PRISE Fellows

Summer Undergraduate Research Village 2012

FORMS
Fellow-initiated activities form (.pdf)
Faculty chat form (.pdf)
PRISE expense reimbursement form (.pdf)
Harvard Universal Expense Form (UEF) (.pdf)

WEEK X - 8/6/2012

[PRISE] FINAL PRESENATIONS THIS WEEK: The final presentation schedule with revisions has been attached to this message. IMPORTANT: Please arrive at Maxwell Dworkin by 2:30pm today and check in at the 1st floor landing where Jamie will be stationed, so that we can start promptly at 2:40pm. Presenters are encouraged to arrive early to set up and check their slides. Make sure you sign in for each talk you see--and please write your name legibly. These talks are open, and you are welcome to invite your PIs, lab colleagues, and peers for moral support! Finally, please stay through the end of the last talk, as it is important that everyone, regardless of presentation time, gets a sizable audience. Best wishes to all on your presentations this week!

[ALL] PRISE/BLISS/PRIMO 'THANK YOU' DINNER: Tomorrow's dinner should be fun--we have a healthy list of over 250 guests! When you arrive, please sign off with your party at the cashier's desk. Dinner hours will be extended to 5:30-9:00pm, and you may want to arrive later to avoid the early rush, which may be rather crowded due to the huge interest this year. This event is very informal as our regular Dudley Hall dinners are--simply a way for your lab colleagues to experience a typical evening with you and other fellows, and to thank them for their effort on your behalf in your research endeavors this summer.

[ALL] PRISE CLOSING DINNER: The amazing Closing Dinner, the final PRISE/BLISS/PRIMO event of the summer, will be held Thursday evening beginning with a reception at 5:45pm in the Williams Room of the Spangler Center at HBS. This is a spiffy final celebration for you, so shine your shoes! Please submit your survey response with your RSVP to Jamie straight away if you have not already done so, as this is a plated dinner affair and we need a very accurate number. Also, if you require a vegetarian meal, please let Jamie know if you already have not so indicated. As you likely will be dressed in your summer finery, a shuttle bus will be making runs between the front entry of Winthrop House and the Spangler Center beginning at 5:30pm for your convenience.

[ALL] POST-PROGRAM SURVEYS: The post-PRISE survey will open tomorrow. You will receive a separate notice, and I would appreciate it if you could complete the survey straight away. PRISE's success largely rides on the feedback we have received from prior cohorts, and I value very much your unfettered perspective on what you think we should continue doing or what could be made better. You have the opportunity to shape PRISE in the future by spending a few quick minutes sharing your thoughts. Indeed, some of the changes that were made to this year's Summer Village were the result of recommendations from prior years' PRISE, BLISS, and PRIMO cohorts. So, when the message comes, please heed the call! BLISS and PRIMO fellows will receive separate notices about surveys they will be asked to complete—stay tuned!

[ALL] POST-PROGRAM STORAGE: Storage will be available for the interim period at 20 DeWolfe Street. As before, please mark your belongings clearly with your name and program. You may store up to three boxes the size of which you can carry in two arms. (Again, one may be a small refrigerator.) Storage hours are as follows: Wednesday, 8/8, 7:30-9:00pm; Thursday, 8/9, 2:00-4:00pm; Friday, 8/10, 9am-11am and 3:00pm-5:00pm; Saturday, 8/11, 9am-11am. Please have all of your items stored BEFORE 11:00am on Saturday. You may retrieve your belongings during the Welcome Week hours established across all of the Houses. (I will send you a notice with the open hours at 20 DeWolfe the week before your return.)

[ALL] ACTIVITY REIMBURSEMENTS: Important! Please submit receipts from faculty chats and fellow-initiated activities to Jamie by the end of the day Tuesday, August 7, attached to the PRISE reimbursement form and the Harvard UEF form. Jamie will need to begin the processing of these reimbursements before you leave, and we would like to close the books on expenditures by the end of the week.

[ALL] RESIDENTIAL CHECK-OUT: Formal check-out is Friday and Saturday—proctors will be posting check-out information in the elevator lobbies for those individuals leaving during off-hours. YOU MUST COMPLETE THE POST-PRISE SURVEY, HAVE YOUR ROOM CHECKED BY A PROCTOR, AND RETURN YOUR KEY BEFORE YOU LEAVE, as indicated on the check out instructions you received last week. (We will have to notify the Office of Student Life about anyone who does not formally check out, which may negatively impact checking in at the beginning of the fall term.) Please remove all of your personal belongings and trash before you ask your proctor to check you out of your room. ALL ROOMS MUST BE VACATED BY 4:30PM SATURDAY AFTERNOON, and check out completed by 5:00pm. Due to the quick turn-around necessary by dorm crew, we have no flexibility on that score, so please be prepared!

[ALL] FINALLY, THANK YOU: The reason PRISE, BLISS, and PRIMO are so well regarded at Harvard is because you all have made it that way. BLISS and PRIMO certainly have added a welcome dimension to our summer research village, and I look forward to both programs growing and continuing to flourish as PRISE has. I think you all will agree it has been a fun, busy, productive summer, and I appreciate the contribution each of you has made to the success of P/B/P 2012. In addition, I’d like to thank our great staff of residential proctors, the tireless PRISE program assistants who make the summer hum, and of course Jamie Romine for helping me remember where I put my brain on a daily basis. I look forward to seeing you this week and especially at the Closing Dinner--a celebration of your great achievements and a testimony to the richness, enthusiasm, and inclusiveness of our undergraduate research community.

Best wishes for a memorable final week!

Yours truly—Greg L.

WEEK IX - 7/30/12

[ALL] PRESENTATION PRACTICUM TONIGHT--IMPORTANT!: As you know, the PRISE Program Assistant Fellows will be hosting the presentation practicum tonight from 7:30-9:00pm. Please refer to the table assignments attached to Monday morning's announcement message to find your group. If you don't have a laptop available, you may want to bring a flash drive or make arrangements to load your presentation onto someone's laptop who also is at your table. Each individual will get approximately 10 minutes to share their presentation draft, to practice and to get helpful feedback from other fellows. During the evening PRISE fellows also will be signing up for final presentation times next week, so please make sure not to miss this important event. At 7:25pm, you will be asked to begin migrating to your table assignments. You may still eat during this time, but please remember to stow your tray before the servery closes at 8:00pm.

[ALL] OPEN HOUSE WITH LEVERETT MASTERS TUESDAY NIGHT: Howard and Ann Georgi have invited PRISE, BLISS, and PRIMO Fellows to an Open House beginning at 8:30pm, complete with the infamous and irresistible Leverett Monkey Bread. Whatever you do, don’t miss this opportunity to taste this amazing traditional Leverett treat, and perhaps consider thanking the Georgis personally for their unending support of undergraduate researchers and their generous hospitality once again this summer.

[ALL] PBP ALUMNI DINNER WEDNESDAY: An invitation to all PRISE, BLISS, and PRIMO alumni was sent out last week inviting them to regular dinner on Wednesday. Individuals MUST be on the guest list for dinner, so if you know of an alumnus who is planning to attend, please make sure they follow the instructions to RSVP or get in touch with Jamie to be added to the list. Dinner hours will run the regular times, 6:00-8:00pm.

[ALL] DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER THURSDAY NIGHT: Our final formal Distinguished Speaker event of the summer will feature Professor Shah Khoshbin from the Department of Neurology at HMS, giving his popular lecture, “A Neurologist’s Portrait of Van Gogh.” This talk is also our final university-wide program of the summer, so please feel free to invite your friends and lab mates to join you Thursday evening, August 4, at 7:30pm in Sever 113.

[PRISE] FINAL PRESENTATIONS NEXT WEEK: Please make sure to alert your PI that you will need to be in Cambridge for the final PRISE presentations. In order to get all of the presentations done in three days, please plan on being in the Science Center at 2:30pm Monday-Wednesday of next week. Participation on each of these days is mandatory, to ensure that all PRISE fellows' presentations are well attended.

[ALL] PRISE 'THANK YOU' DINNER: You will have the opportunity to invite your PI and lab colleagues (up to six) for a special thank you dinner next Tuesday, August 7, from 5:30-9:00pm at Dudley House Dining Hall. Instructions will be sent out tomorrow with information about how to reserve spaces for your guests.

[ALL] PRISE/BLISS/PRIMO CLOSING DINNER: All PRISE/BLISS/PRIMO fellows are invited to the amazing closing dinner next Thursday evening, beginning at 5:45pm at the HBS Spangler Center. The dinner promises to be a fantastic closing event to a fantastic summer!! Please respond immediately to the RSVP prompt, which you will get later this week, so we can count accurately for the caterer.

[ALL] MOVE OUT--PRELIMINARY INFORMATION REMINDER: Just a head's up--given the very short duration between the end of PRISE and Opening Days for the fall term, ALL PRISE/BLISS/PRIMO FELLOWS MUST VACATE BY 5:00PM ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 11. Due to the short turn-around time to prepare, there will be no bridge housing or housing beyond August 13, even for special circumstances, so please plan ahead. Storage will be offered during the interim period, with open times beginning Wednesday, August 8 to be announced. You will be required to return your key and sign-out with a PRISE proctor, after you complete the PRISE post-program survey.

Looking forward to seeing you at the presentation practicum tonight,

Yours truly--Greg Llacer.

WEEK VIII - 7/23/2012

[ALL] SPECIAL SPEAKER TONIGHT: Professor Stephen Kosslyn, former Dean of Social Sciences and Professor of Psychology and currently director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, will give his special lecture on the cognitive principles on developing presentations, and more specifically PowerPoint Slides. This special seminar is to assist you in the preparation of your presentations for the end of the summer, and is mandatory as a faculty speaker event. The seminar will be held at 7:45pm in NWLabs 103. Please plan your dinner schedule and calendar accordingly.

[ALL] BLISS SPEAKER TUESDAY EVENING: Christopher Chablis, the author of the New York Times best-seller The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways Our Intuition Deceives US will be giving a special presentation on Tuesday evening, beginning at 7:30pm in the Belfer Case Study Room of CGIS-South (B-020). PRISE and PRIMO fellows are also invited and encouraged to attend this very entertaining and thought-provoking talk.

[PRISE] DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES THURSDAY EVENING: ALYSSA GOODMAN: Our Distinguished Speaker this Thursday evening is Professor Alyssa Goodman from the Department of Astronomy, whose work investigates how new stars are formed. PRISE Fellows, as you know, your participation is expected at this and all Distinguished Speaker events. Please contact me straight away if for some unavoidable reason you are unable to attend—I noted some absences last week, and as we go into the final weeks your attendance is still expected, so please be aware of your obligations all the way through to the end. Please feel free to bring a guest if you wish! Professor Goodman’s talk will begin at 7:30pm in Sever Hall 113.

[ALL] REIMBURSEMENTS: If you have receipts from organizing an event that you have not submitted for reimbursement, PLEASE DO SO STRAIGHT AWAY, so we can avoid a processing bottleneck at the end of the summer. Please complete the reimbursement forms and submit them along with your receipts to Richard Ebright as soon as possible.

[ALL] WHO WILL BE THE CLOSING FELLOW SPEAKER?: Do you have an idea who among your fellow Fellows would be great giving the send-off remarks at the Summer Undergraduate Research Village closing dinner? Is it you?? Please send your confidential nomination to me by e-mail by Wednesday, August 1. The PRISE/BLISS/PRIMO Fellow Speaker will have the opportunity to make a prepared address of 5-8 minutes at the very conclusion of the dinner, and the summer. Past esteemed speakers include Alice Li and Chris Hernandez (2011), Lawrence Benjamin (2010), Ernie Fontes (2009), James Pelletier (2008), Victoria Clark (2007), and Charlie Nathanson (2006).

With all best wishes for another great week!

Yours truly—Greg L.

WEEK VII - 7/16/2012

[ALL] TONIGHT: PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR RESEARCHERS: Believe it or not, the time has come for all PRISE, BLISS, and PRIMO fellows to begin preparing for presentation days. Tonight will be my own turn to deliver a presentation, Public Speaking for Researchers, which will be held beginning at 7:45pm in Boylston 103. This will be a brief, 40 minute presentation on practical considerations for putting together, organizing and delivering a research talk, which I highly recommend especially to those who never have given a formal talk before. At the end, I will be providing information about the presentation practicum (Monday, July 30), how signing up works for slots during our 3-days of presentations during the last week (PRISE fellows only), and answering whatever questions you may have.

[ALL] FACULTY CHATS REMINDER: Last week I sent a reminder about the parameters for faculty chats. If you have questions about hosting, please contact Jamie or me soon as time is now somewhat of the essence. If you intend to host, please download a faculty chat form from the PRISE web site fellows page (http://prise.harvard.edu/PRISEFacultyChatForm2012.pdf ), find at least seven of your research colleagues who promise to attend, have them co-sign your hosting form, and return to Jamie as soon as possible

[PRISE] DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES THURSDAY EVENING: MELISSA FRANKLIN: You are in for a treat with Melissa Franklin, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics, our next Distinguished Speaker. Professor Franklin is Harvard’s first female faculty physicist with a world-wide reputation for her subatomic particle research, and probably will have a lot to say about the Higgs boson phenomenon as Professor Georgi, maybe more! Just a reminder, your participation is expected at this and all Distinguished Speaker events for PRISE fellows. Please contact me straight away if for some unavoidable reason you are unable to attend. BLISS and PRIMO fellows (and your guests) also are invited to attend this talk. Professor Franklin’s talk will begin at 7:30pm in Sever Hall 113.

[ALL] OFFICE CLOSING THIS WEEK: The Office for Undergraduate Research Initiatives will be CLOSED COMPLETELY on Friday to move to our new location at 77 Dunster Street. Any administrative matters for the end of the week must be conducted on Thursday (including dinner guest pass requests for Friday), as we will be without phone or computers for the day.

[ALL] SPECIAL SPEAKER NEXT MONDAY NIGHT, JULY 23: Professor Stephen Kosslyn, former Dean of Social Sciences and Professor of Psychology and currently director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, will give his special lecture on the cognitive principles on developing presentations, and more specifically PowerPoint Slides. This special seminar is to assist you in the preparation of your presentations for the end of the summer, and is mandatory as a faculty speaker event. The seminar will be held at 7:45pm in NWLabs 103. Please plan your dinner schedule and calendar accordingly.

WEEK VI - 7/9/2012

[ALL] ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND RESEARCH—A SPECIAL DINNER AND I-LAB PRESENTATION: A reminder that tonight the dining hall will be closed, as an informal dinner will be served as part of our PBP introduction to the Harvard Innovation Laboratory, hosted by director Gordon Jones. Dinner will be served beginning at 6:30pm, during which Gordon will give a presentation on entrepreneurship and its relationship to research. Certainly tonight should be great for an evening stroll to HBS. Here is a map to the i-Lab, which is about a 10-minute walk from our side of the JFK bridge:

[ALL] FACULTY CHATS REMINDER: Please begin now to plan for your faculty chat, as these events tend to crowd the final weeks of the summer. As you know, faculty chats are informal, small group gatherings during which PRISE fellows have the opportunity to discuss the research of principal investigators in a small-group setting. To be eligible for a food budget, you simply need to select a date (all dates and times are good, except seminar and distinguished speaker evenings) print out the faculty chat form, from the PRISE web site fellows page (http://prise.harvard.edu/PRISEFacultyChatForm2012.pdf ), find at least seven of your research colleagues who promise to attend, have them co-sign your hosting form, and return to me. I hope you take advantage of this great opportunity to invite faculty to join us this summer--I am sure your PI would be honored by the invitation.

[PRISE] A SPECIAL DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES EVENT THIS THURSDAY EVENING: HOWARD GEORGI: Due to the high degree of interest about the recent news about the Higgs Boson particle, Professor Howard Georgi has agreed to speak to us about what this means for physics and science at 7:30pm Thursday in Sever Hall 113. This will be an open university PRISE talk, so feel free to bring a guest or two, and BLISS/PRIMO fellows of course are invited to attend. (As usual, the servery in the dining hall will close at 7:15pm.)

[ALL] WHALE WATCH AND MUSEUM OF SCIENCE TICKETS: Don’t miss the annual Whale Watch this Sunday, July 15! Tickets will be available from me on a first-come, first-served basis this Thursday evening at dinner. In addition, we also have tickets for each fellow to go to the Museum of Science, which also will be distributed Thursday (and after from Jamie at the office during regular business hours). The Museum of Science tickets are good any time the museum is open, so why not get a group together for an impromptu visit?

WEEK V - 7/2/2012

[PRISE] SCREENING OF ‘NATURALLY OBSESSED’ TONIGHT: A special screening of the great documentary movie about pursuing a Ph.D. in research, “Naturally Obsessed,” will be shown tonight at 7:45pm, in Harvard Hall 202. This critically-acclaimed hour-long film promoted by PBS follows three graduate students guided by Columbia Professor Lawrence Shapiro, as they work to decipher the structure and mechanism of AMPK, a protein that controls the burning and storage of fat. The screening will be Craig Rodgers from the Bureau of Study Counsel. All PRISE fellows are strongly encouraged to attend!

[ALL] OFFICE CLOSINGS THIS WEEK: Greg and Jamie’s offices will be closed on Tuesday beginning at 2:00pm, and Wednesday, Independence Day, is a university holiday. Labs and the dining hall, as well as all Harvard academic and services units (except emergency services), will be closed all day Wednesday. This will give you the opportunity to fully enjoy your 4th of July experience on the Esplanade! Also, please note that the OURI office hours for Thursday and Friday are normal: Thursday, 8:30am-5:30pm and Friday, 9:00am-12:00noon.

[PRISE, PRIMO] DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES THURSDAY EVENING: SCOTT KOMINERS: Our PRISE Distinguished Speaker this week is PRISE Fellow Scott Kominers, currently a Fellow at the Becker Friedman Institute of the University of Chicago. Scott is the first-ever fellow to be invited back to conduct a research talk since being an undergraduate and you’ll find he is a pretty interesting, inspiring guy. Just a reminder, your participation is expected at this and all Distinguished Speaker events for PRISE fellows. Please contact me straight away if for some unavoidable reason you are unable to attend. BLISS fellows also are invited to attend this talk. Dr. Kominers’s talk will begin at 7:30pm in Sever Hall 113.

[ALL] PRISE/BLISS/PRIMO NIGHT AT THE HARVARD I-LAB NEXT MONDAY, JULY 9: Please note that the dining hall will be closed next Monday evening, July 9, as we will be dining at the Harvard i-Lab on the HBS campus beginning at 6:30pm. At 7:30pm the director of the i-Lab, Gordon Jones, will give a brief presentation on research and entrepreneurship and how undergraduates may consider using the i-Lab to assist making connections and generating creative concepts in your research that may be parlayed into future commodities.

Have a terrific week and enjoy the 4th!

Yours truly—Greg L.

WEEK IV - 6/25/2012

[PRISE] PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES—GSAS GRAD SCHOOL FAIR: PRISE Fellows (actually, BLISS and PRIMO Fellows, too) interested in graduate degree programs in the sciences are encouraged to visit representatives of Harvard FAS science departments at the GSAS Grad School Fair, in the Dudley Dining Hall from 3:00-5:00pm on Wednesday, June 27. There will be a panel discussion on getting into graduate school from 3:00-4:00pm, and then the departmental fair between 4:00-5:00pm.

[ALL] HARVARD SUMMER ALL-SCIENCE BARBEQUE: PRISE Fellows will be dining at the Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub for dinner on Wednesday night, June 27, as part of the Harvard All-Science Exchange, including summer science programs hosted by Harvard affiliates across Cambridge and Longwood. Please note that the barbeque will run from 5:00-7:00pm. Please note that Dudley House will be open for very limited service, primarily for BLISS and PRIMO fellows. The pub puts on a terrific event, and it is a great night to meet and hang out with other program fellows.

[PRISE] DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES THURSDAY EVENING: Our PRISE Distinguished Speaker this week is Professor Emery Brown, professor in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, who specializes in neural signal processing and how anesthetic drugs act in the brain to create the state of general anesthesia. Just a reminder, your participation is expected at this and all Distinguished Speaker events for PRISE fellows. Please contact me straight away if for some unavoidable reason you are unable to attend. BLISS and PRIMO fellows also are invited to attend these talks. Professor Brown’s talk will begin at 7:30pm in Sever Hall 113.

[ALL] DUDLEY MEAL SERVICE EARLY CLOSING: The server at Dudley House will close at 7:15pm on Thursday evening before the distinguished speaker event. As the walk to Sever is a little bit farther, and so we do not end the lecture late, PRISE Fellows should arrange to conclude dinner by 7:20pm so you have enough time to get to Sever promptly.

[PRISE] PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES: SCREENING OF ‘NATURALLY OBSESSED’: A special screening of the great documentary movie about pursuing a Ph.D. in research, “Naturally Obsessed,” will be shown next Monday evening, June 2, at 7:45pm (location TBA). This critically-acclaimed hour-long film promoted by PBS follows three graduate students guided by Columbia Professor Lawrence Shapiro, as they work to decipher the structure and mechanism of AMPK, a protein that controls the burning and storage of fat. The screening will be hosted by MCB Professor Rachelle Gaudet, and Craig Rodgers from the Bureau of Study Counsel. All PRISE fellows are strongly encouraged to attend!

[ALL] WEDNESDAY, JULY 4: Next Wednesday, Independence Day, is a university holiday. Labs and the dining hall, as well as all Harvard academic and services units (except emergency services), will be closed. This will give you the opportunity to fully enjoy your 4th of July experience on the Esplanade!

Have a terrific week,

Yours truly—Greg L.

WEEK III - 6/18/2012

[ALL] RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT IN RESEARCH SEMINAR TONIGHT: Tonight is the mandatory research integrity training certification seminar, hosted by Logan McCarty, Director of Physical Sciences Education. The seminar will take you through three interesting case studies that will encourage you to consider how to recognize matters of responsible conduct in research. The seminar will be held beginning at 7:45pm (to give you some extra time for travel from the dining hall) in Science Center D. At the end of the seminar, you will be asked to sign in for verification of participation that will be kept on record to show you have completed the training workshop.

[ALL] EVENT CALENDAR: As you may know, the activities calendaring meeting took place Thursday, and most of the events scheduled for the rest of the summer have been added to the calendar at https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=t7nl8ldajor79899rqsjng88m8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York . Please note that further information will be made available when the activity hosts provide details (such as time and meeting place). You likely will see invitations go out over the listserv, especially for those activities that are happening this coming weekend. Please note some of these activities (such as those that require transportation) may have space limits. These events likely will be first-come, first-served instead of the lottery system used by my office, so be aware if you are interested to contact the organizers straight away. As soon as I get word of the particulars of an activity, the details will go up on the web calendar.

[BLISS, PRIMO] COMMUNITY DINNER MEETINGS: You will be getting e-mail this week about the details of your community dinner meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. Stay tuned, and make sure to attend!

[PRISE, BLISS] RESEARCH AND TRAVEL SUPPORT: A few checks remain to be collected. Please contact Jamie at 617.384-7959 to arrange to come by to pick up your check if you have not done so already.

[PRISE] DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES THURSDAY EVENING: Our PRISE Distinguished Speaker this week is none other than Erin O’Shea, professor of molecular and cellular biology, and chemistry and chemical biology, as well as director of the Center for Systems Biology. Just a reminder, your participation is expected at this and all Distinguished Speaker events for PRISE fellows. Please contact me straight away if for some unavoidable reason you are unable to attend. (BLISS and PRIMO fellows also are invited to attend these talks.) Professor O’Shea’s talk will begin at 7:30pm in the Fong Auditorium (Boylston Hall).

[ALL] DUDLEY MEAL SERVICE EARLY CLOSING AND GUEST PASSES: The dining hall will close at 7:30pm on Thursday evening before the distinguished speaker event. Please make sure you arrive to eat no later than 7:15pm. Also, a small clarification: because of their popularity, guest passes are available on a single-use basis only. After the date for which you have used the pass, please return it to Jamie (or hand it off to the next user, per Jamie’s e-mail instructions to you. Please do not keep the pass to use for two consecutive evenings as others are waiting for the pass.

[ALL] FACULTY CHATS REMINDER: How great would it be for your PI to speak to a small group over a meal?? Please begin now to plan for your faculty chat, as these events tend to crowd the final weeks of the summer. As you know, faculty chats are informal, small group gatherings during which PRISE fellows have the opportunity to discuss the research of principal investigators in a small-group setting. To be eligible for a food budget, you simply need to select a date (all dates and times are good, except seminar and distinguished speaker evenings) print out the faculty chat form, from the PRISE web site fellows page (http://prise.harvard.edu/PRISEFacultyChatForm2012.pdf ), find at least seven of your reserch colleagues who promise to attend, have them co-sign your hosting form, and return to me. I hope you take advantage of this great opportunity to invite faculty to join us this summer--I am sure your PI would be honored by the invitation.

WEEK II - 6/11/2012

[ALL] PROPOSAL PRESENTATIONS MEETING TONIGHT: I am very much looking forward to the proposal presentations tonight. Because of the huge interest in submitting, we will meet in the Winthrop JCR at 7:45pm (instead of 8:30pm). The process will include proposal presentation, question and answers and review of budgets. Organizers of selected proposals will receive an e-mail inviting them to the scheduling meeting, which will be held Thursday night after the Distinguished Speaker event. Once the schedule is set, the next iteration of the calendar showing the new activities will go up on the PRISE website on Monday. BLISS/PRIMO fellows will get updates from their program directors that will include their activities as well.

[PRISE, BLISS] RESEARCH AND TRAVEL SUPPORT: Please see Jamie to receive your checks, which have come in. Regular office hours are 8:30am-5:30pm Monday through Thursday and 9am,-12noon Friday, but we both have travel during some parts of the day so it is a good idea to check if you can before you arrive.

[PRISE] DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES THURSDAY EVENING: This week’s Distinguished Speaker for PRISE is Xiao-Li Meng, Professor and Chair of the Department of Statistics, who will be speaking about the Simpson’s Paradox and how it may apply to your own life. Just a reminder, your participation is expected at this and all Distinguished Speaker events for PRISE fellows. Please contact me straight away if for some unavoidable reason you are unable to attend. BLISS and PRIMO fellows also are invited to attend these talks. Professor Meng’s talk will begin at 7:30pm in the Fong Auditorium (Boylston Hall).

[ALL] DUDLEY MEAL SERVICE EARLY CLOSING: The dining hall will close at 7:15pm on Thursday evening before the distinguished speaker event. So as not to miss dinner, please make sure you arrive to eat no later than 7:15pm.

[ALL] FACULTY CHATS: Along with our effort to fill in the calendar scheduled fellow- and program-initiated activities, you are now invited to host faculty chats at Winthrop or another place of your choosing. Faculty chats are informal, small group gatherings during which PRISE, BLISS and PRIMO fellows have the opportunity to discuss the research of principal investigators in a small-group setting. To be eligible for a food budget, you simply need to select a date (all dates and times are good, except seminar and distinguished speaker evenings) print out the faculty chat form, from the PRISE web site fellows page (http://prise.harvard.edu/PRISEFacultyChatForm2012.pdf ), find at least seven of your PRISE/BLISS/PRIMO colleagues who promise to attend, have them co-sign your hosting form, and return to me. I hope you take advantage of this great opportunity this summer, and I am sure your PI would be honored by the invitation.

[ALL] WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS REDUX: Can’t find the weekly announcements in your e-mail? Make sure to check out the web version: http://prise.harvard.edu/fellows.html, and the Google calendar at https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=t7nl8ldajor79899rqsjng88m8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York .
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WEEK I - 6/4/2012

[ALL] SUMMER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN: Believe it or not, we already have had a couple of reports about stranger dangers, out in the open and in broad daylight, as well as someone trying to get into the building to “see a friend.” Please be vigilant and if possible travel in groups, and do not allow individuals you do not know into the building. If you are expecting visitors, please meet them at the double door and escort them in and out. I know this is a hassle, but someone whose laptop or other valuable could otherwise be stolen at some point will be thanking you in advance.

[ALL] SUMMER ACTIVITIES MEETING TONIGHT!: Now that all of our programs are in full swing, one of the most important meetings of the summer takes place tonight, at 8:30pm in the Winthrop House JCR: the research and social activities groups will convene to develop Fellow-initiated proposals to fill the rest of the summer calendar. This meeting is really the beginning of what defines each cohort of PRISE, BLISS and PRIMO, and all three programs together--so, I encourage you to actively participate, and challenge you to think creatively and expansively about how you can contribute to defining this summer!

[ALL] DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES THURSDAY EVENING: Our PRISE Distinguished Speaker this week is Professor Noam Elkies, professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics, delivering his typically amazing lecture about the mathematical properties of music, from the seat of the concert grand piano. This is a special, open university lecture, so please feel free to invite your friends and lab colleagues. As this lecture will take place in Dudley House Dining Hall. PLEASE NOTE: Dinner will end promptly at 7:30pm so we can convert the space to a concert hall to begin the lecture at 8:00pm.

[BLISS, PRIMO] COMMUNITY DINNER MEETINGS: You will be getting e-mail directly about the details of your community dinner meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Stay tuned, and make sure to attend!

[ALL] ATHLETIC PASS UPDATE: I have been informed by Athletics that all swipes should now be working. If you have a problem getting into an athletic facility (MAC, Blodgett, and Hemenway Gym), please let me know. Your swipes are activated through the end of the summer (August 11, 2012).

[ALL] MEAL SERVICE: Dinner service at Dudley House began last night (as you no doubt know), and is available each week night from 6:00-8:00pm (except on nights of PRISE faculty Thursday events, when dinner will conclude at 7:20pm), and requires your HUID to swipe in. Although the dining hall is open until 8:00, please try to get there by 7:40 at the latest to get food, so the dining hall staff is not delayed in closing. Please note that guests may not enter on your swipe--you must sign up with Jamie to have guests at dinner, and receive a guest swipe card so we can keep accurate records of meals served. You will be turned away at the entrance to get your HUID to dine, so please be aware.

Beginning tomorrow morning (Wednesday), we will begin experimenting with a very limited early-riser breakfast cart in the JCR, for those of you on the move between 6:30-8:00am. The cart will carry continental breakfast items such as cold cereal, oatmeal, fruit, and coffee. Please note that the intention is not to provide a full breakfast but something modest to get early bird starters, and items will be available only until they run out each morning (so very sorry up front if you miss out). We are going to see how this goes as a service over the next few weeks and will try to gauge interest as well as our own capacity to figure out on a daily basis what to stock. I would appreciate it if you could make sure to dispose of whatever items you use and keep the JCR clean during the early morning.

[PRISE, BLISS] In addition to dinner and our early breakfast cart, Fellows in Longwood and Cambridge who have been issued HUDS cards may dine at one of the HUDS outposts listed here: http://dining.harvard.edu/retail_dining/locations.html . The debit card has a fixed amount for the whole summer. The daily limit on food purchases is $10--however, you need to plan a budget if you want the subsidy to last through the end of the summer. The purpose of this 'alllowance' is to exchange for the less-flexible continental breakfast we provided in the past. Although this HUDS card option is somewhat restrictive in the limited Harvard venues that will accept it, this is the best, most convenient option and I hope you find it helps you out during the day, whatever your eating habits are.

Fellows working at labs outside of Longwood or Cambridge who did not receive a card will receive a stipend check in the same amount, plus travel expenses if eligible, which should be generated this week. If you have questions about your own meal service or if it is not clear where you may eat during the day, please send them to Jamie instead of the PRISE list.

[PRIMO] PRIMO fellows will get information directly from the PRIMO staff about eating on the HBS campus.

[PRISE, BLISS] RESEARCH AND TRAVEL SUPPORT: We are in the final stages of generating checks to those of you who are eligible for research support from PRISE or BLISS. You already should have received a message from Jamie about accepting the research award on line if you are eligible. Please note that if you are in international student, there is a delay in processing due to other steps that are required by FAS to issue payment. Most of these payments will be made within the next week, and you will be notified by e-mail about picking up the checks when they have been generated. If you are getting a monthly T-pass you are encouraged not to wait for the check to arrive—the savings will be greater if you buy your T-pass by the end of the day today (at the Harvard Square T station pass office).

[ALL] SUMMER SAVINGS OBLIGATION FOR FINANCIAL AID: Any PRISE, BLISS, or PRIMO fellow who is a financial aid recipient will receive summer savings support as a term bill credit. You will be notified after July 1 when we get the verification list from the financial aid office. If you are a Herchel Smith recipient and a PRISE fellow, your summer savings credit will come from the Herchel Smith program instead of PRISE.

[ALL] PRISE CALENDAR: Please check the PRISE calendar (http://prise.harvard.edu/calendar.html) on line often, as the latest all-program activities will be updated there. In addition, these announcements will be repeated on the PRISE Fellows' page (http://prise.harvard.edu/fellows.html), if for some chance you miss the e-mail transmission. Please note: BLISS and PRIMO fellows are invited to all events on the PRISE calendar (which is serving as our “Summer Research Village” calendar). BLISS and PRIMO fellows will receive direct mail calendars from their respective program directors; PRISE fellows invited to BLISS and/or PRIMO events will be notified by e-mail.

[ALL] PRISE-LIST: Please make sure the content of your PRISE-list email does not include requests for information about housing, dining, swiping, building matters, or other operational concerns. Please send those requests for information to me or Jamie directly so we can make sure you get the accurate information you need.

[ALL] ACTIVITIES LOTTERIES: This week we have two great traditional Boston events to choose from to enter the lottery, activities for which we get a small block of tickets for PRISE, BLISS, and PRIMO fellows: a Red Sox game in Fenway Park Friday night, and the annual gospel concert of the Boston Pops, in the beautiful Symphony Hall. You will receive instructions about entering the lotteries today and tomorrow by e-mail. Be sure to reply when prompted!

[ALL] OURI OFFICE HOURS: To accommodate your research schedule this summer, the Office for Undergraduate Research Initiatives at 54 Dunster (OCS) will be open Monday through Thursday from 8:30am-5:30pm, and Friday 8:30am-12:00noon (unless you are otherwise notified). If you need assistance before 9:00am or after 5:00pm when the building is locked, please ring the bell at the right side of the door and we will come down to help you.

With all best wishes for a great week, and looking forward to seeing you tonight at the activities meeting,

Yours truly—Greg L.