We’ve had a busy start to 2016 on the Node! Check out this round-up of new content, and remember to check our Jobs page for new opportunities, and our Events page to keep up to date with conference and course deadlines.

Research

–What can zebra finches tell us about pluripotency? Raj posted about early zebra finch development and its potential for the comparative study of pluripotency in amniotes.

-Joseph wrote about measuring protein activity in embryos using fluorescent tandem timers, and using Timerquant, a useful modelling tool.

-How can one study the effects of age on regeneration? Konstaninos and Panagiotis wrote about how neither aging nor repeated regeneration seems to affect newts’ ability to regenerate.

-Jiho wrote about his paper addressing the controversy as to whether embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells are molecularly and functionally equivalent.

-In addition, make sure to check out these research posts from December! Learn about the evolution of the neural crest and the developmental processes that take place during grafting in Arabidopsis. You can also read about detection of GFP-tagged proteins in whole organisms using electron microscopy and find out more about high-speed isotropic resolution microscopy.

Discussion

-This January the Node released a new series,  Forgotten Classics of Developmental Biology, highlighting the hidden gems that we should all revisit. Read the first instalment, on the 1940 paper that first identified the cell layers in the shoot meristem.

–How important is drawing to observing and studying development? Beatrice gives us an insight into Edwin Conklin’s view of drawing as a tool for research.

Also on the Node

-Check out this amazing timelapse of pre-implantation development in mouse, posted by Kate!

-The Node and Abcam are looking for a meeting reporter to attend the Abcam  Germ Line Stem Cells Conference in San Francisco. The application deadline is the 15^th of April, and the lucky reporter will get free registration to the conference!

-There’s still time to participate in the first Development cover image competition of the year! Voting is open until noon GMT on the 4^th of February.

Interviews

-We featured this interview with Peter Lawrence first published in Development, where he talks about developmental biology, science funding and the ideal size for a lab!

-We also posted this interview with Melina Shcuh, who studies meiosis in mammalian oocytes. First published in the Journal of Cell Science.

Happy reading!

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Last week the Montreal Neurological Institute announced that it will become the first fully Open Science academic institute. In addition to  making their results and data available for free upon publication, this initiative also includes a  commitment not to register patents on any of their discoveries. This announcement comes in contrast with the ongoing heated dispute on who should hold the patent for CRISPR. In light of these two opposing views, this month we are asking:

Should scientists and institutes be allowed to patent research performed with public funds?

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below! You can comment anonymously if you prefer. We are also collating answers on social media via this Storify. And if you have any ideas for future questions please drop us an email!

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

The Copenhagen Bioscience PhD programme is a new initiative that offers talented students with a university degree from outside of Denmark an opportunity to launch their careers in the vibrant environment of the Novo Nordisk Foundation research center cluster. Sixteen students will be recruited annually through the programme for enrolment in August the same year. In 2016 the programme will be open for applications from January 4 to February 29.

Students will be selected based on academic achievements, research experience, academic references and interviews. The interviews will take place in Copenhagen on April 18-19, 2016. The Novo Nordisk Foundation will pay for travel and accommodation for selected candidates in association with the interview visit.

Read more about our programme here

(1 votes)

Loading...

Bangor University will provide matched funding for applicants interested in applying for Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships.

https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/funding/grant-schemes/early-career-fellowships

The School of Biological Sciences (https://www.bangor.ac.uk/biology/) has facilities for the maintenance of marine invertebrates, tropical freshwater fish, small mammals and fruitflies/insects, with research groups working on genetic and developmental aspects of these and other groups.

Interested applicants can contact Dr John Mulley (j.mulley@bangor.ac.uk) or the College of Natural Sciences Research Support Officer, Michelle Jones (michelle.jones@bangor.ac.uk) to learn more. The closing date is the 10th March 2016.

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AUC078/wellcome-trust-independent-senior-research-fellow-75344-016/

The University of Warwick has initiated a Wellcome-Trust funded research programme in “Quantitative Biomedicine” to bridge physical / mathematical sciences and biomedicine. The programme is of a cross-campus nature with strong participation from the Division of Biomedical Cell Biology and the Warwick Systems Biology Centre.

We are seeking early career researchers who are no more than 4 years from obtaining a Doctoral degree with the potential to lead a strong independent research programme. The candidates will be selected based on their track record in innovative research and on the strength of the research proposal. Importantly, the proposals should make clear how the project benefits from quantitative methodologies. The proposed research programme should bring together physical and mathematical sciences and biomedical sciences (including cell and developmental biology, neurobiology, immunology, microbiology and infection). Identified candidates will be provided salary, laboratory space, running costs and part-time technical support for three years. The successful candidates will be expected to win externally funded fellowships within the contract period and will be mentored in preparing such applications.

Interested candidates should submit their CV, a two-page research proposal, and the names and addresses of three referees who are able to comment on the candidates past research work as well as the readiness of the candidate to embark on an independent career in research.

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to offer our 3rd Eco-Evo-Devo Postgraduate Summer School from August 8th to 12th 2016 at Oxford Brookes University.

For full details please see the Summer School website:

http://bms.brookes.ac.uk/ceec/courses/eco-evo-devo-summer

Alistair McGregor.

(1 votes)

Loading...

A 4-year PhD position is available in the Steinmetz lab to study the role of nutrients and feeding in gamete growth and maturation in cnidarians.

Please find more details on the position and the application here:

http://tinyurl.com/h7y4h6y

More info on the lab:

http://www.sars.no/research/SteinmetzGrp.php

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

PhD position available in the McGregor lab (http://mcgregor-evo-devo-lab.net/McGregor_lab/home.html) to investigate the role of gene duplication and divergence during the evolution of spiders, scorpions and other arachnids:

http://master.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=72054

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Cosy Science is an informal pub gathering where scientists talk about their research over a pint of beer (or glass of wine!) with anyone who is interested in listening. It is mostly a monthly event, taking place at The Cittie of Yorke pub in London, and everyone is welcome!

As you may know, The Company of Biologists runs a series of workshops for scientists, and we collaborate with Cosy Science to bring some of the exciting research discussed at the workshops to the general public. Our next workshop will focus on transdifferentiation and tissue plasticity in cardiavascular rejuvenation, and one of the organisers, Dr Brian Black (Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco) will be joining Cosy Science on Wednesday the 10th of February to bring developmental biology to the pub! Brian will give a short talk about what cardiac development in utero and cardiac regeneration in fish and salamanders may be able to teach us about regenerating cardiac muscle after a heart attack. After a short break to refill, the floor will be open for questions and friendly discussion. So if you’re in the area, bring along that friend who always wanted to know what developmental biology is all about, and enjoy an evening of pub science sponsored by The Company of Biologists!

Find out more information at the Cosy Science website.

(1 votes)

Loading...

Germline Stem Cells Conference

June 19-21, 2016 – San Francisco, California

Website: www.abcam.com/germlinestemcells

Germline stem cells represent a uniquely critical type of stem cell that is essential for fertility and propagation of the species. The topic of germline stem cells has become an active area of study both in mammalian systems and in non-mammalian model systems including flies, worms and fish.

Free registration for grabs! Abcam and the Node are looking for an official meeting reporter to attend this meeting. The Reporter will be responsible for providing regular updates of interesting talks/discussions for twitter/tweets (by Abcam), plus a meeting report of their experience and the sights and sounds of the meeting (for publishing on The Node and Abcam website).

To apply to be the meeting reporter, please send a short paragraph (max. 200 words) to events@abcam.com, letting us know why you are the best scientist for the job! Application deadline: April 15, 2016. The winner will receive free registration to the meeting (travel and accommodation not included).
Meeting information:

Organizers: John McCarrey (University of Texas at San Antonio) and Jon Oatley (Washing State University)

Keynote Speakers: D.G. (Dirk) de Rooij (Utrecht University) Azim Surani (The Gurdon Institute)

Confirmed speakers: Norman Arnheim, Brad Cairns, Amander Clark, Margaret Fuller, Christopher Geyer, Brian Hermann, Patricia Hunt, Diana Laird, Erika Matunis, John McCarrey, Jon Oatley, Susan Strome, Miles Wilkinson, and Kyle Orwig.

Call for abstracts: Abstracts are invited for short talks or poster presentations and can be submitted during registration. Those selected will be notified after the April 18 deadline.

Check out the article written by last years official meeting reporter winner here!

(4 votes)

Loading...