SFU Graduate Studies

President Andrew Petter, on behalf of SFU, has just signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the China Scholarship Council which will enable top Chinese graduate students to receive scholarship funding to attend SFU.

The number of SFU graduate students from China has grown from 79 in 2001 to 238 in 2010. Of those 238, 64 are in the Applied Sciences, 54 are in Business, 47 are in Science and 45 are in Education, with the rest in SFU’s other Faculties.

SFU’s School of Computing Science has both a Master’s and a PhD dual degree program in partnership with Zhejiang University (ZU), China.

• SFU Press release: SFU becomes a preferred destination for Chinese graduate students

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The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is now accepting applications for Junior Fellows at the Janelia Farm Research Campus. This is a post-doctoral fellow position with an appointment period of up to three years which may be renewed for an additional two years.

In particular, they’re looking for researchers in to perform interdisciplinary research in these key areas:

the identification of general principles that govern how information is processed by neuronal circuits, using genetic model systems in conjunction with imaging, electrophysiological, and computational methods; and the development of imaging technologies and computational methods for image analysis.

Application deadline is July 1, 2011 at 2 pm. Apply online.

See also: HHMI Graduate Program (PhD), which will reopen later this year. If you’re close to completing your Master’s degree and you’re interested in applying to this PhD, please consider beginning the process now as it is an unconventional application process.

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We’re delighted to announce the recipients of the 2010 Dean of Graduate Studies Service Awards.

Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision

• Stella Atkins, Professor Emerita, Computing Science
• Kieran Egan, Professor, Faculty of Education
• Bernard Roitberg, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
• Rina Zazkis, Professor, Faculty of Education

Award for Leadership

• Dara Culhane, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
• David Muraki, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics

Award for Excellence in Service

• Christa Gruninger, Department of English
• Marlene Nguyen, Department of Biological Sciences

There were a large number of very qualified nominees for each award and these recipients are very deserving. In future blog posts, we’ll be running brief profiles of each of the recipients and examples of their stellar contributions to graduate studies at Simon Fraser University. All of the recipients received remarkable feedback from their colleagues and graduate students for their exceptional service, mentorship and innovative ideas.

The judging committee found the process to be inspiring, as there were many large and small examples of inspiration, academic accomplishment, generosity of spirit, tangible support and personal warmth and kindness throughout the nominations.

The 2011 Dean of Graduate Studies Service Awards will be opened this fall. Watch this space for the announcement and nomination deadline.

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The Malaysia International Scholarship (MIS) is an initiative by the Malaysian Government to attract top students to pursue post-graduate and post-doctoral studies at twenty public and four private universities in Malaysia.

Priority fields of study include science and engineering; agriculture and fisheries; economics and Islamic finance ; information and communication technology; biotechnology; biosecurity and food safety; infrastructure and utility; environmental studies; and health (including but not limited to, nursing, medicine, clinical pharmacy).

Each scholarship consists of air tickets to Malaysia, tuition fees, monthly living allowance, annual grant for books and internal travel and more.  PhD and post-doctoral students will also receive a thesis allowance, a conference travel grant and a journal publication grant.

Applications must be submitted through the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia’s online application system. The application deadline is June 15, 2011

• Applicant Guidelines PDF
• List of Malaysian Universities PDF

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Congratulations to computing master’s student Brian Milligan, who just received a prize for best video (above) from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) at the Human/Robot Interaction Conference held in Switzerland in March 2011.

“Robots might use a system like this to be sent out to clean areas, deliver supplies, perform search and rescue, or for something more fun like a live version of the game StarCraft,” he says. “This technology might also be used in an intelligent home, where you might select areas to be activated and controlled. Computer vision and robots are becoming increasing powerful technologies. One of the key challenges now is to make the technology easily usable and useful for people.”

• SFU press release:  People commanding robots not far-fetched
• Brian Milligan’s personal page
• Vision and Media Lab, SFU
• Autonomy Lab, SFU
• Brian Milligan’s grad student page

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Google has just launched a new Exacycle grant program for high-performance, CPU-intensive computing.

Google Exacycle for Visiting Faculty is open to all academic researchers who require unusually large computer time allocations in their pursuit of transformational advances in science and engineering. The intent of the program is to support computationally intensive projects that are enabled through the availability of massive computation capability. Both U.S. and international researchers are eligible to apply. Please note that travel requirements, such as passport and visa, as well as expenses related to relocation, travel and cost of living will be the grant recipient’s responsibility.

The application deadline is May 31, 2011 at 11:59 pm PST and early applications are encouraged.

• Google’s Exacycle Program
• Google’s Visiting Faculty Program
• Google’s Research Blog

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BCNET’s Digital Media Challenge is inviting you to demonstrate your latest digital media work to a live audience and have a chance to win up to $1000.

The contest is open to all SFU students and student teams and there are categories for diploma, undergrad, master’s and PhD students. Entries will be judged on creativity and need for high-bandwidth networks.

Shortlisted entrants will receive a free pass to the BCNET Conference 2011 on May 3-4 to present their projects and encounter some excellent networking opportunities.

• Submission form

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As an SFU graduate student, you are encouraged to register in the free MITACS Step workshops. These professional development workshops will be invaluable to you immediately and upon graduation with your degree. International students and recent graduates (within the last three years) are eligible to attend.

Workshops are offered on:

• Basics of the Business Environment (includes etiquette, time management, networking)
• Communication (includes presentation skills, technical writing)
• Project Management
• Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property

Check the calendar of upcoming workshops and click on the “Register Here” link to register for each workshop.

Please note: Workshops are free but you will be charged a $50 cancellation fee if you do not cancel within the designated cancellation period.

For more information please contact Fiona Fu at fionaf@mitacs.ca

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MITACS-Accelerate is a national internship program managed by MITACS (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems).

This program provides internship opportunities for graduate students pursuing collaborative research with an industrial partner. SFU Masters and PhD students, as well as Postdoctoral Fellows, are eligible to apply for a 4-month research-based internship valued at $15,000.

You are encouraged to first contact your academic supervisor and potential industry partners before applying.

Complete applications are due by April 15, 2011.

If you have specific questions about this award, email Laurence Meadows: lmeadows@mitacs.ca or Fiona Fu at fionaf@mitacs.ca.

• Call for MITACS-Accelerate applications
• About MITACS-Accelerate
• MITACS-Accelerate Applications

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Applications are now open for the 2012-13 International Fulbright award in Science and Technology. The award includes tuition at a top US university for three years, a monthly stipend, travel support, and many other benefits.

Applicants must be Canadian citizens planning to complete a PhD in science or technology. More information for Canadians is available at the Fulbright Canada website. More information on the award is available through the Fulbright Science and Technology Awards website.

Apply online at the Foreign Fulbright Program application page. Application deadline: May 31, 2011.

• Full list of Fulbright awards for Canadian Master’s students
• Full list of awards for Canadian PhDs

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