This Week’s Events:
0. Ongoing Services – updated 6/27/22
1. GLC CAFÉ
Administrative Announcements:
2. FREE INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATION WORKSHOP FOR TEACHING WITH DATA – 1st posting
3. NEW COURSE ON TRANSPARENCY, REPLICATION AND EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS – 1st posting
4. GRANT PROPOSAL REVIEWERS NEEDED FOR GPSS GRADUATE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM – 3rd posting
Jobs:
5. HOURLY POSITION AVAILABLE IN THE AMERICAN INDIAN AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY CENTER – 2nd posting
6. GRADUATE ASSISTANT POSITION AVAILABLE FOR PEACE CORPS RECRUITER – 3rd posting
Volunteers and research participants sought:
7. ENDURANCE RUNNERS NEEDED FOR A RESEARCH STUDY – 1st posting
8. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH STUDY ON SLEEP AND LEARNING – 1st posting
9. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR CHOLINE INTAKE STUDY – 2nd posting
10. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR TABLET-BASED MULTIUSER VR GAME – 3rd posting
Upcoming Events:
11. SCIENCE ON TAP: BREW ZOOM – July 27
12. SOFTWARE CARPENTRY: UNIX GIT AND R/PYTHON – August 4/5, 8/9 or 11/12
0. Ongoing Services – updated 06/27/22
- GRADUATE SCHOOL: In-person advising, drop-off or pick-up of documents and materials, and a space to study and take a break! Visit SHIP (120 GLC), M-F 9:00-4:00pm. If you prefer Zoom advising: request one-on-one assistantship or academic advising by using our online request form to set-up a Zoom session.
- CAREER ADVISING: schedule career advising appointment via https://career.vt.edu/job-search/Handshake.html ; In-person drop-in advising every Wednesday, 1-4pm in the Graduate School (120 GLC). NOTE: there will be no career advising on July 6 or 27 in the GLC.
- COOK COUNSELING: Drop-in Zoom hours, Tuesdays 10am-12pm and Thursdays and Fridays 3pm-5pm, Zoom links found here. To make an appointment, visit: https://vt-ucc.titaniumhwc.com/ScheduleGraduateFirstCookConnect (Students must pay the summer health fee or daily use fee which can be reimbursed through Aetna. Students must be in Virginia)
- WRITING CENTER SERVICES: Schedule an appointment at https://vt.mywconline.com/
- GRADUATE OMBUDSPERSON: contact for appointment at gradstudentombud@vt.edu, 540-231-9573
1. GLC CAFÉ
Thursday, July 21, 3:30-5pm, GLC Reading Room
Enjoy snacks, tea, coffee and conversation with graduate students and Graduate School staff. Bring your own mug if you can. The café will only occur on Thursdays during the summer. We will bring back the Wednesday café in the fall.
2. FREE INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATION WORKSHOP FOR TEACHING WITH DATA – 1st posting
The Carpentries instructor certification workshop is a 2-day online training in best practices for teaching computing and data skills, including guided practice and observation teaching live coding demos. Successful completion of the workshop and checkout process grants badged certification as an instructor for any Carpentries workshop. This is a great opportunity to build teaching skills and contribute back to education at VT. Multiple dates available between now and September 30, but spaces are limited. Learn more here: https://carpentries.org/become-instructor/ Contact Nathaniel Porter at ndporter@vt.edu if you have questions.
3. NEW COURSE ON TRANSPARENCY, REPLICATION AND EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS – 1st posting
Want to make your research more transparent, analyze multiple existing studies to draw reliable conclusions, and think critically about research methods? Sign up for the brand new Sociology 5984, Evaluating Social Science, this Fall. Open to all VT graduate students, this 3-credit course provides training and hands-on practice conducting open science, conducting replication studies, and implementing structured searches and reviews. Learn more here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LmORf2hynnXWidcE6qERcHI5enPtzhLFXjtbJhawpOI/edit
4. GRANT PROPOSAL REVIEWERS NEEDED FOR GPSS GRADUATE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM – 3rd posting
Reviewers from all disciplines are encouraged to volunteer. You must be a graduate student engaged in research at Virginia Tech, and not a current applicant for the GRDP. Each proposal consists of an “extended abstract” describing the context, motivation, methods and impacts of an applicants’ research, in addition to a budget and timeline for completion of proposed work. Minimum time commitment is two hours in August – including one hour-long training session (possibly including food) and review of at least two proposals. Volunteers may be assigned to review proposals within their general area of expertise, or entirely outside of it. If interested, please fill out this Google Form: https://forms.gle/UTgkorBo1U3UpoWh6. Additional background on the GRDP: https://gpss.vt.edu/programs/grdp.html. Contact Cissy Ming with questions at cissym@vt.edu.
5. HOURLY POSITION AVAILABLE IN THE AMERICAN INDIAN AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY CENTER – 2nd posting
AIICC is hiring for an hourly wage position. Duties include: social media management and content development, program flyer and calendar creation, space reservation forms and requests, database management of external resources for tribal students, researching and cultivating lists of speakers/performers, assisting with program set-up when available, researching costs / quotes of programmatic needs as requested, sharing program details to the CCC online calendar, and other AIICC projects and administrative tasks as needed. Required qualifications: Bachelor’s degree, experience with social media management and content creation, strong communication and organizational skills, and experience with Microsoft Office Suite. https://ccc.vt.edu/index/aiicc.html If interested, please contact Melissa Faircloth, PhD, directly at missy86@vt.edu.
6. GRADUATE ASSISTANT POSITION AVAILABLE FOR PEACE CORPS RECRUITER – 3rd posting
The Center for International Research, Education, and Development (CIRED) at VT is searching for a graduate student who is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer to serve as a Campus Peace Corps Recruiter (20 hours/week). The recruiter will be the main point of contact for people interested in joining Peace Corps. The successful candidate will receive graduate school tuition remission and a stipend. For further information go to: https://cired.vt.edu/About/job-opportunities.html. Applicants should send a cover letter and CV to larryjv@vt.edu with the subject heading “Peace Corps Recruiter application”.
7. ENDURANCE RUNNERS NEEDED FOR A RESEARCH STUDY – 1st posting
Endurance athletes and ultra-endurance athletes are needed for a study examining the relationship between physical activity and total number of calories expended each day. This study will require 1 virtual meeting and 2 visits to the lab, and a time commitment of approximately 6 hours. The study involvement includes providing a fasting blood sample, a pregnancy test if female, undergoing measurements of body fat, physical activity and fitness level as well as collecting your urine for 14 days after drinking a stable isotope or different form of water to measure how many calories you expend in an average day. To assess your physical activity, you will wear an activity tracker around your waist (except while showering, swimming, or always sleeping ) or on your thigh for 2 weeks while you go about your usual daily activities. You will receive information on your body composition, aerobic capacity, and other health information. Participants must be: 18-60 years of age, vaccinated for Covid-19 (both doses for Moderna or Pfizer, single dose for J&J), stable body weight over the past year (±5 lb), free of cardiovascular (e.g., heart disease), lung, metabolic (e.g., diabetes or thyroid), kidney disease or cancer, endurance athlete who has competed in marathons or ultra-marathons in the past year, sustained a high level of training for the past 6 months, and no recent injuries or other reasons that have changed your training volume. Participants will be entered in a drawing to compensate you for your time and effort with a 1 in 5 chance of being selected to receive $25 in the form of cash. If you have questions, email vtultrahipl@gmail.com.
8. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH STUDY ON SLEEP AND LEARNING – 1st posting
The goal of the Neural Dynamics and Neural Engineering lab is to uncover what events occur in the brain during sleep that help facilitate the learning of a new task. To meet this goal, we utilize a number of physiological recordings in the lab, such as EEG (see image for reference), EMG, and EOG recordings. Our studies include completing computerized tasks. We are currently recruiting subjects for a BCI task, where you control a moving ball on a computer screen with your thoughts (IRB # 17-860). Participants must be aged 18-65. Exclusion criteria include: history of head trauma(s), diagnosis of a sleep disorder, taking any medications (prescription or over the counter) that affect sleep, and no diagnosis of a psychiatric condition. Participants will receive $30 total for our overnight study. For more information, please visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xe3INOksTGyv0subkgs2IFlr9SVcDWCR3QE5CszcHDQ/edit?usp=sharing. Contact Andrew Kvavilashvili at ndnestudies@gmail.com with questions.
9. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR CHOLINE INTAKE STUDY – 2nd posting
Volunteers are needed for a study examining how choline intake influences health.
Participants must be: 18-75 years of age, not taking medications that influence the study results, not have severe obesity, non-smokers, not pregnant, without any major medical problems, without any known choline allergies, fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This study will require 5 visits to the lab, wearing a continuous glucose monitor for four days in total, consumption of a supplement or placebo at 4 time points, and a time commitment of approximately 12 hours. If you are on a diuretic or are taking medications such as aspirin, antibiotics, prebiotics, and probiotics, you are not eligible for this study. Participants will receive information on your blood pressure, cholesterol, and other health information. You may receive up $100 to compensate you for your time. You will receive $20 for completing session 2, session 3, and session 4. After completing session 5 you will receive $40. There is no compensation for completing the first session. If you meet the above requirements and are interested in participating in this research study, please contact the Human Integrative Physiology Laboratory at Virginia Tech by email: vthipl@gmail.com
10. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR TABLET-BASED MULTIUSER VR GAME – 3rd posting
The Echo Lab and Mind Music Machine lab is investigating different interaction methods and game designs to play an interactive and competitive VR game. The game utilizes handheld devices (tablets) only, and there will be no headset involved. Participants in the study will come to the Perform Studio at Moss Arts Center on the week of July 11-15th. During the study, participants will be divided into two groups and walk around a room while holding a tablet to view and interact with the virtual environment. Participants will then be asked to evaluate their experience and rate the device’s tracking ability. The entire study will be video recorded and may take up to 90 minutes. If you have a friend or family member meeting the eligibility, we encourage you to sign up together to experience our collaborative VR game! The study was reviewed and accepted by the IRB (# 22-482) and is being conducted under the supervision of Dr. Sang Won Lee (sangwonlee@vt.edu). Participants must be 1) age of 18 years or older and 2) normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing. After the study, each participant will be compensated with a $15 Amazon gift card. Please contact Hayoun Moon at moonhy@vt.ed if you are interested.
11. SCIENCE ON TAP: BREW ZOOM
Wednesday, July 27, 5:30pm, Rising Silo Brewery, 2351 Glade Road
Postdoctoral researcher John Muller currently studies arbovirology at Virginia Tech. But one of his life-long passions stemming from his earlier wildlife biology career is herpetology. He will be discussing the husbandry, natural history, genetics, conservation, and ethics of keeping reptiles and amphibians in captivity. Joining him, his extensive collection of live reptiles and amphibians for the audience to observe and/or delicately handle.
12. SOFTWARE CARPENTRY: UNIX GIT AND R/PYTHON
August 4-5 (Zoom), August 8-9 (University Mall) or August 11-12 (Online)
Software Carpentry aims to help researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills. This hands-on workshop will cover basic concepts and tools for conducting research with data using the Bash Unix shell, version control with Git, and plotting and programming in R (8/4-5) or Python (8/8-9 or 8/11-12). Learners are expected to attend the full two days. The workshop is open to anyone. You do not need any programming experience to participate but you will need access to a Windows, Mac or Linux computer. For questions, contact Data Education Coordinator Nathaniel Porter (ndporter@vt.edu). Register here: https://profdev.tlos.vt.edu/?query=carpentry