Highlights for this issue

• NEW — Be part of the 2015 Mapping the New Knowledges Graduate Student Research Conference:  All Brock graduate students are invited to participate in the 10th annual conference, Thursday, April 9, 2015, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Deadlines are coming up as follows:
Three Minute Thesis® (3MT®) contest — Register online by Friday, Jan. 23
The contest is open to:

• currently registered graduate students who have made substantial progress (currently in 'final stage' status) in a master's by thesis, a master's by research project, or a PhD program;
• graduate students who have successfully defended their thesis, but have not yet graduated are eligible

Call for Oral and Poster Proposals — Submit proposals by Friday, Feb. 20
Graduate students at all stages of their research are invited to display a poster or give an oral presentation.
Visit the MNK website for more details and to submit abstracts.

This year participants in the MNK conference events will earn credit toward a Vitae Essential Skills certificate awarded by the Dean of Graduate Studies. To find out more about this certificate, please visit Vitae Essential Skills website.

• NEW — 2015 TA Award Nominations: The Centre for Pedagogical Innovation (CPI) invites nominations for the awards that recognize the important contributions to the University by teaching assistants, seminar leaders and lab demonstrators
There are 3 TA Awards
1) Novice TA Award (Value: $300; sponsored by CPI),
2) TA Award (Value: $500; sponsored by CPI)
3) Graduate TA Award (Value: $400; sponsored by the Faculty of Graduate Studies)
Deadline: Friday, March 6
Questions? Contact the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation at X 3933 or cpi@brocku.ca

Vitae Essential Research Communication Skills Series for Graduate Students:

Communication skills are a constellation of skill sets most valued by employers. We've designed a series of workshops for you to develop and rehearse specific communication skills that extend and complement your rich academic skills. Learn more about the series and certification

• Thursday, Jan. 29, 4 to 6 pm, Cairns 207 – Make Sense of Your Transferable Skills: Your graduate education and other supporting experiences provide you with a rich complement of essential skills that employers seek. Actively discuss, distill, map & articulate your unique skills that help you stand out from the crowd. This conversational workshop will help you identify & illustrate your existing skill stories so you can convey your strengths to an employer with ease.
Facilitator: Kate Cassidy, Director, Youth University & Community Learning
To register

• Saturday, Feb. 7, 2 to 4 p.m. (location TBD) Performing the Text: Learn strategies to relax and prepare your mind and body for a presentation, connect your voice with gestures, hook your audience with a compelling 'opener' and rehearse techniques to minimize performance anxiety. This session is suitable for students participating in the 3MT® competition or generally interested in enhancing their presentation skills.
Facilitator: Julia Course, actor & performance coach.
To register >>

• DEADLINE – Friday Jan. 23. BLUEPRINT: Much more than a business competition, Blueprint is an exciting program designed to give undergraduate, graduate students and alumni a chance to develop and grow their ideas and businesses. All applicants are eligible to participate in the 'pitch' /business development seminars. Read more  See Kick-Starting program below.

DEADLINE – Friday, Jan. 23 – Last Day to Register for 3MT!
Graduate students have until Friday, Jan. 23 to register for the 2015 Three Minute Thesis® (3MT®) contest. For more details about the contest and to fill out the online registration form, visit the 3MT® website

• Entrepreneurship 101: free online course from MARS Canada's largest live and online entrepreneurship course. Aimed at technology entrepreneurs and social innovators, the course covers the fundamentals of starting and building a new venture. Aimed at technology entrepreneurs and social innovators, the course covers the fundamentals of starting and building a new venture.

The e-Bulletin is also posted online.
Previous issues of e-Bulletin are posted online.

TAKE NOTE
Deadlines or events that will occur between this issue and the first week of the next issue are highlighted for your immediate attention.

Scholarships/Awards/Grants

• NEW — Canadian Institutes of Health Research IHSRP Travel Awards: IHSPR will provide travel awards in 2014-2015 for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and new investigators to attend and present their research at meetings, conferences (including international conferences) and/or symposia that align with the Institute's mandate and advance their professional development and/or knowledge translation initiatives in health services and policy research.
See more information online.

• NEW — 2015 SSHRC Impact Awards competition — Talent Award: The Talent Award recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual who, at the nomination deadline, holds a SSHRC doctoral or postdoctoral fellowship or scholarship (including, but not limited to, a Canada Graduate Scholarship, Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship or Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship). The Talent Award is given to an individual who maintains academic excellence, has a talent for research and knowledge mobilization and has demonstrated clear potential to be a future leader within and/or outside the academic sector.
Award value: $50,000
The competition will open in January. Institutions will have until the beginning of April 2015 to submit their nominations. Winners will be announced in the fall of 2015.
See information on the awards website.

• NEW — Esri Canada $1,000 GIS Student Scholarship Program: This award will be granted to a current Brock student who desires to pursue a career in GIS studies, and is open to undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines. See website for guidelines, the application process, project content, deliverables, and the recipient's responsibilities to Esri.
http://www.brocku.ca/maplibrary/digital/Esri_scholarship
Deadline: Friday, Jan. 30
Students will be vying for the scholarship by presenting their proposals on Thursday, Feb. 5 between 12 noon and 2 p.m. in the MDG Library (MC C306).

• NEW — Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Young Researchers Award: The GBIF Secretariat invites proposals from graduate students for the 2015 GBIF Young Researchers Award. This prize intends to foster innovative research and discovery in biodiversity informatics by graduate students. This year, GBIF will present two awards of €4,000 each to one master's student and one doctoral student. Students must apply through and be nominated by a Head of Delegation (HoD) of a GBIF Participant country.
Deadline: Tuesday, March 3
See website for more information

• Student international funding opportunities: Visit Brock International for a listing of scholarship and awards programs

• Brock Library Open Access Publishing Fund: Open to Brock faculty, graduate students and postdocs. The purpose of this grant is to assist researchers in disseminating their research broadly via an Open Access (OA) journal. A minimum of four awards will be granted, to a maximum of $2,500 each [Total funds = $10,000]. This Grant is intended to support researchers with limited or no funding. If an alternate funding source is available that permits payment of submission fees (e.g. a research grant), that source must be used before applying to the OA Publishing Fund.
For more information contact: Barbara McDonald, Ext. 3949

Vitae: Essential Skills for Graduate Students

Academic and professional development program for graduate students provided in partnership with nine campus units.

Vitae Partners Presents:

NEW - Saturday, Jan. 17, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 18, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship: Improving Your Pitch Weekend: This weekend will focus on helping participants improve their presentation skills when pitching a business idea. There will also be seminars and a mentorship component to the weekend. Register here

NEW – Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1 to 2 p.m. Join the Conversation: Learning Services Program:
Session1: Cultural Approaches to Writing: Creating a North American Essay
When/ where: Classroom B from 1 to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Writing styles approaches, and academic expectations vary across culture. The expectations of what creates "excellent writing" in North America can be confusing to students who have studied in other countries. Read more

NEW - Saturday, Jan. 24, 9 to 10:20 a.m. Un/Civil Learning Communities
Digital and F2F Strategies, THISTLE 253 e-classroom: As a TA, you are on the front line of many potential conflicts and must strike a balance between encouraging students to voice their educated opinions while being mindful of how unreflective comments can have unintended consequences. This workshop will examine the thin line between uncivil and civil behaviour with a view to creating a civil learning community, both in your face-to-face and digital interactions.
Facilitator: Prof. Zopito Marini, Department of Child and Youth Studies
Registration is required. Should you be unable to attend please de-register online or contact CPI at cpita@brocku.ca.

NEW- Saturday, Jan. 24, 10:30 to 11:50 a.m. Student Mental Well-Being and Our Role as "Authority Figures", TH253 e-classroom: An environment of understanding and acceptance is crucial to the promotion of student learning (i.e., it is essential for attention and retention of information). Please come prepared to share and learn about some of the unique difficulties students may experience as well as ways to promote mental health in an academic environment.
Facilitator: Amanda Bolger, Department of Psychology
Registration is required. Should you be unable to attend please de-register online or contact CPI at cpita@brocku.ca.

NEW - Monday, Jan. 26, 5 to 8 p.m. Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship: Personality Dimensions Seminar — the topic will be personal dimensions and recognizing different learning and operating styles. Read more

• Calling all Writers! We are recruiting graduate level students (Masters/PhD) for volunteer writers: contributing creative and stimulating blog content. Writers will have some editorial range yet provide a voice for the graduate student experience. Writers must submit sample of writing. For more details, please contact kperry@brocku.ca

Please continue to visit our website for professional development programs and workshops.

Conferences and Events

• Mark your calendar — 2014-15 Mapping the New Knowledges: Planning is under way for the annual graduate student research conference on Thursday, April 9, as the FGS celebrates MNK's 10th anniversary.

See a list of MNK important dates.

GSA

• NEW — GSA Health and Dental Winter Term Opt-in Cutoff: The cut-off for students who want to add their families, or part-time/new students who want to sign up for coverage, is Friday, Jan. 30, at 4 pm. See the GSA website under Health and Dental for details and application form.

Upcoming Thesis Defences

All are welcome to attend but seating is limited.

• NEW — Dan Girdler, MA student in Applied Health Sciences, (Health & Physical Education), will defend his thesis on Friday, Jan. 23, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Walker Complex 203.
Title: "Community, School and Sport: Experiences of male youth from Rexdale"

Please check department program websites to confirm dates, times and locations in the event of changes to the information.

News

• NEW — Deadline for Brock's Three Minute Thesis competition is fast approaching

• NEW — Wilfrid Laurier researcher to become Brock's new Dean of Applied Health Sciences

• NEW — Brock's Dean of Humanities renewed for another year, but he's moving on

• NEW — Brock selected for student GIS Scholarship

• NEW — Office of Research Services "Consider This" podcast series:
December: How can we build a sustainable society: How we can lead more sustainable lives and why it is important to consider the impact we have on the environment — hear a podcast discussion about those questions with Liette Vasseur, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences; Ian Brindle, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Diane Dupont, professor in the Department of Economics

January: What gives us a sense of well-being?: The holiday tree has been taken down. The credit card bills are starting to pour in and it's cold and dark outside. 'Tis the season when thoughts turn to the concept of "well-being." What exactly is well-being? What are the beliefs and practices that create – and sustain – a sense of well-being? Our guests are Michael Busseri, associate professor, Department of Psychology, Colleen Hood, professor, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, and Kathy Belicki, professor, Department of Psychology.
Podcast discussion

The Faculty of Graduate Studies e-Bulletin is distributed every two to four weeks. Past issues are posted online.