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Newsletter========================================
*********************************************** 1. JOSEF'S JOURNAL: STRATEGIC PLANNING UNDERWAY The starting point has been to define seven strategic areas of importance, or goals, to be achieved over the next few years. These are:
We welcome your suggestions and ideas to help to help us build a strong plan for CLS. Please contact me prior to Friday, November 6th. We will include updates on the development of this plan in future editions of Josef's Journal, in the CLS E-news. Yours truly, *********************************************** 2. GRADUATE STUDENT EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM In collaboration with the Department of Physics at the University of Saskatchewan, we are offering opportunities for graduate students to work closely with researchers to carry out their research project at the CLS. We are looking for highly motivated students with an excellent first (B.Sc.) or second degree (M.Sc.) in Physics, Engineering or related areas. While we are mainly looking for PhD students, Masters students will also be considered. Students will be jointly supervised by CLS staff and faculty from the University of Saskatchewan. The CLS offers a stipend in accordance with those offered by the College of Graduate Studies and Research at the UofS. For more information please visit: http://www.lightsource.ca/careers/job556.php 3. CALL FOR PROPOSALS: MACROMOLECULAR CRYSTALLOGRAPHY - DEADLINE NOVEMBER 9, 2009 The Call for Proposals is currently open and accepting General User Proposals for Macromolecular Crystallography for the scheduling period January 5 March 29, 2010. Research time allocated through the General User mechanism is via competitive peer review emphasizing the excellence of science where there is intent to publish scientific results. A call for proposals is issued four times per year Please visit http://www.lightsource.ca/uso/call_proposals.php for more details. 4. IN MEMORIAM LOUIS DELBAERE (1943 - 2009) We were greatly saddened by the sudden loss of Prof. Louis Delbaere, one of the founding fathers of the Canadian Light Source, on October 5th. Dr. Delbaere spent 30 years teaching and conducting research at the Department of Biochemistry, at the University of Saskatchewan. X-ray crystallography was not only his career; it was also his passion. He published widely in this field, and contributed to the success of his graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. He was a member of numerous scientific organisations; former president of the American Crystallographic Association, and was recently elected to the board of the International Union of Crystallography. Louis was a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Structural Biochemistry and a beamline team leader at the Canadian Light Source. An internationally renowned crystallographer and an acknowledged leader among his peers, Louis was a true scholar and gentleman. Louis was involved with the CLS from the very beginning. He represented the Canadian protein crystallography community at one of the first planning meetings held in Montreal, and was a key member of the team that successfully made the case for the creation of a Canadian synchrotron. After the CLS was founded he became a Beam Team Leader of the first protein crystallography beamline. He invented the name, Canadian Macromolecular Crystallography Facility (CMCF), since he envisioned that it would be composed of more than just one beamline. Louis was a dear friend of the CLS and we will all greatly miss him. The obituary is available here: http://www.legacy.com/CAN/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=134126257 5. SCIENCE HIGHLIGHT: HARD PROOF OF THE NAYF4/NAGDF4 NANOCRYSTAL CORE/SHELL STRUCTURE Inorganic nanocrystals (NCs) of various compositions have become an increasingly studied research topic in recent years owing to their novel electrical, optical, and magnetic properties. Lanthanide doped NCs are studied for their potential use in a variety of applications including optical and magnetic resonance imaging, optical amplification and lasers. Fundamental to the understanding and development of nanomaterials is the accurate determination of their internal structure and composition. The growth of a shell surrounding the core is a common way to improve luminescence efficiency, but to date, core/shell structures based on lanthanides have only been inferred from indirect measurements. In this work, hexagonal-phase NaYF4/NaGdF4 core/shell NCs were characterized extensively with TEM, XRD, EDS and synchrotron XPS. Although the former three methods all suggested that a core/shell structure had formed, XPS showed conclusively that Gd3+ is located on the surface of the NCs. This is the first time that such a material has been characterized, demonstrating that lanthanide based core/shell particles can be formed. K.A. Abel, J.-C. Boyer, F.C.J.M. van Veggel. Hard Proof of the NaYF4/NaGdF4 Nanocrystal Core/Shell Structure. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 131, 14644-14645 (published online 28 Sep 2009). DOI: 10.1021/ja906971y ********************************************** 6. H1N1 PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS PLANNING Canada is in the early stages of an H1N1 influenza pandemic with the H1N1 virus active at a low level. In response to the risk of an increase in this activity, the CLS, like other institutions, is in the process of developing a pandemic preparedness plan led by an H1N1 planning committee. The role of the committee is to assist CLS management in developing the preparedness plan and communicating information about the plan and strategies to control the spread of H1N1 to staff and users. The CLS is closely following the pandemic planning process developed by the University of Saskatchewan. Information about the CLS preparedness plan concerning users will be communicated as it becomes available. Any questions or concerns may be directed to the CLS Users Office or the Pandemic Preparedness Committee at the email addresses above. ********************************************** 7. APPLICATIONS OF HIGH ENERGY SYNCHROTRON RADIATION IN MATERIALS AND LIFE SCIENCES, UWO, NOV. 14 As part of an outreach effort to continue to increase CLSs national user base, the CLS and its User Advisory Committee will offer a series of short course information days to be held across the country. The first of these will take place at the University of Western Ontario on Saturday November 14th. This free course is intended for graduate and senior undergraduate students in science and engineering at Western, Toronto, Guelph, Waterloo and McMaster Universities. Topics to be presented include applications of X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, imaging tomography, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray scattering. A number of Ontario-based senior researchers will be on hand to encourage students to undertake some trial experiments and to build collaborations with them. Representatives from participating universities include: De-Tong Jiang (Guelph), Grant Henderson (Toronto), Stefan Idziak (Waterloo), Jim Britten (McMaster) and T.K. Sham (UWO). Interested students should contact them to secure transportation to the event. For more information and to register please visit: http://sciencestudioproject.com/HESR_workshop.html 8. NEW STAFF AND NOW HIRING We would like to welcome the following new employees: Daniel Bodrug, Mechanical TechnicianDaniel has a number of years experience working in the mechanical field. He recently moved to Saskatoon from Winnipeg where he worked as an Engine Machinist/Service Technician with Pritchard Diesel. Weifeng Chen, HXMA Science AssociateWeifeng returned to Saskatoon from working in Denmark as a postdoctoral fellow at Risoe National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy. Weifeng obtained his Ph.D. in the Physics and Engineering Physics from the University of Saskatchewan. Robert Deranian, Staff Scientist-Software Developerrecently joined the CLS from General Atomics in San Diego, California where he worked as a Software Engineer. Robert has extensive experience and skills with special expertise in algorithms and data mining. Royal Hinther, Director of Business Developmentformerly Head of Business Development at the National Research Councils Plant Biotechnology Institute (NRC-PBI), Royal brings over 25 years of experience in science and technology development and commercialization to his new position. Shaunivan Labiuk, CMCF Research AssociateShaunivan recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at VIDO after he obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Saskatchewan. Lawrence Pirness, Mechanical TechnicianLawrence has over 9 years experience working as a Refrigeration Mechanic for Stevenson Industrial Refrigeration in Saskatoon. Lawrence also has previous experience working as a contractor at the CLS installing cryogenic lines. We are currently accepting applications for the following positions:
For the complete postings please go to: http://www.lightsource.ca/careers/ =============================================== Last modified: 2010-04-12 14:04:10 |
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