University of Wisconsin-Madison

Department of Chemistry Newsletter

********************

*****PLEASE NOTE*****

Newsletters are still available in hard copy form. You can pick up a copy in the Duplicating Department, Room 1380 Chemistry. They will be on the shelf above the work bench on the right when you enter. I will have them in a basket marked "NEWSLETTERS". If you should decide in the future that you would still like to receive the Chemistry Department's Newsletter in your Chemistry Mailbox, Campus Mailbox, or by U.S. Mail, just notify me by e-mail: goldade@chem.wisc.edu, phone or voice mail: 608-262-0293, or by U.S. Mail to: Chemistry Newsletter, 1101 University Ave, Madison WI, 53706. Please give your name, mailing address, including street Address, City, State, Zip Code. If you have any questions on the newsletter please contact me by one of the means listed above. THANK YOU - Bruce Goldade

********************

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - CUMULATIVE EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Room 1361, Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.

1998

********************

INORGANIC CUMULATIVE EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Exams are held on Saturdays beginning at 9:00 a.m., in Room 2373, except for one date noted.

1998

********************

ATTENTION GRADUATE STUDENTS

********************

IMPORTANT DATES:

December 21^st, 1997 - Commencement ceremony.

January 16^th, 1998 - Window period. A grace period for students appropriately registered for the Fall semester, who complete all degree requirements by this date. Your thesis must be deposited in the Memorial Library by 4:30 p.m. on this date. A May degree is awarded, but you are not required to register for the Spring semester or pay a degree completion fee.

********************

MINOR AGREEMENT FORMS: The Graduate School requires that the minor program be outlined in an agreement which is approved by the Department no later than halfway through completion of the sequence minor courses. The minor requirement must be completed by the end of the third year of graduate school. Minor agreement forms are available in Room 1315.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chemistry Department Departmental Colloquia

1997-1998

First Fridays of the Month -- mostly

SEMINARS

********************

Tuesday, December 16^th, 1997 - Physical Chemistry Seminar, 11:00 a.m., Room B371 Chemistry Building. Johan R.C. van der Maarel, Leiden University, The Netherlands. "Melting of Columnar Hexagonal DNA Liquid Crystals"

********************

Tuesday, December 16^th, 1997 - Faculty Candidate Seminar, 1:30 p.m., Room 2120 Grainger Hall. Professor David W. C. MacMillian, Harvard University. "Design of Enantioselective Cu(II) and Sn(II) Catalysts"

********************

Tuesday, January 20^th, 1998 - Organic Chemistry Seminar, 3:30 p.m., Room 1361 Chemistry Building. Professor Uday Maitra, Indian Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India. "Bile Acid Based Chiral Auxiliaries and Molecular Receptors"

********************

AAAS Fellowships For Scientists and Engineers

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) invites applications for one-year policy fellowships, which bring scientists and engineers to Washington, DC, to work in the:

U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, RAND Critical Technologies Institute, RAND Critical Technologies Institute.

New this year: AAAS Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship

The Revelle Fellow will focus on environmental policy, domestic or international, within the Congress, a relevant executive branch agency, or elsewhere in the policy community. The Fellow will work on issues that involve human interaction with ecosystems, such as population, sustainable development, food, oceans, global climate change, and related environmental concerns.

And for graduate students: The AAAS Mass Media Fellowship Program

Graduate students in the natural and social sciences, or engineering fields work as reporters, researchers, and production assistants at radio stations, newspapers, or magazines for ten weeks during the summer. The program strengthens the connection between science and technology and the media, and enhances coverage of science-related issues in the media order to improve public understanding and appreciation of science and technology.

Applicants to the year-long policy fellowships must be U.S. citizens and must have a Ph.D or equivalent doctoral level degree at the time of application (January 1998) from any physical, biological, or social science discipline, any field of engineering, or any relevant interdisciplinary field. Persons with a master's degree in engineering and at least three years of post-degree professional experience may also apply. Federal employees are not eligible for the fellowships. The programs are designed to provide a unique public policy learning experience and to bring scientific and technical backgrounds and external perspectives to decision making in the U.S. government. All grant-funded programs are subject to continued support. Minorities and persons with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply. All applications must be postmarked by January 15,1998.

For further information and application instructions, contact: AAAS Science and Engineering Fellowship Programs, 1200 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005. Phone: 202/326-6700 Fax: 202/289-4950 E-mail: science_policy@aaas.org.

********************

Ruth Bleier Scholarship in Natural Sciences

Who: Any freshman or sophomore woman student with a demonstrated interest in the natural sciences.

How: Please provide the following: 1) name, address, and phone number; 2) one page statement describing your goals in the natural sciences and your perspectives on the position of women in the sciences; 3) two letters of reference, one of which must come from the UW campus; and 4) high school and college transcript.

Send to: Ruth Bleier Scholarship Committee, Women's Studies Program, 110 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706. Deadline is: February 16, 1998. For Complete Information on this Scholarship, please stop by Room 1380 Chemistry.

********************

THE MADISON AREA TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Will Be Offering Two Evening classes In:

• Biotechnology Lab Technician Program. Recombinant DNA Techniques Part 1 & 2.
• Quality Regulations and Standards: GMP
• Introduction To Biotechnology

Registration Begins 12-15-97, and is first come first serve. Complete details on who to call and how to register are in room 1380 Chemistry.

********************

FACULTY POSITIONS/TEMPORARY FACULTY/ACADEMIC POSITIONS

********************

The Chemistry Department at Ursinus College seeks Ph.D. applicants for an assistant professor position in chemistry beginning Fall 1998. This full-time position with annual renewable contracts (up to 3 years) is designed to diversify further the subdisciplines represented by the current staff and to address areas of high student demand. The successful candidate will be expected to teach organic chemistry and introductory biochemistry, to contribute to a growing biochemistry program, and to engage undergraduates in research. Applicants must possess a strong commitment to undergraduate education in a liberal arts setting. Applicants should submit a vitae, a brief summary of proposed research, a statement of teaching interests, undergraduate and graduate transcripts, and three letters of recommendation to: Dr. Victor J. Tortorelli; Department of Chemistry; Ursinus College; Collegeville, PA; 19426-1000. For full consideration, completed applications must be received by January 15, 1998. For further information, consult our web page at http://acad.ursinus.edu/~chemistry.

********************

The University of Wisconsin - River Falls, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Teach chemical instrumentation and analytical courses and other advanced, general, and liberal arts chemistry courses and supervise undergraduate research students in an area such as separation techniques, bioanalytical chemistry, or chemical instrumentation. Additional responsibilities include advising undergraduate students, collaborating with colleagues in support of departmental and university activities, and serving on departmental and university committees. Earned doctorate in chemistry, postdoctoral experience in analytical chemistry and a demonstrated awareness of and sensitivity to diverse student populations and ability to contribute to the University's commitment to enhancing student awareness and appreciation of diverse ethnic and cultural heritages are required. Submit a resume (or curriculum vitae), a statement of teaching philosophy, a summary of research interests and goals and a letter of interest specifying: I) professional/teaching area(s) of interest, 2) qualifications, 3) statement of experience, including ability to contribute to the enhancement of student awareness and appreciation of diverse cultures. Include unofficial graduate and undergraduate transcripts (official copies will be required if hired) and have confidential letters of recommendation forwarded from at least three references who can specifically comment upon your teaching ability, experience, and professional preparation. Deadline to Apply: All requested material must be postmarked no later than January 19, 1998. Inquiries and applications should be addressed to: Dr. Barbara S. Nielsen, Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin - River Falls, 410 South 3rd Street, River Falls, WI 54022.

********************

Department of Chemistry, Northern Arizona University. Tenure track opening Assistant Professor level. All areas of organic chemistry considered. Seek individual holding a Ph.D. possessing potential as a teacher at introductory and advanced levels and capable of making significant contributions to Departmental / University interdisciplinary initiatives in big-organic or environmental. Completed applications will include a curriculum vitae, brief statement of teaching interests/philosophy, concise research plan and three recommendation letters. The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications on January 31, 1998. Reply to: Organic Search, Department of Chemistry, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 5698, Flagstaff AZ 86011-5698.

********************

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION AND/OR JOBS

********************

Postdoctoral Person with Julius Adler. Just graduating with Ph.D. is OK. This person will help to figure out the mechanism of bacterial chemotaxis in wild-type and mutants by measuring Ca²⁺ and Na⁺ changes. Funding is assured for minimally 1 1/2 years. Please submit curriculum vitae with names of references and list of publications. Starting date: any time soon. Phone: 262-3693, 262-3043, Fax: (608) 262-3453, E-mail: adlerlab@macc.wisc.edu.

********************

Postdoctoral position with Professor Jack Saltiel at Florida State University. Anticipated start date of February 1998. The research will involve mechanistic photochemistry with a research area along the lines of current research topics. Interested parties can be informed by reading recent papers. Applicants should write to Professor Jack Saltiel and arrange for at least two letters of recommendations to be sent on their behalf to: Professor Jack Saltiel, Department of Chemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4390.

********************

Associate Professor John Yin, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chemical Engineering Department. Post-Doctoral Research Opportunities. CHEMICAL INFORMATION PROCESSING. Physical or physical-organic chemist, biochemist, or chemical engineer. A diversity of chemical systems will one day capture and generalize the catalytic, molecular recognition, information processing, and evolutionary capacities found today only in living systems. Current experiments aim to develop molecular systems that couple autocatalytic replication and information storage. MECHANISMS OF VIRUS INACTIVATION. Biochemist, biophysicist, virologist, or chemical engineer. We aim to understand and modulate the physico-chemical mechanisms by which viruses lose their biological activity. This work is important for developing efficient vectors for gene therapy, maintaining or improving the stability of viral vaccines, developing new anti-viral strategies, and reducing the risk of infection by virus-contaminated blood products. GENOMIC SYSTEMS ENGINEERING. Applied math/computer scientist with background in molecular biology or chemical engineer. We seek to derive the function or functions of an organism given the sequence or information structure or its genome. Although the human and other genome projects are marching toward a comprehensive catalog of the information in a fertilized egg, understanding how this egg develops into a multicellular organism remains an open question. As a first step toward addressing this complex question we are exploring how genome structure encodes genome function for simpler well-characterized entities---viruses. Further Information: Prospective Graduate Students should apply directly to the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1691, USA. Further information available at Prospective Post-doctoral Associates trained in chemistry, chemical engineering, biology (cellular or molecular), virology, or applied math/computer science will be evaluated based on their motivation, productivity, and ability to work independently. The starting date is June 1, 1998 but other start dates can be negotiated. A cover letter, curriculum vitae, and at least three letters of reference should be sent to: Professor John Yin, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1691, USA (fax: (608) 262-5434, e-mail: yin@engr.wisc.edu). Review of candidates will begin February 1.

********************

West Texas A&M University, Postdoctoral Position: Opening for a person with a Ph.D. degree in organic or polymer synthesis (materials science background is highly desirable) for a position commencing January 16, 1998. The successful candidate will be a loader in a two-university/industrial consortium coaling with mechanisms of decomposition of materials important to the Department of Energy. Interested candidate should present skills in organic synthesis and instrumental analysis (emphasizing NMR, but including IR, GC/MS). Applicants should send their resume, transcripts of all college work, and three letters of recommendation to: Dr. Jim Woodyard, Killgore Research Center, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas 79016. The review process will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Due to the nature of this position, U.S. Citizenship is required.

********************

DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE IN ROOM 1380.

DUE TO THE HOLIDAYS THE

NEXT NEWSLETTER IS ON JANUARY 5^th, 1998.