Highlights for this issue

• 10th Annual Mapping the New Knowledges Graduate Student Research Conference, Thursday, April 9, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Plaza Building and Cairns Complex with GSA Social to follow in Isaac’s: Everyone is welcome to join us for our 10th anniversary celebration of graduate student research excellence.
Approximately 120 Brock graduate students are participating in this year’s conference that includes a keynote address, oral and poster sessions and the finals of Brock’s 2015 Three Minute Thesis Contest. The day will also feature the presentation of the Graduate Mentorship Awards and, for the first time, the Marilyn Rose Graduate Leadership Award.
See an overview of the conference schedule here.
PhD Comics — special anniversary event: The FGS will welcome Jorge Cham, creator of PhD Comics, to campus on Friday, April 10. Jorge will be in Thistle 325 to give a lecture, "The Power of Procrastination" and book signing from 2:30 to 4 p.m., followed by the screening of The PhD Movie from 4 to 5 p.m.
Research Matters Curiosity Shop coming to Brock on Thursday, April 9, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Isaac’s: In conjunction with the 10th anniversary of MNK, Research Services is hosting the Research Matters “Curiosity Shop.” Come to the booth to ask any questions you might have about any subject! Faculty and student researchers from one or more of Ontario’s 21 universities will answer your questions later online. The booth is a great way to engage in research conversations. Volunteers are needed to staff the booth for one-hour (or more) shifts. Faculty, students and staff interested in helping out can sign up at the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) office or contact cmajtenyi@brocku.ca; 905-688-5550, x5789.

• SHIFT Graduate Student Conference: Professional skills conference for graduate students to assist with making ‘the SHIFT’ from ‘learning to earning’: uncover, discover, explore and articulate your well-developed higher order skills. Making sense of your graduate level skills and understand how these skills transfer to other areas of work.
Event Date: Thursday, April 30, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Pond Inlet


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

• The Mitacs Accelerate Program provides funding for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to apply their specialized expertise to business-related research challenges. Partners can be either for-profit businesses or not-for-profit organizations. For more information contact Louisa Ho, Commercialization Research Officer at lho@brocku.ca. Click here for more details.

• 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.

• Board of Trustees Spirit of Brock Awards: The awards recognize students who have demonstrated characteristics of leadership, courage, innovation, inspiration and community involvement. There will be a Spirit of Brock medal presented to a graduating student during the Spring Convocation ceremonies of each of Brock's Faculties. Information concerning the Spirit of Brock Award, and the application, is posted here.
NOTE: to be nominated for this honour, a graduating student, either a master’s and doctoral student, must fill out a paper application.

• Deadline: Applications for the 2015 Spring Convocation awards must be received by April 2.

• 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
Deadline: Institutions will have until Wednesday, April 8, to submit their nominations. Winners will be announced in the fall of 2015.
See information on the awards website.

• NEW —Douglas McRorie Memorial Scholarship: The scholarship provides financial support to master’s or PhD students specializing in agricultural business, economics, finance or trade. This scholarship is administered by the Agricultural Institute of Canada Foundation and is made possible through support from the RBC Foundation. Two scholarships will be offered in 2015: one for master’s level students at $3,000 and one for PhD students at $5,000. Application guidelines and application form are available online at: http://www.aicfoundation.ca/mcrorie/.
Deadline for application: Wednesday, April 8

• NEW — Dr. Karl C. Ivarson Scholarship: The scholarship provides financial support to a student(s) entering the second or subsequent year of graduate studies in soil science (in the areas of agriculture, environment, geology, agro-ecology or other related disciplines) at a Canadian university. Candidates must hold Canadian Citizenship or Permanent Residence status in Canada and be enrolled in their graduate program for at least one semester beyond the application deadline. One scholarship of $1,850 will be offered in 2015.
2015 Application Guidelines and Application Form can be found online at www.aicfoundation.ca/ivarson-soils/.
Deadline for application: Wednesday, April 22

• 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 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.

• SHIFT Graduate Student Conference: Professional skills conference for graduate students to assist with making ‘the SHIFT’ from ‘learning to earning’: uncover, discover, explore and articulate your well-developed higher order skills. Making sense of your graduate level skills and understand how these skills transfer to other areas of work.
Event Date: Thursday, April 30, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Pond Inlet

Campus Partners Presents:

• NEW — All Things Teaching and Learning, Thursday, Apr. 2, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. TH253 e-classroom: Have you read, been meaning to, or are interested in reading about issues in post-secondary education? Please come share your thoughts as we discuss Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding, edited by Jan H. F. Meyer and Ray Land. Open to faculty members, TAs and staff.

• NEW — Oral and Poster Presentation Workshop, Wednesday, Apr. 1, 2 to 3 p.m. Classroom B (main floor of the James A. Gibson Library): Planning on presenting an oral or poster presentation at Brock's graduate student conference, Mapping the New Knowledges?  Learn practical design strategies to capture the visual attention of your viewer!  We'll discuss the process from conceptualization to completion, including tips on organization and presenting ideas.  Learn strategies to gain confidence and achieve success in oral and poster presentations by looking at tips for delivery and for handling questions.
For more details and to register for this event, please visit the vitae website.

• NEW — Faculty Institute on Community-Engaged Learning: Aligning Intention and Action in Community-Engaged Learning: The Centre for Community Partnerships invites proposals for research papers to be presented at the 2015 Faculty Institute on Community-Engaged Learning at the University of Toronto. Call for 20 minute papers on any aspect of community-engaged teaching and learning, which may include research on community-engaged courses (qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods or other) or theoretical or conceptual papers related to the field of service-learning or community-engaged learning. Theme: “Aligning Intention and Action in Community-Engaged Learning” are particularly encouraged.
(see vitae website for more details – link to posting)
Proposal Deadline: Thursday, Apr. 2
Event date: Wednesday, May 13, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
For more information, please visit the Centre for Community Partnerships website.

• NEW — GSA Spring Social, Thursday, Apr. 9, 5 to 7 p.m. Isaac’s Bar & Grill: Join us following the Mapping the New Knowledges Graduate Conference. Enjoy free food, drink, live music and fun!  All Graduate Students welcome.

• NEW — Vitae Researcher Communication Series: Explore techniques to optimize your scholarly impact. During this session you will activate an ORCID account and create an Impact Story Profile.(Cairns 207) Altmetrics: A better way to assess your impact
Date: Thursday, April 15, 4 to 6:00 pm
Facilitator: Ian Gibson, Collections Librarian.
For more details and to register for this event, please visit the vitae website.

• 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

• 20th Annual "For the Love of Literacy" Conference, Saturday, April 18, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Notre Dame Secondary School in Burlington, Ontario: The conference will feature keynote address, morning and afternoon workshops and publisher displays. Christina Quintiliani, a Brock PhD student in Educational Studies, is one of the workshop presenters. Registration fee: $50; Students/Seniors (65+) $40. (Fee includes keynote speaker, three workshops, lunch and publisher displays.)
Deadline for registration: April 3. No refunds available.
Click here for more information.

• SHOWCASING GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH: 10th Annual Mapping the New Knowledges Conference, Thursday, April 9, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Plaza Building and Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex
The Brock community is invited to attend the annual showcase of graduate student research. Approximately 120 Brock graduate students will be participating in the full-day conference that will feature oral and poster presentations, the finals of the 3MT® contest, the presentation of the Graduate Mentorship Awards and the new Marilyn Rose Graduate Leadership Award, and GSA social. A program for the day will be posted in March.

GSA

• REMINDER — GSA Bursary and Conference Funding Deadline: The deadline for applications for the Winter 2015 GSA Bursary and Conference Funding Assistance Awards, is Monday, April 6, at 4 p.m. You can view the requirements and application forms here.

• NEW — GSA Spring Social: Join us at Isaac's Bar & Grill on Thursday, April 9, 5 to 7 p.m., following the Mapping the New Knowledges Graduate Conference. All graduate students welcome.

If office is closed, please put your application under the office door.

Upcoming Thesis Defences

Check Faculty websites for notices of upcoming thesis defences.

• Chloe Hamza, PhD student in Psychology, will present her thesis defence on Friday, March 27, at 2 p.m. in WH 147. Title: “Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Suicidal Risk: An examination among young adults"

• NEW — Nazanin Heidari, MSc student in Chemistry, will give her video conference thesis defence on Wednesday, April 1, 10 a.m.,  in CRN 550. Title: “Synthesis of 3ʹ, 5ʹ-cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP) analogues”

• Alicia Hore will defend her Master of Science (Earth Sciences) thesis via video conference, Thursday, April 2, 9 a.m., WH147. Title: “Structural analysis, layer thickness measurements and mineralogical investigation of the large interior layered deposit within Ganges Chasma, Valles Marineris, Mars”

• NEW — Cristina Huber, PhD student in Biological Sciences, will present her thesis defence on Thursday, April 2, 1:30 p.m. in CRN 207. Title: “Etiology and management of grape sour rot”

• NEW — Jason Ribeiro, MEd student, will present his thesis defence on Tuesday, April 7, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., WH147.  Title: "Educational Technology Decision-Making: A case study on technology acquisition for 746,000 Ontario students"

• Christina Garchinski, MEd student, will present her thesis on Wednesday, April 8, 2 to 4 p.m., WH 147. Title: "Teaching Adolescents to Think and Act Responsibly Through Narrative Film-Making: A qualitative study"

• NEW — Rahul Kumar, PhD student in Educational Studies, will present his thesis defence on Thursday, April 16, 10 a.m. in WH 147 (Welch Hall). Title: “University Faculty Members’ Understanding of Their Role: Identity, power, and silence”

• NEW — Megan Lynch, MEd student, will present her thesis defence on Friday, April 17, 10 a.m., WH 147. Title: Minimal Contact Intervention for Tobacco Dependence

• NEW — Paul Adachi, PhD student in Psychology, will present his thesis defence on Monday, April 27, at 1 p.m. in WH 147. Title: “Demolishing the Competition: The association between competitive video game play and aggression among adolescents and young adults”

• Daniele Chirico, PhD student in Applied Health Sciences, will present his thesis defence on Monday, April 27, 1 p.m., WC 203. Title: “Autonomic cardiovascular control in children and adolescents”

• NEW — Eleftherios (Terry) Soleas, MEd student, will present his thesis defence on Monday, June 15, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., WH147. Title: "New Teacher Perceptions of Inclusive Pedagogies: Designing new futures for the changing classroom"

News

• NEW — Paul Jurbala, PhD candidate and senior associate with the Canadian
Sport for Life Leadership Team, will be part of a panel discussion of Brock  researchers on the topic of developing young athletes. The panel presentation will be held on Thursday, April 2, 7:30 to 9 p.m., Mills Room, St. Catharines Public Library, 54 Church Street, St. Catharines

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