Want to try your hand at science writing? New competition.

Access to Understanding is a science-writing competition, run by Europe PubMedCentral and the British Library, for PhD students and early career post-doctoral researchers (max. 6 years experience) who have an interest in communicating science to the public. Prizes include an iPad and Amazon vouchers. More details at the link below, but hurry, it closes on the 10th December.

http://europepmc.org/ScienceWritingCompetition

Biome - keep up to date with a new online magazine

 

Check out Biome - a new online magazine showcasing recent medical and biological research.

 

"Biome is an online magazine that will provide biologists, medical researchers and clinicians with the latest research topics, discussions and community news from the entire spectrum of medicine and biology. Published by BioMed Central, Biome will regularly report on specially significant research articles, reviews and commentaries that appear daily in BioMed Central’s open access journals, all of which are fully peer reviewed. Biome brings together a selection of new insights from across the entire spectrum of biology and medicine."

See the latest articles here http://www.biomedcentral.com/biome/. You can also sign up to receive monthly highlights.

Useful web sites for creating scientific posters

For those of you currently creating posters, here are some useful websites with tips on layout and tools you can use to create interesting posters. I hope you find them useful. Please let me know of any other sites that you have found useful for this and I'll add them below.

• http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign
• http://as.ua.edu/undergraduateresearch/presenting-your-work/making-posters/
• http://www.cns.cornell.edu/documents/ScientificPosters.pdf
• http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/
• http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/our/poster
• http://poly.libguides.com/posters

New study into cell replication in the Department of Biological Sciences

Dr Carolyn Moores, Reader in Structural Biology, has received a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grant worth over £350,000 over three years for investigations into how cell replication is controlled and how it might be blocked. See more on this story on the Birkbeck news pages

See Carolyn's Researcher ID profile here http://www.researcherid.com/rid/A-4942-2010
Want to join Researcher ID? Sign up for free here http://www.researcherid.com/

View some of Carolyn's papers via the Birkbeck eLibrary (you will need your Birkbeck IT account to log in):

• New insights into genotype–phenotype correlations for the doublecortin-related lissencephaly spectrum
• The Structural Basis of Force Generation by the Mitotic Motor Kinesin-5
• Dynein: A Force (Generation Mechanism) to Be Reckoned with
• Molecular Basis for Specific Regulation of Neuronal Kinesin-3 Motors by Doublecortin Family Proteins
• Loop L5 Acts as a Conformational Latch in the Mitotic Kinesin Eg5

 

Nature PastCasts

The Nature PastCast is a podcast series telling the stories behind some of the biggest papers in Nature's archive. Each month for a year, the PastCast will explore Nature's back catalogue, setting in context key moments in the history of science – and rooting out some of the quirkier reports from the journal – with the help of scientists and historians.

Click on the links below to access each episode:

October 1993: Could there be life on other planets?
September 1963: Plate Tectonics
August 1975: Monoclonal antibodies: from basic science to blockbuster medicine
July 1942: WW2 Radar Design
June 1876: The arrival of the first Gorilla in Europe
May 1985: The discovery of a hole in the ozone layer
April 1953: The structure of DNA

 

Welcome to new science students

 

Welcome to all new Birkbeck science students. I hope to see you all at induction events over the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime if you would like to find out more about what the Library offers, there are lots of ways to do that:

• Watch our Library video
• Download our Welcome guide
• Come on a Library tour or try our QR code tour
• Try our Library and Information Skills Moodle module
• Sign up for a Saturday workshop
• Take a look at the guide to Library resources for your subject

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/contact/

Astronomy Photographer Of The Year exhibition

Planetary Sciences students may want to take some time off from studying to visit this exhibition at the Royal Obervatory - Astronomy Photographer Of The Year

They are also running a course on digital astrophotography in the New Year http://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/events/digital-astro-2014