The Division of Science wishes to announce that, in 2015, we will offer MRSEC Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships for Brandeis students doing undergraduate research, sponsored by the Brandeis Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.The due date for applications is February 24, 2015, at 6:00 PM EST.MRSEC Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships will provide $5000 in stipend support to allow students to do summer research in MRSEC labs (housing support is not included). Students who will be rising Brandeis sophomores, juniors, or seniors in Summer 2015 (classes of ’16, ’17, and ’18). No prior lab experience is required. A commitment from a Brandeis MRSEC member to serve as your mentor in Summer 2015 is required.The Division of Science Summer Program will run from May 26 – July 31, 2015. Recipients are expected to be available to do full time laboratory research during that period, and must commit to presenting a poster at the final poster session on July 30, 2015. Five positions are available.The application form is online (Brandeis login required). Questions that are not answered in the online FAQ may be addressed to Steven Karel <divsci at brandeis.edu>
MRSEC Retreat, November 21, 2014
November 16, 2014 By
On Friday, November 21, 2014, the MRSEC will hold an on-campus retreat. The research goal of the MRSEC is to learn how materials are incorporated in biological systems and likewise how biological structures act as materials with highly desirable properties that can be exploited in engineering. The first part of the retreat will be a joint event with the Biochem/Biophys Friday seminar that takes place at 11:15am – 12:15pm. A lunch will be provided and in the afternoon there will be 3 talks by MRSEC students and postdocs. Wrapping up the day is a BREW session / social hour.
MRSEC Retreat Schedule Friday, November 21, 2014
11:15-12:15 pm Gerstenzang 121 (Talks: Avi Rodal & Zvonimir Dogic) “Membrane Based Materials”
12:30-1:30 pm Shapiro Campus Center 236, 2nd Floor (Lunch)
1:30-2:30 pm Shapiro Campus Center Theater, 1st Floor (Talks: Fiodar Hilitski, Adam Johnston, Ye Zhang)
2:30-4:30 pm Shapiro Campus Center Art Gallery 317, 3rd Floor (BREW: Denise LeBlanc, Steve DeCamp)
BREW: Brainstorming Research Education Workshop. We will identify the most exciting research conducted by the MRSEC and design a hands-on activity to be presented at the Acton Discovery Museum that is suitable for 4 – 8 year old children and their parents.
Greater Boston Area Statistical Mechanics Meeting, Nov 8
September 16, 2014 By
Brandeis will host the 16th annual Greater Boston Area Statistical Mechanics Meeting (GBASM) on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, from 9:30-3:00. GBASM is a workshop that brings together researchers interested in statistical mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, condensed matter physics, biophysics, and related topics for a day of presentations and discussions. The meeting consists of four invited talks (30 min.), and a larger number of contributed “table talks”.
The four invited speakers for this year are:
- Maria Kilfoil, UMass Amherst
- Tom Powers, Brown University
- Eugene Shakhnovich, Harvard University
- Adam P. Willard, MIT
The contributed talks will follow the format we adopted last year. Instead of three minute talks with a limited time for questions, contributors will give a brief announcement of their work in the lecture hall. We will then move to the adjacent room where each contributor will sit at a table with their laptop or tablet and discuss their research with interested participants. This format will eliminate the expense associated with posters and provide greater feedback to contributors. The time preparing for a “table talk” should be similar to preparing for a short talk.
The cost of the meeting is subsidized by the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Brandeis University; the Department of Physics, Boston University; the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University. Thanks to these subsidies, bagels, coffee, tea, and lunch will be provided at no cost if you register by the deadline of Saturday, Nov. 1.
More information | Registration
MRSEC On-Campus Retreat on November 22, 2013
October 21, 2013 By
On Friday, November 22, 2013, the Brandeis Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) will hold an on-campus retreat. The research goal of the MRSEC is to learn how materials are incorporated in biological systems and likewise how biological structures act as materials with highly desirable properties that can be exploited in engineering.
The first part of the retreat will be a joint event with the Biochem/Biophys Friday seminar that takes place at 11:15am – 12:15pm. A lunch will be provided and in the afternoon there will be 3 talks by MRSEC students and postdocs. Wrapping up the day is a poster session/social hour.
Please RSVP if attending to katie55@brandeis.edu and include the following information: NAME/DEPARTMENT/YEAR GRADUATING/TITLE IF STAFF MEMBER
MRSEC Retreat Schedule – Friday, November 22, 2013
11:15am – 12:15pm, Abelson 131 – Welcome from Dean Birren and Seth Fraden; Jane Kondev, “Materials science that we can learn from yeast”
12:15pm – 1:00pm, Pizza Lunch, Shapiro Science Center Lobby
1:15pm – 2:45pm, Abelson 131 – MRSEC talks: Steve DeCamp, Gabe Redner, Charlotte Kelley
2:45pm – 3:00pm, Poster set-up, Shapiro Science Center Lobby
3:00pm – 5:00pm, Poster Session, Shapiro Science Center Lobby, Beer Hour
Asher Preska Steinberg ’13 receives NSF Graduate Fellowship
May 10, 2013 By
Asher Preska Steinberg ’13, who majored in both chemistry and physics at Brandeis, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in materials research. The fellowships, which are awarded based on a national competition, provide three full years of support for Ph.D. research and are highly valued by students and institutions.
At Brandeis, Asher worked on his senior thesis in chemistry with Professor Milos Dolnik as part of the Epstein Group. They studied the growth dynamics of Turing patterns in photosensitive reaction-diffusion systems. As part of the 2011 NYU MRSEC Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program Asher worked with Paul Chaikin to study active colloids, and they recently published an article in Science entitled “Living Crystals of Light-Activated Colloidal Surfers”. The article received attention from the press, including the LA Times, Wired, and Ars Technica. Last summer Asher participated in the Columbia EFRC Research Program for Undergraduates (RPU) and studied silver plasmonic nanoparticles with Louis Brus.
Asher will be attending California Institute of Technology this coming fall in the field of Chemical Physics.
Dogic Lab Wins Andor Insight Award
April 23, 2013 By
The ‘Insight Awards‘ is a video contest showcasing research imagery from the physical and life sciences which utilize Andor technology to capture data. This year, the Dogic Lab submitted a research video to the competition and garnered first prize in the Physical Sciences division for their video of Oscillating Microtubule Bundles.
From the competition notes:
Microtubules are a bio-polymer composed of the protein tubulin and are used extensively in the cell for cellular division, cell motility, and transportation of cargo within the cell. Here, we investigate the material properties of mixtures of microtubules, a depletion agent, and the molecular motor Kinesin. The microtubules, driven by Kinesin motors, spontaneously organize into bundles of microtubules that oscillate in a manner reminiscent of flagella and cilia found in biology. This engineered system will allow us to studying systems of self-propelled and self-organized matter that exist far from equilibrium in the field known as Active Matter.
We use standard fluorescent microscopy to image labeled microtubules in a thin, flow cell microscope chamber. An Andor Clara camera was used in conjunction with a Nikon Ti Eclipse microscope to capture this video.
Video and Entry by Stephen DeCamp.
For this, and more videos from the Dogic Lab, visit their YouTube page or their website at Brandeis University.
