This Week’s Events:
- GLC CAFÉ – Thursday
- GLC FOOD SHARE CABINET NOW AVAILABLE – 1st posting
- GET CERTIFIED TO TEACH COMPUTING AND DATA SKILLS- 2nd posting
- TOOLS AND APPROACHES FOR POLICY MAKING IN STEM-H DOMAINS – 2nd posting
- APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR GPSS TRAVEL FUND PROGRAM – UP TO $500 AVAILABLE FOR CONFERENCE EXPENSES – 3rd posting
- GA POSITION MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY CENTER – 1st posting (1/2)
Funding Opportunities:
- P.E.O. SCHOLAR AWARD – DEADLINE: August 22, 2025
Volunteers and research participants sought:
- RECRUITING ADULT ATHLETES FOR CLEATS & PLANTAR LOADING STUDY – 1st posting
- SEEKING VOLUNTEER PARTICIPANTS FOR A STUDY ON NEURODIVERGENT MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICANTS – 1st posting
- PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR MRI STUDY – 1st posting
- AN EXPLORATION INTO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISABILITIES & SEXUALITIES – 1st posting
- BEGINNERS IN RESISTANCE TRAINING NEEDED FOR A PAID STUDY – 2nd posting
- PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR STUDY ON MASCULINITY IN FAMILIES – 2nd posting
- TRACKING RESEARCH FOR SEARCH & RESCUE – 2nd posting
- RECRUITING ADULT ATHLETES FOR CLEATS & PLANTAR LOADING STUDY – 2nd posting
- RECRUITING FOR A PAID RESEARCH STUDY ON USING GESTURES FOR LEARNING – 3rd posting
- MRI RESEARCH STUDY RECRUITING YOUNG ADULTS – 3rd posting
- NEW FACULTY HIRE CONVERSATION WITH KAYLA ALWARD – August 6
- FREE COMPUTING AND DATA WORKSHOPS – August 13
- GRADUATE STUDENT MEETUP – MINGLE AT THE MARKET – August 13
- PREPARING FOR THE FALL FACULTY JOB MARKET AND BEYOND – August 14
- GEARUP! – August 19
0. Ongoing Services – updated May 2025
- GRADUATE SCHOOL: Graduate School 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, June 2, 2025, through August 1, 2025, walk-in hours will be held on Monday and Thursday, 11am- 3pm. 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.
- COOK COUNSELING: Drop in hours for Cook Counseling: Fridays from 1 to 3pm. Students can call 540-231-6557 to schedule an appointment with the Embedded Counselor at the GLC or the embedded counselor with their program.
- WRITING CENTER SERVICES: Schedule an appointment at https://vt.mywconline.com/
- GRADUATE OMBUDSPERSON: contact for appointment at gradombud@vt.edu, 540-231-9573
This Week’s Events
1. GLC CAFÉ
Thursday, July 31, 3:30-5:00pm, GLC Reading Room
Enjoy free coffee, tea, and cookies in the company of your grad student and Grad School colleagues. Relax, network, and load up on caffeine and/or carbs. Bring your own mug if you can. If you have any questions, please contact Lindsay Barron (lbarron@vt.edu).
Administrative Announcements
2. GLC FOOD SHARE CABINET NOW AVAILABLE – 1st posting
There is a new resource open to Graduate Students with shelf-stable snacks and food called the GLC Food Share Cabinet. The cabinet is located in the GLC Wellness room (room G). This food share cabinet is open to all graduate students, and we encourage you to come by to take what you need and share when you can. Our goal is to share the best of what we have to help all Hokies with food access. To access the GLC Food Share Cabinet, you will need to swipe into the Wellness room with your Hokie Passport. We welcome contributions to our cabinet using the following guidelines:
– Factory-sealed, non-perishable foods (e.g. canned goods, pasta, flours, rice, grains, cereal, granola bars, dried fruit, nuts, shelf-stable milk, tea)
– Shelf stable produce (e.g. apples, bananas, winter squash, onions, citrus
– Sealed toiletries and personal items.
Please note: The cabinet CANNOT accept any perishable goods that require refrigeration, prepared foods, or foods with opened packaging. Donations can be dropped off in GLC 120, beginning August 4th Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm. If you have any questions, please contact Lindsay Barron (lbarron@vt.edu).
3. GET CERTIFIED TO TEACH COMPUTING AND DATA SKILLS- 2nd posting
The VT Carpentries community is seeking new volunteer instructors for workshops on R, Python, Bash, Git, spreadsheets, OpenRefine, and qualitative data analysis software. New instructors will take part in a four half-day instructor training event to learn pedagogy and live coding skills to earn instructor certification through The Carpentries (carpentries.org). The Carpentries is an internationally recognized organization dedicated to teaching foundational coding and data science skills to researchers worldwide. Contact Dr. Nathaniel Porter (ndporter@vt.edu) and Dr. Jesse Sadler (jrsadler@vt.edu) for more information.
4. TOOLS AND APPROACHES FOR POLICY MAKING IN STEM-H DOMAINS – 2nd posting
Spaces still remain in the graduate elective STAT/PSCI/SPIA 5134 this fall, meeting Monday evenings online. The course surveys key methods in policy relevant analysis, such as system dynamic and agent-based models, systematic review, and network science and is aimed toward students in STEM and health domains seeking to perform research with policy implications. For more information before registering, contact Dr. Nathaniel Porter (ndporter@vt.edu).
5. APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR GPSS TRAVEL FUND PROGRAM – UP TO $500 AVAILABLE FOR CONFERENCE EXPENSES – 3rd posting
Graduate students presenting research conducted at Virginia Tech are eligible to apply for the Fall 2025 Travel Fund Program! Grants may cover registration, lodging, meals, abstract fees, and other costs of presenting at an in-person or virtual conference with a start date from Oct. 1- Dec. 31. Students from all disciplines are invited to apply, even if your conference abstract has not been officially accepted. Be sure to carefully read the instructions. Applications open July 15th and are due August 19th at 11:59 PM. Please e-mail Megan Grey at (greym@vt.edu) with any questions, and visit https://gpss.vt.edu/programs/tfp.html for full details and instructions.
Jobs
6. GA POSITION MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY CENTER – 1st posting (1/2)
The Indigenous Community Center (ICC) at Virginia Tech is seeking a motivated and creative graduate student to serve as a Graduate Assistant for Marketing & Communications. This 20-hour per week position will support the promotion of ICC programs, events, and initiatives to enhance outreach and student engagement. Key Responsibilities:Design graphics and flyers for ICC events and programs; Ensure timely and accurate event listings on GobblerConnect; Create, schedule, and manage content across ICC social media channels; Assist with the development and distribution of the ICC newsletter; Draft and submit mockups for website updates and improvements; Support general marketing efforts and other duties as assigned. Preferred Qualifications: Experience with graphic design tools (e.g., Canva, Adobe Creative Suite); Familiarity with social media management platforms; Strong written and verbal communication skills; Attention to detail and ability to meet deadlines; Interest in student support, community-building, and/or cultural programming. This position offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on student engagement while developing skills in marketing, communications, and cultural programming. It includes tuition waiver and stipend. To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to Dr. Faircloth (missy86@vt.edu) by August 8, 2025.
Funding Opportunities:
7. P.E.O. SCHOLAR AWARD – DEADLINE: August 22, 2025
P.E.O. Scholar Awards provides substantial merit-based awards for women of the U.S. and Canada who are pursuing doctoral-level degrees at an accredited college or university. The award amount is $25,000. P.E.O. Scholars are those who are at the top of their fields and will have a positive impact on society. They have demonstrated abilities to make significant contributions in their field of study, having assumed leadership positions in university academics, scientific research, medicine, law, performing arts, economics, history, literature, government or other demanding fields.
The nomination process in 2025 is for the academic year 2026-2027. Nominees should have a
graduation date range of May 2027 to August 2028. Nominations must go through a local P.E.O. chapter. If interested in applying, respond to this notice to, (sandi825@yahoo.com), before August 1st. Final applications to local chapters must be completed by August 22nd to be considered. More information is at www.peointernational.org.
Volunteers and Research Participants Sought
8. RECRUITING ADULT ATHLETES FOR CLEATS & PLANTAR LOADING STUDY – 1st posting
The Granata Lab is investigating how cleat type and sex affect plantar loading and performance in adult athletes! Participation consists of a one-time, one-hour commitment that will take place outside on campus to complete two different movement tasks in two different cleat types. To be eligible, participants must 1) be between 18-35yo, 2) wear a shoe size between 7-12M or 8.5-13.5W, 3) currently play a cleated sport at least once a week, 4) have not had any leg injuries in the past 6 months, 5) have not had surgery in the past 3 months and 6) not be pregnant. If you are interested, please submit this form: https://forms.office.com/r/Rzp6yWANzt. Submitted by graduate student Alexandra Stibler (astibler@vt.edu).
9. SEEKING VOLUNTEER PARTICIPANTS FOR A STUDY ON NEURODIVERGENT MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICANTS – 1st posting
An autistic graduate student is seeking participants for research on the experiences of neurodivergent (i.e., autistic, ADHD, bipolar, OCD, dyslexic, etc.) people who are medical school applicants. [VT IRB# 25-507]. Participants will compete a pre-interview timeline activity and participate in a 60-90 minute, semi-structured interview on Zoom. Participants can be either self- or professionally-diagnosed with a neurodivergent condition. They must currently be working on or recently submitted their medical school application to U.S. based medical schools and speak English. https://virginiatechmy.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/rebecca22_vt_edu/EbFiM9aBe4dHmJ7gdMobxKoBi0OCGxJyOC6twz3-0b-SgA?e=BQbZI1.
10. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR MRI STUDY – 1st posting
Researchers at Virginia Tech are seeking participants for a research study (IRB#24-646) on the relationship between the brain and mental health. This study involves 3 sessions lasting up to 9 hours, one of which involves an MRI scan. To participate, individuals must be between the ages of 14 and 25. Compensation up to $200 is available. Eligibility screening survey: https://redcap.link/brain-mentalhealth.Submitted by Spanlab (spanlab@vt.edu).
11. AN EXPLORATION INTO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISABILITIES & SEXUALITIES – 1st posting
Our study, “An Exploration into the Relationship Between Disabilities and Sexualities”, is looking for individuals interested in participating in research based on lived experiences! The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the different ways that disabilities and sexualities can intersect and/or influence one another across people’s lifetimes. This can mean many things as both sexualities and disabilities have multiple ways of impacting individuals! Participants will participate in a 60-90 minute Zoom interview. Individuals must be 18+ years old, identify with at least one disability, and have had previous experiences with romantic/sexual relationships. Participants will receive a $30 electronic gift card after participation! If you are interested in participating in a Zoom interview, please fill out this brief survey to see if you are eligible: https://virginiatech.questionpro.ccom/VT25644Diss. Submitted by graduate student Madelyn Toman (maddie99@vt.edu).
12. BEGINNERS IN RESISTANCE TRAINING NEEDED FOR A PAID STUDY – 2nd posting (1/2)
Are you new to resistance training? Our research lab at Virginia Tech is developing next-generation wearable technologies to support strength training and prevent injury. We are seeking participants with limited gym experience to work alongside certified personal trainers and help co-design innovative wearable solutions. Participants should have little to no experience with resistance training at the gym. $25/hour. Study survey link: https://forms.gle/2bwJuWd8L8kinVCo9.
13. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR STUDY ON MASCULINITY IN FAMILIES – 2nd posting
Participants needed for a study of how men learn masculinity in their families of origin. Participants will participate in a 60-90 minute, semi-structured interview either in person or on Zoom (camera on). After the interview, participants will be compensated with a $30 Amazon gift card. To participate, individuals must identify as a man, currently live in the United States, and be between the ages of 21 and 30. Compensation $30 Amazon gift card. Eligibility survey: https://virginiatech.questionpro.com/t/AVVVtZ6aH6.
14. TRACKING RESEARCH FOR SEARCH & RESCUE – 2nd posting
A graduate student at Virginia Tech is seeking volunteer participants for research regarding Search and Rescue tracking (IRB #24-1149). Participants are asked to make tracks with shoes or boots then barefoot and provide access to their footwear. The researcher will travel to your location in Blacksburg or Christiansburg to measure tracks in a portable sandbox and most pairs of participants’ footwear collections. The measurements take 30-60 minutes per participant. There are no age limits for involvement in this study. Your contribution to advancing the science of tracking is appreciated. Please, if interested, contact Rob Speiden for more details (robert72@vt.edu).
15. RECRUITING ADULT ATHLETES FOR CLEATS & PLANTAR LOADING STUDY – 2nd posting
The Granata Lab is investigating how cleat type and sex affect plantar loading and performance in adult athletes! Participation consists of a one-time, one-hour commitment that will take place outside on campus to complete two different movement tasks in two different cleat types. To be eligible, participants must: 1) be between 18-35 years old; 2) wear a shoe size between 7-12M or 8.5-13.5W; 3) currently play a cleated sport at least once a week; 4) have not had any leg injuries in the past 6 months; 5) have not had surgery in the past 3 months and 6) not be pregnant. If you are interested, please submit this form: https://forms.office.com/r/Rzp6yWANzt.
16. RECRUITING FOR A PAID RESEARCH STUDY ON USING GESTURES FOR LEARNING – 3rd posting
The Mind Music Machine Lab at Virginia Tech is seeking individuals to participate in a study to determine how gestures can improve the acquisition of algorithmic interpretation skills. During this study, participants will: Complete a demographic survey; Learn an algorithmic language either with or without accompanying hand gestures over the course of three 30-minute sessions; Take two tests in a fourth 30-minute session, which assesses acquisition of various algorithmic interpretation skills; Take a short 10-minute semi-structured interview. Compensation of $20 will be given for participating in the four 30-minute sessions (2 hours total, divided across at least four days). Participant qualifications: Over 18 years old, have normal hearing, vision (or correct-to-normal vision), and fine motor skills. For more information on how to participate, contact Jacqueline Bruen, (jacquelineb@vt.edu).
17. MRI RESEARCH STUDY RECRUITING YOUNG ADULTS – 3rd posting
The MEM lab is recruiting participants for an fMRI study of young adult cognition. Participants are compensated for their time at approximately $30 per hour. If you are between the ages of 18 and 50 and interested in learning more, please contact: vtmemorylab@gmail.com. Primary investigator: Rachel Diana, (rdiana@vt.edu), 540-231-1913, Biomedical Research Alliance of New York Institutional Review Board (BRANY) Protocol #VT18-1077-568
Upcoming Events
18. NEW FACULTY HIRE CONVERSATION WITH KAYLA ALWARD
Wednesday, August 6, 2025, 4-5pm Zoom
Dr. Kayla Alward received her Ph.D. in Dairy Science from Virginia Tech where she investigated environmental impacts on colostrum production in dairy cattle. While working on her Ph.D., Kayla worked as a Graduate Teaching Scholar in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. After her Ph.D., Kayla received a USDA Post-doctoral Fellowship Grant and stayed at Virginia Tech to investigate bovine oocyte and embryo production. Kayla joined the Department of Agricultural Sciences at West Texas A&M University in January 2025 as an Assistant Professor of Animal Science where she has a role in teaching, research and outreach. Come hear about her experience on the faculty job market! https://virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/register/ZmlMqRhUSXG03jGvh2cx8A.
19. FREE COMPUTING AND DATA WORKSHOPS
Wednesday, August 13 – Tuesday, August 19, in person at TLOS or remotely via Zoom
Interested in improving your research data and computing skills before the start of the new academic year? Join us for a hands-on workshop in August 2025 in Blacksburg or online. Workshops are 9am to 4:30pm with lunch from 12:30 to 1:30. Lunch and refreshments will be provided for in-person participants. The workshops are open to all VT community members. You do not need any experience with the software to participate, but you will need access to a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. Take the whole series of workshops or choose the one that best fits your needs.
Workshops offered:
Intro to Unix and Git (Wed, 13 August),
Intro to Python and JupyterLab (Thur, 14 August),
Intro to R and RStudio (Mon, 18 August),
Intro to Excel and OpenRefine (Tue, 19 August).
Register through the Library Calendar: https://calendar.lib.vt.edu or PDN: https://profdev.tlos.vt.edu/?query=carpentries.
20. GRADUATE STUDENT MEETUP – MINGLE AT THE MARKET
Wednesday, August 13, 4:30-6:30pm, Blacksburg Farmers Market, Corner of Roanoke St. & Draper Rd.
Whether you are a new student, just arrived in Blacksburg, or a returning student, join us for this casual Graduate Student Meet Up at Mingle at the Blacksburg Farmers Market. Enjoy live music and browse the Farmers Market vendors. The graduate school will provide a sampling of refreshments made from farmers’ market fresh ingredients. Market vendors will offer food and adult beverages (for those over 21) available for individual purchase. Sponsored by the Graduate School’s Student Services, Inclusion, and Strategic Partnerships team. Please register here to help us plan for refreshments! https://forms.office.com/r/harSsMMm51.
21. PREPARING FOR THE FALL FACULTY JOB MARKET AND BEYOND
Thursday, August 14, 3-4:30pm, Zoom
In this talk Chris Smith, postdoctoral affairs program administrator at Virginia Tech, will speak about resources and insights that could be useful to graduate students and postdoctoral associates planning to apply for faculty positions in Fall 2025. He will share data from a faculty applicant survey ran annually from 2018 to the present and highlight a data dashboard the team created to assist applicants in bench marking their competitiveness for faculty positions. https://www.research.vt.edu/about/postdoctoral-associates/postdoctoral-events-programs/2025/preparing-for-the-fall-2025-faculty-job-market.html.
22. GEARUP!
Tuesday, August 19, 8:30am-4:30pm, Graduate Life Center
Join us for GearUp!, a full-day workshop of multiple introductory programs for new graduate students. From an overview of the Ombuds office to wellness activities, the sessions in GearUp! are meant to give students the tools to navigate their graduate experience at Virginia Tech. If you have disability accommodation needs, please let us know at least 10 business days before the event. For more information visit https://graduateschool.vt.edu/student-services/gearup-fall-2025.html. Register at the link provided. https://forms.office.com/r/kBuwYy2mEJ.