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Division of Chemistry Newsletter No. 7
August, 2005
RECEPTION AND BROADER IMPACTS SHOWCASE AT THE ACS NATIONAL MEETING IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
We invite you to meet and speak with NSF staff members and Mathematical
and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee (MPSAC) members at a reception
and Broader Impacts Showcase to be held at the upcoming ACS National
Meeting in Washington, D.C. On Monday, August 29, 2005, from 11
a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center, Room
144B, the following NSF staff members and MPSAC members plan to
be available to meet with you informally: Henry Blount, Ron Christensen,
Mike Clarke, Kathy Covert, Ken Doxsee, Luis Echegoyen, Art Ellis,
Joan Frye, Jean Futrell, Janice Hicks, Susan Hixson, George Janini,
Raima Larter, Carl Lineberger, Lee Magid, Ty Mitchell, Kathy Parson,
Celeste Rohlfing, George Rubottom, Harry Ungar, and Frank Wodarczyk.
As part of the event, chemists on the MPSAC have organized a Broader
Impacts Showcase. Please join principal investigators at the reception
to view and discuss dozens of posters illustrating the broader
impacts of awards supported by the Division of Chemistry. A town
meeting will be held from noon until 1:00 p.m. as part of the reception
and Broader Impacts Showcase. This is an excellent opportunity
to share information and perspectives on developments in the chemistry
community and at NSF.
Refreshments will be available at the reception.
TOWN MEETING ON FACILITIES AT THE ACS NATIONAL MEETING IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
To better acquaint our community with opportunities at large research
facilities, the Division of Chemistry is hosting a Town Meeting
on Facilities. We invite you to meet with representatives from
national laboratories and facilities, members of the chemistry
community who have used these resources, and NSF staff members.
The Town Meeting will be held at the upcoming ACS National Meeting
in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, August 30, 2005, from 5 p.m. to
7 p.m., at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center, Room 204B.
Light refreshments will be served.
WORKSHOP REPORTS
The Division of Chemistry and the ACS supported a community workshop
(co-chairs, John T. Groves and David Tirrell) to identify science
drivers associated with the Molecular Basis of Life Processes,
an MPS emphasis area in the FY2005 and FY2006 budgets that the
Division of Chemistry was asked to coordinate on behalf of the
MPS Directorate. The workshop report is available at http://www.chemistry.org/molecularbasis;
a complementary report mentioned in the last newsletter is available
at http://www.chem.ucdavis.edu/groups/gervay-hague/MBLP_Final_Report.pdf.
The Division also helped to organize an interagency workshop entitled “Conference
on Research at the Interface of the Life and Physical Sciences:
Bridging the Sciences.” This workshop report is available
at http://www.nibib1.nih.gov/events/110904conf/interfacereport20405.pdf.
Chemists on the MPSAC helped to organize MPS-wide workshops related
to theory and to cyberinfrastructure and cyberscience. The reports, “Theoretical
Science in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate,” and “Identifying
Major Scientific Challenges in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Directorate and Their Cyberinfrastructure Needs,” may be
found at http://www.nsf.gov/attachments/100811/public/MPSTheoryFinalReport-04-02-2005.pdf and
http://www.nsf.gov/attachments/100811/public/CyberscienceFinal4.pdf,
respectively.
We thank the workshop organizers and participants for their assistance.
PERSONNEL CHANGES AND AVAILABILITY OF POSITIONS WITHIN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY
The Division of Chemistry has completed its national search and
is pleased to announce that Janice Hicks is the Division’s
new Executive Officer. Janice has led the Division’s Analytical
and Surface Chemistry (ASC) program and coordinated ASC and physical
chemistry programs. We thank Linda (Lee) Magid, who has ably
served as the Division’s Interim Executive Officer, and
will continue to serve the Division as Science Advisor. Don Burland
will be retiring in October as Senior Advisor (see below).
The Division welcomes Mike Clarke back from Boston College. Mike
will again assist the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic
(IBO) program. We welcome Carol Bessel to the Division from Villanova
University. Carol will also assist the IBO program. A complete
listing of current staff may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_list.jsp?org=CHE.
We thank Walter Ermler for his assistance with the Theoretical
and Computational Chemistry program and with the Special Projects
Office. He has joined the University of Texas at San Antonio. We
also thank Lynn Schneemeyer for her work with the IBO program.
The Division of Chemistry asks you to consider serving as a program
officer should your circumstances permit it, and to help us identify
other individuals who might serve in this capacity. Rotators are
responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing programs that
support research, education, and human resource development in
the chemical sciences. Applicants should have a Ph.D. or equivalent
training in the chemical sciences, extensive knowledge of one or
more chemistry subfields, and at least six years of successful
independent research activity. Applicants should be familiar with
the chemistry community and have administrative experience. Other
important attributes are strong verbal and written communication
skills, organizational skills, facility in using technology tools,
and the ability to work effectively on a team. If you are interested
in serving as a rotator, please see http://www.nsf.gov/about/career_opps/careers/science.jsp.
About half of our 16 program officers are rotators, and they
bring fresh insights to our work at NSF. Rotators can maintain
their research programs while working at the Foundation. NSF
provides time, travel resources, and use of technology to enable
rotators to stay in touch with co-workers at their home institutions.
Rotator positions are typically held for one or two years, but
other arrangements are possible. Rotators not only serve the
community and help to shape chemistry, but they also have excellent
opportunities for professional development and establishment
of new research directions upon returning to their laboratories.
Information about current open rotational program officer positions
can be found at
Applicants interested in rotational positions should send an email
describing their interest and CV to Art Ellis at aellis@nsf.gov.
NSF is an equal opportunity employer committed to employing a highly
qualified staff that reflects the diversity of our nation.
DON BURLAND TO RETIRE FROM THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY
We wish Don Burland farewell when he leaves the Division of Chemistry
this October after 8 years of extraordinary service. Since his
arrival at NSF, in 1997, Don has assisted many individuals at NSF
and in the chemistry community, and he has contributed substantially
to the advancement of basic research and education in the chemical
sciences. Don’s exemplary service also included a two-year
stint as Acting Division Director. The Division of Chemistry will
miss Don and wishes him well in his post-NSF activities.
MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES ADVISORY COMMITTEE (MPSAC) NEWS
The April, 2005 meeting of the MPSAC focused on issues related
to the status of women in MPS disciplines in academia and possible
MPS actions to enhance their levels of participation. The MPSAC
chemists endorsed the idea of a follow-up workshop to enable the
chemistry community to address these issues. The Division of Chemistry
will be partnering with DOE and NIH to hold such a workshop in
early 2006.
Information about the MPSAC may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/advisory.jsp.
REQUEST FOR QUALIFIED REVIEWERS
The Division of Chemistry seeks to enhance its pool of qualified
reviewers of proposals. We invite researchers in the chemical sciences
who have not previously reviewed for the Division of Chemistry
but are interested in providing this service to contact us by visiting
our website at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/che/reviewer/reviewer_info.jsp and completing the online registration form. We welcome qualified
reviewers from academic, industrial, and government employment,
as well as from other countries. It is important to recognize that
the National Science Foundation reserves the right to choose reviewers.
While we are unable to assure individuals that they will be asked
to review proposals, we do attempt to call upon as many qualified
reviewers as possible, and we try to limit the number of requests
that we make to any single individual, recognizing the many demands
our reviewers have on their time.
NSF CUSTOM NEWS SERVICES
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you can subscribe to MyNSF. You pre-select as many key words as
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please visit the MyNSF website: http://www.nsf.gov/mynsf/.
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