The 2014 ASCB/IFCB meeting is the place to expand your scientific knowledge, present your research, and explore career options. Additionally, the meeting is a great place to meet scientists from all walks of life. The Committee for Postdocs and Students (COMPASS) Social and Outreach subcommittees have been working year-round to provide opportunities for ASCB members to get together and reach out to the public. At the Annual Meeting, we provide several additional ways for scientists to interact, network, and mingle. Whether you want to get a better feel for the meeting, network with people in different fields, celebrate the outreach accomplishments of others, or just socialize, we have several events in store for you. Check them out!
Buddy Program: First timer at the meeting? The Buddy Program is an opportunity for first-time attendees to meet with more experienced conference-goers to help orient them to the meeting. Pre-registration is required, and if you have done so, don’t forget to contact your buddies and meet up. This is a great opportunity to meet other scientists and to navigate the events and seminars at the meeting!
COMPASS Open Forum: Monday, Dec 8th, 10:00 am-11:00 am. Come meet the members of COMPASS and learn how to get involved in room 126B! We’d love to hear from you about how we can better serve graduate student and postdoc needs. More info here.
Zombie CellSlam 2014: Monday, Dec 8th, 6:45 pm-7:45 pm. Live entertainment in Room 114 at the Annual Meeting provided by anyone attending the meeting. Talent shows, comedic interludes, funny video clips, celebrity judges and a $1,000 prize! Whether you want to participate and show off your skills, or just come to watch and unwind, you don’t want to miss this event!
Networking Happy Hour: Monday, Dec 8th, 5:00 pm-7:00 pm. Join us in the career center with representatives from the various vendors attending ASCB to chat, mingle, and network over some light refreshments! More info here
Contest Awards: Tuesday, Dec 9th. 3:00 pm-3:30 pm. COMPASS has hosted various awards throughout the year, including the comic strip contest and the “Share Your Science” video contest. Come celebrate the creativity and talents of our winners in the ASCB Learning Center Theater 1.
We hope to see you there!
COMPASS Events at the ASCB Annual Meeting
December 6-10, 2014
COMPASS members are organizing a variety of scientific, career development, and social activities at the Annual Meeting. We’ll be highlighting these events in the blog in the weeks leading up to the meeting. Please join us!
COMPASS Open Forum: Following a brief introduction about COMPASS, we will have an interactive brainstorming session about challenges for young scientists. This session will guide the initiatives of COMPASS over the next year. (Monday, 10:00 am-11:00 am, Room 126B)
ePoster Sessions: COMPASS members will moderate these scientific sessions that highlight significant contributions in research in a dynamic, interactive forum. (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, 12:00 pm-4:00 pm, ASCB Learning Center).
Career Panels: Panel discussions featuring representatives from a variety of scientific careers. (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, 3:00 pm-3:50 pm, Room 119 A/B).
Career Chats: Informal, hour-long roundtables for students & postdocs to meet with reps from various nonacademic careers and talk about their career paths, job prospects, industry culture, etc. (Check the meeting app or the Career Center for dates and times.)
Networking Happy Hour: Cash bar happy hour to allow students & postdocs to mingle with industry reps and each other to discuss career options (Career Center on Monday from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm)
One-on-One CV review: 30-minute mentoring sessions for students & postdocs to meet one-on-one with either academics or industry reps and hone their CVs. (Sign-ups are available 9:30 am-5:00 pm, Sunday-Tuesday at the Career Center).
CellDance Premier & Elevator Speech Contest Winners, plus COMPASS Comic Contest Winners (Tuesday, 3:00 pm-4:00 pm, ASCB Learning Center, Theater 1).
CellSlam: The Public Information Committee’s stand-up science slam with a $1,000 prize for the winner (any meeting attendee can perform). For those who want to watch, it will offer a variety of wit, music, and outrageously amusing competition plus free popcorn and a cash bar. (Monday, 6:45 pm, Room 114).
About the Author:
Pinar Gurel is a postdoctoral fellow in the Alushin lab at Rockefeller University where she is investigating the role of actin structural plasticity in mechanosensation using cryoEM and other biophysical tools. Pinar earned her PhD in the Higgs lab at Dartmouth College where she studied the mechanism of actin filament severing by the formin, INF2. She is currently the co-chair of COMPASS. Email: pinar.s.gurel@gmail.com. Twitter: @pinar_gurel
