Title: Division of Chemistry Newsletter No. 8 February 2006 Date: 03/08/06 Division of Chemistry Newsletter No. 8 February 2006 * Reception at the ACS National Meeting in Atlanta, GA * Division Director search update * Personnel changes and availability of positions within the Division of Chemistry * Joan Frye joins NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities * Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee (MPSAC) news * Request for qualified reviewers * NSF Custom News Services RECEPTION AT THE ACS NATIONAL MEETING IN ATLANTA, GA We invite you to meet and speak with NSF staff members and Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee (MPSAC) members at a reception and poster session to be held at the upcoming ACS National Meeting in Atlanta, GA. On Monday, March 27, 2006, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Georgia World Congress Center, Building B 308/309, the following NSF staff members and MPSAC members plan to be available to meet with you informally: Marge Cavanaugh, Ron Christensen, Art Ellis, Mostafa El-Sayed, Richard Foust, Joan Frye, Joyce Guest, Susan Hixson, Bob Kuczkowski, Carl Lineberger, Kari McCarron, Kathy Parson, Chantel Sabus, Phil Shevlin, and Harry Ungar. As part of the event, there will be a poster session featuring projects supported through the REU and LSAMP programs. Please join principal investigators and students at the reception to view and discuss dozens of posters illustrating research supported by the Division of Chemistry and the LSAMP program. A town meeting will be held from noon until 1:00 p.m. as part of the reception poster session. This is an excellent opportunity to share information and perspectives on developments in the chemistry community and at NSF. Refreshments will be available at the reception. DIVISION DIRECTOR SEARCH UPDATE Art Ellis will complete his four-year term as Division Director on June 30. Interviews for Division Director are in progress and the Division hopes to announce the next Division Director this spring. Janice Hicks, the Division’s Executive Officer, will serve as Acting Division Director until the new Division Director joins the staff. PERSONNEL CHANGES AND AVAILABILITY OF POSITIONS WITHIN THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY The Division welcomes Martin Pomerantz, Tingyu Li, Zeev Rosenzweig, and Kelsey Cook as rotators. Martin and Tingyu are based at the University of Texas at Arlington and Mississippi State University, respectively, and are assisting the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry (OMC) program. Zeev and Kelsey are from the University of New Orleans and University of Tennessee at Knoxville, respectively, and are helping the Analytical and Surface Chemistry (ASC) program. We also welcome Bob Kuczkowski back from the University of Michigan. Bob will manage the MRI and CRIF instrumentation programs while the division searches for a replacement for Joan Frye, who has left the division to become a Staff Associate in NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities (see below). A complete listing of current staff may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_list.jsp?org=CHE. The Division of Chemistry asks you to consider serving as a program officer should your circumstances permit it, and to help us identify other individuals who might serve in this capacity. Rotators are responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing programs that support research, education, and human resource development in the chemical sciences. Applicants should have a Ph.D. or equivalent training in the chemical sciences, extensive knowledge of one or more chemistry subfields, and at least six years of successful independent research activity. Applicants should be familiar with the chemistry community and have administrative experience. Other important attributes are strong verbal and written communication skills, organizational skills, facility in using technology tools, and the ability to work effectively on a team. If you are interested in serving as a rotator, please see http://www.nsf.gov/about/career_opps/careers/science.jsp. About half of our 16 program officers are rotators, and they bring fresh insights to our work at NSF. Rotators can maintain their research programs while working at the Foundation. NSF provides time, travel resources, and use of technology to enable rotators to stay in touch with co-workers at their home institutions. Rotator positions are typically held for one or two years, but other arrangements are possible. Rotators not only serve the community and help to shape chemistry, but they also have excellent opportunities for professional development and establishment of new research directions upon returning to their laboratories. Information about current open rotational program officer positions can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/ods/results.cfm?TextQuery=&Current_ status=Current&timeframe=Restrict+timeframe+to%3A&docType= Vacancy+Announcements&docSubtype=Scientific+and+Professional&search2. x=28&search2.y=8 Applicants interested in rotational positions should send an email describing their interest and CV to Art Ellis at aellis@nsf.gov. NSF is an equal opportunity employer committed to employing a highly qualified staff that reflects the diversity of our nation. JOAN FRYE JOINS NSF’S OFFICE OF INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES In January, Joan Frye left the Division of Chemistry after 10 years of extraordinary service to become a Staff Associate in NSF’s Office of Integrative Activities. Since her arrival at NSF, in 1995, Joan has assisted many individuals at NSF and in the chemistry community. Through her fine stewardship of the division’s instrumentation programs, Joan has contributed substantially to the advancement of basic research and education in the chemical sciences. Joan’s exemplary service also included a two-year stint as one of the division’s cluster leaders. The Division of Chemistry will miss Joan but looks forward to continuing to work with her in her new position. We wish Joan continued success in her professional activities. MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES ADVISORY COMMITTEE (MPSAC) NEWS We welcome Cynthia Burrows of the University of Utah to the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee (MPSAC). We thank former members Jean Futrell and Shenda Baker for their fine service on the MPSAC. MPSAC members have provided valuable assistance with the Division Director search (see above). Their efforts also led to a workshop entitled Building Strong Academic Chemistry Departments through Gender Equity that was held in Arlington, VA on Jan. 29-31 and co-sponsored by NSF, NIH, and DOE. The workshop URL is http://www.chem.harvard.edu/groups/friend/GenderEquityWorkshop/. Information about the MPSAC may be found at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/advisory.jsp. REQUEST FOR QUALIFIED REVIEWERS The Division of Chemistry seeks to enhance its pool of qualified reviewers of proposals. We invite researchers in the chemical sciences who have not previously reviewed for the Division of Chemistry but are interested in providing this service to contact us by visiting our website at http://www.nsf.gov/mps/che/reviewer/reviewer_info.jsp and completing the online registration form. We welcome qualified reviewers from academic, industrial, and government employment, as well as from other countries. It is important to recognize that the National Science Foundation reserves the right to choose reviewers. While we are unable to assure individuals that they will be asked to review proposals, we do attempt to call upon as many qualified reviewers as possible, and we try to limit the number of requests that we make to any single individual, recognizing the many demands our reviewers have on their time. NSF CUSTOM NEWS SERVICE In order to receive NSF program announcements, vacancy announcements, newsletters or other information as soon as they are published, you can subscribe to MyNSF. You pre-select as many key words as you like; every time an NSF document containing one or more of your key words is published, you will receive email notification with a link to the appropriate web page. For further information, please visit the MyNSF website: http://www.nsf.gov/mynsf/.