Calendar of events, awards
and opportunities

Every week, we update this list with new meetings, awards, scholarships and events. If you’d like us to feature something that you’re offering to the bioscience community, email us with the subject line “For calendar.” ASBMB members’ offerings take priority, and we do not promote products/services. Learn how to advertise in ASBMB Today.

ASBMB 2020 Annual Meeting online

Even though the 2020 ASBMB Annual Meeting was canceled, you can still learn from experts in the field and connect with your colleagues. Here is the free programming we have slated for this week. All times are Eastern.

Virtual Spotlight Sessions

The talks in these virtual events were originally programmed to take place as in-person Spotlight Sessions

• Glycobiology | June 23, 12:30–2 p.m. 
• Glycomics and glycoinformatics | June 24, 10–11:15 a.m.
• Glycosylation and extracellular matrix in immunologic, inflammatory and infectious disease | June 24, 12:30–1:45 p.m. 
• Glycosylation and extracellular matrix in neurologic and metabolic diseases | June 25, 12:30–1:30 p.m. 

Twitter poster sessions

We've invited those who had planned to present posters at the meeting to join us for themed Twitter chats about their work. Follow @ASBMB on Twitter and use the hashtags below to participate. Can't make it to a chat of interest? You can see all of our poster galleries here.

• Chemical Biology, Drug Discovery and Bioanalytical Methods | June 26, 1 p.m. (#ASBMBchembiol)
• Lipids and Membranes | June 26, 2 p.m. (#ASBMBlipids)
• Signal Transduction and Cellular Regulation | 3 p.m. (#ASBMBsigntrans)

June 28: #SciCommMake virtual competition registration

Biochemists and molecular biologists are invited to apply through June 28 to participate in a virtual competition, #SciCommMake. #SciCommMake will form teams of scientists, artists and science communicators to develop ideas for projects that can deliver evidence-based information to the public about COVID-19. After two weeks of coaching and project development, the teams will pitch their project ideas to an expert panel of judges. At least 10 teams will be awarded $1,000 each to complete their projects. Winning teams will also be invited to conferences to present their finished projects.  
#SciCommMake is hosted by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society and Science Talk. Full details are on Sigma Xi’s website. 

Starting June 29: FASEB Research Conferences

The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology has a virtual conference series running through September. Get details here. The schedule is below.

• The Translational Neuroimmunology Conference: From Mechanisms to Therapeutics | June 29-30
• The Lipid Droplets Conference | July 6-7
• The Microbial Glycobiology Conference | July 13-14
• The Nutrient Sensing and Metabolic Signaling Conference  | Aug. 10-11 
• The Folic Acid B12 and One-Carbon Metabolism Conference | Aug. 17-19
• The Cell Signaling in Cancer Conference: From Mechanisms to Therapy | Sept. 21-22

June 30: Deadline to nominate for AAAS awards

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is accepting nominations for its 2021 awards. The slate of awards is pretty long. There are ones for mentors, young investigators, advocates, diplomats, authors of great papers and more. See the criteria and nominate.

July 8–9: AMPylationPlus Virtual Meeting

ASBMB–Merck award winner Kim Orth at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas let us know that she is co-organizing the AMPylationPlus Virtual Meeting in July. This Zoom event is free, but you need to register to get the link. There will be six or seven talks each day, and they'll be brief, so you need to set aside only a couple of hours per day. The Twitter hashtag is #AMPylationPlus. Register here.

July 15: Deadline to apply to be IUBMB Life editor-in-chief

We received an email this week announcing that the journal IUBMB Life is seeking a new editor-in-chief. We recommend that you read the full announcement here. Applications should be submitted to Zengyi Chang by July 15. 

July 16–17: Free "train-the-trainers" program

The National Institutes of Health and the Association of American Medical Colleges are presenting their second "Train-the-Trainers" event for advisers, staff members and faculty members who provide guidance to and career-related programming for grad students and postdocs in the life sciences. Advance registration is required, but the program is free. See the agenda.

Aug. 11: Deadline for HHMI program for medically trained scientists

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute will be accepting up to 10 biomedical scientists for its new $120 million research program. According to the announcement we received, the Medically Trained Scientists Program "will offer as many as eight years of support for up to 10 early career scientists who are committed to conducting basic research." See HHMI's site for more details.

Sept. 1: New deadline for PROLAB travel awards

The Promoting Research Opportunities for Latin American Biochemists program allows Latin American graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to spend up to six months in U.S. or Canadian laboratories. Participants get access to technologies and expertise that may not be readily available in their home countries, allowing them to grow their skills and contribute to building capacity in the life sciences at home. Note that the deadline has been extended from this spring to Sept. 1.  Learn more.