium #43) Mitsuhiko Ikura, Ontario Cancer Institute

Advances in Solid-State NMR of Biological Molecules (Symposium #58) Michèle Auger, Université Laval

Solid-State NMR Methods and Applications in Inorganic Materials (Symposium #228) Scott Kroeker, University of Manitoba

Monday, August 2, 2010

New NMR book

Data Preprocessing for Chemometric and Metabonomic Analysis

by David E. Axelson
Softcover: 420 pages
Publisher: MRi_Consulting, Kingston, Ontario; July 30, 2010
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1926825618
http://www.chemometrics-analysis.com/

D. Axelson: "The best preprocessing methods will be the ones that ultimately produce a robust model with the most accurate predictive ability. Unfortunately, there are no particularly straightforward rules to guide investigators to the best selection of preprocessing options; the subsequent trial and error optimization process may be quite time consuming and confusing. However, spending little or no time investigating preprocessing options is likely to result in less than optimal results.

The primary objective of this book is to present a relatively focused outline of the major options available for data analysis, with an emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages of the techniques discussed (see Table of contents, PDF). "