Posted on by lbarron

July 1 – 7, 2024

To see full descriptions for any item in the summary list please click on the continue reading link below the summary list.

0.   Ongoing Services – updated 5/13/24  \

This Week’s Events:   

  1. SLaM PRESENTS JULY LABOR MOVEMENT UPDATE – Tuesday  

 Administrative Announcements: 

  1. 2024 FUTURE FACULTY DIVERSITY PROGRAM – 1st posting 
  2. GRADUATE SCHOOL OFFICES CLOSED JULY 4TH AND 5TH – 1st posting 
  3. FREE ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES – 1st posting 
  4. FREE INDIVIDUALIZED NUTRITION COUNSELING – 3rd posting 

Jobs: 

  1. GA POSITION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES – 2nd posting 

Funding Opportunities: 

  1. FULBRIGHT POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS FOR U.S. CITIZENS – DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 16, 2024 

Volunteers and research participants sought: 

  1. OLDER ADULT PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR A RESEARCH STUDY ABOUT COGNITION – 1st posting 
  2. WILDLIFE VIEWER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY – 2nd posting 
  3. RESEARCH STUDY ON SUSTAINABLE DIETS – 2nd posting  
  4. INVESTIGATING SENSITIVITY TO VIBROTACTILE STIMULATION DURING DYNAMIC WORK TASKS: TOWARDS AN EFFECTIVE ERGONOMIC INTERVENTION – 3rd posting 
  5. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR A VIRTUAL REALITY RESEARCH USER STUDY – 3rd posting 

Upcoming Events: 

  1. LEARN HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVE GRANT PROPOSALS! – JULY 10 

 0. Ongoing Services – updated 08/28/23     

  • GRADUATE SCHOOL: Graduate School summer hours: In-person advising, drop-off or pick-up of documents and materials, and a space to study and take a break! Visit 120 GLC, summer walk-in hours will be held on Monday and Thursday 9:00-4:00pm. The Graduate School offices will be open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. for the summer. Staff will be available by phone 540 231-8636 or email grads@vt.edu.  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 ; GLC drop-in hours in GLC 120 will not be held in the summer and  will resume Fall 2024. 

COOK COUNSELING: COOK COUNSELING: Drop-in hours for Summer: Tuesdays 10 am to 12 pm. Location: Room 49 at the GLC. For consultations by Zoom e-mail hkatie19@vt.edu. Students seeking services can schedule a triage appointment by calling 540-231-6557.  

This Week’s Events 

1. SLaM PRESENTS JULY LABOR MOVEMENT UPDATE 
Tuesday, July 2, 4-5pm, GLC room B 
Students for the Labor Movement (SLaM) will be holding a meeting to discuss current events in the labor movement at the local and national levels as well as to plan for upcoming events. All members of the VT community are welcome to participate. Pizza will be served. For questions and/or accommodations, please contact Andrew Gunsch at andrewg20@vt.edu. 

  Administrative Announcements 

2. 2024 FUTURE FACULTY DIVERSITY PROGRAM – 1st posting 
Applications are now open for the 2024 Future Faculty Diversity Program (FFDP) at Virginia Tech. Applications are open through August 16, and the program will take place October 6 to 9, 2024. FFDP aims to identify graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who, through their backgrounds, experiences, and achievements, can demonstrate their ability to: work with diverse communities of faculty, staff, and students;contribute to InclusiveVT, the institutional and individual commitment to Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), in the spirit of community, diversity, and excellence; support Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community; exhibit their potential to succeed as a faculty member at Virginia Tech based on their research and teaching experience. Transportation, lodging, and food expenses are covered by Virginia Tech for invited scholars. Apply today on the FFDP website: https://inclusive.vt.edu/ffdp. For more information: https://www.inclusive.vt.edu/Programs/FDP/FFDP.html.     

3. GRADUATE SCHOOL OFFICES CLOSED JULY 4TH AND 5TH – 1st posting 
The graduate school offices and GLC 120 will be closed Thursday, July 4th and Friday, July 5th  GLC 120 will resume summer walk-in hours on Monday, July 8th, and will be open on Mondays and Thursdays only from 9am-4pm. 

4. FREE ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES – 1st posting  

Publication academy courses are a great opportunity for students to pursue and develop skills that can be useful in your current and future professional settings. Students are able to access these courses for free until November 1, 2024. Find more information here: https://graduateschool.vt.edu/student-services/professional-development/publication-academy-course.html. 

5. FREE INDIVIDUALIZED NUTRITION COUNSELING – 2nd posting 
Seeking nutrition guidance? Are you interested in learning how to make food choices that support a healthy lifestyle? Maybe you need help with skills for shopping and cooking to help you reach your wellness goals. If you have any of these concerns or others, upper-level nutrition students are here to help. The Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise Department at Virginia Tech provides FREE one-on-one nutrition counseling services (In-person or Zoom) to any interested students, faculty, or staff and is now accepting new clients for the fall semester. Visit: https://www.hnfe.vt.edu/nutrition-counseling.html to learn more about the service; and  use the following link to sign up: https://virginiatech.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?tt=PjXR/MidYPoECHrPeIW9eQ%3D%3D.

Jobs 

6. GA POSITION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES – 1st posting 
Duties include: Analyze bibliometric and publication data for collaborative projects between the Office of Research and Innovation and the University Libraries; Analyze bibliometric, publication, grant and patent data from a variety of sources including: Scopus, SciVal, Web of Science, Dimensions; Develop scientific network visualization maps using tools such as VOSviewer, Bibliometrix, and/or Gephi; Support workshops given by the Research Impact and Intelligence Department and the Patent & Trademark Resource Center; Author conference and/or journal articles related to the above work (expected one publication per academic year). Qualifications:  
– Advanced coding capability in modern language(s) such as Python and/or R 
– Experience conducting searches in academic databases 
– Knowledge of the scholarly publishing environment 
– Excellent oral and written communication skills 
To view job posting or apply on Handshake: https://app.joinhandshake.com/emp/jobs/9055145. Application deadline: July 3, 2024  

Funding Opportunities 
Funding opportunities sponsored by the graduate school can be found here: 
https://graduateschool.vt.edu/funding/funding-sponsored-by-the-graduate-school.html 
All external funding opportunities that we are aware of can be found here: https://graduateschool.vt.edu/funding/scholarships-and-fellowships.html. 

7. FULBRIGHT POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS FOR U.S. CITIZENS – DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 16, 2024 
Fellowships are open to researchers in all academic disciplines and support research programs in Israel for up to 20 months (two academic years). These are the primary benefits of the fellowship:  $95,000 scholarship ($47,500 per academic year).  Basic health insurance for the grant, Reimbursement of up to $1,700 for airfare expenses for Fulbright fellows (and spouses), Partial reimbursement of education expenses for children.  Visit the program page: https://fulbright.org.il/USPostdoc. For further information or inquiries, please contact: Noa Turgeman, USprograms@fulbright.org.il.

Volunteers and Research Participants Sought 

8. OLDER ADULT PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR A RESEARCH STUDY ABOUT COGNITION – 1st posting  
The MEM lab (Williams Hall) is recruiting participants for a 2-session study of older adult cognition. Eligible participants should be able to quickly read visually-presented English words and are between the ages of 60 to 80. Participants will be compensated $10 for the first session (30-45 min) and $25 for the second session (1 hour). Please contact vtmemorylab@gmail.com or call and leave your name and number at (540) 231 – 9538 to learn more. Biomedical Research Alliance of New York Institutional Review Board (BRANY) Protocol #VT18-1077-568. For more information email Erica Shafer at vtmemorylab@gmail.com.

9. WILDLIFE VIEWER RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY – 2nd posting 
Do you observe, feed, or photograph wildlife? Do you identify as disabled and/or neurodivergent? If so, researchers at Virginia Tech invite you to be part of a 90-minute online group discussion to share your experiences with wildlife viewing, and your thoughts on increasing inclusion. Participants will be provided with up to a $50 honorarium to participate in this research project. Visit this link to learn more: https://tinyurl.com/WildlifeViewing or email wildlifeviewing@vt.edu.  

10. RESEARCH STUDY ON SUSTAINABLE DIETS – 2nd posting 
Two-part, audio recorded focus group interviews at Virginia Tech during Summer 2024. 2 hours maximim for each focus group. Share your views about what motivates your dietary choices, graphic food-based dietary guidelines and sustainable diets. Lunch or dinner will be provided. This study (IRB 23-147) was determined to be exempt from VT’s IRB in March 2023. Participants must be 18-25 years old, studying at Virginia Tech and living in Blacksburg, VA. https://forms.office.com/r/FAtj99PSyy.

11. INVESTIGATING SENSITIVITY TO VIBROTACTILE STIMULATION DURING DYNAMIC WORK TASKS: TOWARDS AN EFFECTIVE ERGONOMIC INTERVENTION [IRB #: 21-1022]  – 3rd posting 
The main objective of the proposed study is to investigate sensitivity and spatial acuity in perceiving vibrotactile stimuli at different sites on the body during a variety of movements, including static vs. isometric force exertion vs. dynamic movement (e.g., walking, construction work tasks). For the dynamic movement tasks, you will be asked to shovel or lift up to 5lbs of load each time. Your participation will require one visit that may take up to 2.5 hours. During your visit, you will be asked to perform maximum voluntary exertions, perform static to dynamic work tasks, and answer for a few questionnaires. Results from this study will support the effective adoption and implementation of vibrotactile feedback in construction workspace. Note that your participation is voluntary, and you can choose not to participate in the interview at any time. Participant qualifications: 18 – 45 years old; Right-handed, and; Have no self-reported current or recent (past 12-months) musculoskeletal problems or injuries. Compensation: $10 per hour. For more information on how to participate please contact: Ajit Gopal at ajitagm@vt.edu.  

12. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR A VIRTUAL REALITY RESEARCH USER STUDY – 3rd posting 
You are invited to participate in a research study using virtual reality technologies. Our team is investigating the effectiveness of different window management techniques when working with virtual monitors. The study will use state-of-the-art VR technologies, such as the Meta Quest Pro headset. (IRB #24-439). Participants must be at least 18 years old, fluent English speakers, have normal vision (contact lenses and glasses are not supported; strabismus and color blindness are not supported), have normal mobility of arms and hands (to use a mouse and keyboard), and use the Windows operating system for their daily work. For more information on how to participate, please contact: Leonardo Pavanatto at lpavanat@vt.edu . 

Upcoming Events 

13. LEARN HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVE GRANT PROPOSALS!  
Wednesday, July 10, 2-3:15 pm, GLC Room C 
There are many opportunities for graduate students to write proposals in order to obtain their own funding (the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP) being a great example). Every VT grad student should strongly consider writing such a proposal. Benefits to you include RA funding, a great line on your CV, increasing your appeal to potential advisors and collaborators, and gaining valuable experience in selling your ideas, writing grant proposals, and in persuasive writing in general. Now you have a great opportunity to learn how to write effective proposals. The Graduate School will share an American Chemical Society webinar from expert grant writers on the topic “Crafting a Standout Grant Proposal: Tips and Success Stories”. Come and join us in Conference Room C of the Graduate Life Center (GLC) on July 10, from 2:00-3:15 pm, to view the webinar together. Associate Dean Kevin Edgar will also be there in person to answer any specific questions you might have afterwards.