IAP 2015 Activities by Category - Research Skills

Patsy Baudoin, Digital Humanities Librarian

Jan/14

Wed

03:00PM-04:30PM

14N-313

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Wondering what the chatter is about digital humanities (DH)? Come ask questions and share what you know. Let's talk about the impact of computation on the humanities, about where it can takes us, and about what it means to use this lens on our scholarship. And who's doing what where in DH at MIT?

 

 

 

Sponsor(s): Libraries, Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Patsy Baudoin, 14S-140M, 617 253-4979, PATSY@MIT.EDU

Donald Galler, Research Engineer

Enrollment: First come, first serve basis.
Sign-up by 01/05
Limited to 8 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

The seminar is an introduction to the operation of a scanning electron microscope. The basic operating principles will be covered and the attendees will be trained on the use of the microscope. This is primarily a training session for people who expect to use the machine for research purposes but everyone is welcomed. Attendees are encouraged to bring samples for exploration.

 This is a modern scanning electron microscope with a low pressure chamber, computer controlled positioning stage and an energy dispersive spectroscopy system (EDS) for elemental analysis.  Attendees will be trained on the SEM and EDS systems. 

Enrollment: Advance sign up.  ----  Limit: 8 people per session. 

Sponsor(s): Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Donald Galler, 4-133, 617-253-4554, dgaller@mit.edu

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	Jan/20	Tue	09:00AM-05:00PM	SEM Lab Room 4-141, 1 Hour Lunch Break
	Jan/21	Wed	09:00AM-05:00PM	SEM Lab Room 4-141, 1 Hour Lunch Break
	Jan/22	Thu	09:00AM-05:00PM	SEM Lab Room 4-141, 1 Hour Lunch Break

NA

Donald Galler - Research Engineer

UROP Staff

Jan/06

Tue

01:30PM-02:30PM

5-217

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Learn all about UROP in this program overview that will include details about when and where to begin looking; strategies for finding the right UROP for you; advice on how and when to submit a proposal; and small-group or one-on-one advice from UROP staff members. All MIT undergraduates are welcome and encouraged to join, particularly those with limited or no  prior research experience.

Sponsor(s): Office of Undergrad. Advising/Academic Programming, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program -UROP
Contact: J Alex Hoyt, 7-104, 617 324-6700, JAHOYT@MIT.EDU

Mark Clemente, Scholarly Communications and Licensing Librarian

Jan/29

Thu

11:00AM-12:00PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Please email clemente@mit.edu to reserve a spot
Sign-up by 01/29
Limited to 25 participants

APIs, short for application programming interface, are tools used to share content and data between software applications.  Many scholarly publishers, databases, and products offer APIs to allow researchers with programming skills to more powerfully extract data to serve a variety of research purposes.  With an API, users might create programmatic searches of a citation database, extract statistical data, mine full-text articles for content, or dynamically query and post blog content.

This session, offered by the MIT Libraries' Office of Scholarly Publishing, Copyright, and Licensing, will give a brief overview of some of the scholarly research APIs available to the MIT community and will feature Materials Science & Engineering PhD student Edward Kim, whose current research work utilizes APIs.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Mark Clemente, 14S-318, 617 324-4871, CLEMENTE@MIT.EDU

Emily Moscati, MTA Associate Officer

Jan/09

Fri

10:00AM-11:30AM

66-160

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

The transfer of materials into and out of MIT is steadily increasing each year. Moreover, the providers and recipients for these materials are diversifying.

Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) are legal contracts that ensure all parties are permitted to send and receive biological materials, chemical compounds, and other materials. MTAs protect MIT’s intellectual property and freedom to publish, and MTAs record the terms and conditions for the use of the materials.

Come and join Emily Moscati to learn about MIT's Material Transfer process. Gain a better understanding of MTAs, MIT’s procedures and policies for MTAs, and how to get your materials expeditiously.

Please register at: http://tlo.mit.edu/iapevents or email kmkhalil@mit.edu  

Sponsor(s): Technology Licensing Office
Contact: Katrina Khalil-Iannetti, NE18-501, 617 253-6966, kmkhalil@mit.edu

Courtney Crummett, Bioinformatics and Biosciences Librarian

Jan/15

Thu

04:00PM-05:00PM

14N-132 DIRC

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 40 participants

It's not brain surgery...it's market research. This session will introduce scientists and engineers to information resources that cover biotechnology industries and markets. We will use realistic examples and hands-on exercises with key resources to demonstrate how to match your ideas and discoveries with the opportunities and realities of the marketplace. Please register for this event.

 

If you're not interested in biotechnology a companion session will feature resources and examples geared for the engineering sciences, Business information for engineers and scientists, on Friday, January 16th 1-2 pm.

Sponsor(s): Libraries, Biology
Contact: Courtney Crummett, 14S-134, 617 324-8290, CRUMMETT@MIT.EDU

Howard Silver, MIT Libraries

Jan/16

Fri

01:00PM-02:00PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/16

This session will introduce engineers and scientists to business information resources that will help you understand the commercial potential for your ideas, how to find partners, and sources for financial support.  We will use realistic examples and hands-on exercises with key resources to demonstrate how to match your ideas and discoveries with the opportunities and realities of the marketplace.

Please Register for this class.

If you're specifically interested in biotechnology, a companion session; Biotech business information for engineers and scientists will feature resources and examples that are geared for the life sciences business sector, offered January 15, 2015. 

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Howard Silver, 14S-134, 617 253-9319, HSILVER@MIT.EDU

Tami Bolk, Global Education & Career Development (GECD)

Jan/20

Tue

03:00PM-04:00PM

4-145

Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)

have you considered the many benefits of studying, interning, or researching abroad in China?? There are plenty of options to gain such an experience, so we encourage you to check out these opportunities by attending the China info session.

China Study/Intern/Research Abroad Info Session
Tuesday, January 20th
3-4pm
4-145

Staff from the following offices will be on hand to answer questions:
*Global Education (GECD)
*MISTI
*IROP
*Global Studies & Languages

Sponsor(s): Global Education and Career Development, MIT China Program, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program -UROP
Contact: Tami Bolk, E39-364, 617 253-0676, TBOLK@MIT.EDU

Libby Shaw, Research Specialist

Jan/21

Wed

02:00PM-05:00PM

13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/16
Prereq: none

CMSE's Shared Experimental Facilities include several useful tools for looking at the structure and chemical composition of solid surfaces, with a sampling depth of a few atomic layers.  This afternoon seminar is a general introduction to two of these techniques:  Auger Electron Spectroscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS).  We will summarize how each technique works, its strengths and limitations, and some of the research questions these methods help to answer.  See also Introduction to Surface Analysis:  Part 2 (Wednesday, January 28).

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Libby Shaw, 13-4149, 617 253-5045, elshaw@mit.edu

Libby Shaw, Research Specialist

Jan/28

Wed

02:00PM-05:00PM

13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/23
Prereq: none

CMSE's Shared Experimental Facilities include several useful tools for looking at the structure and chemical composition of solid surfaces, with a sampling depth of a few atomic layers.  This afternoon seminar introduces a class of techniques which use a tiny mechanical probe to characterize the topography and material properties of surfaces.  With a primary focus on Atomic Force Microscopy, we will summarize the basic mechanism of operation, strengths and limitations of this class of techniques, and some of the research questions SPMs help to answer.  See also Introduction to Surface Analysis:  Part 1 (Wednesday, January 21).

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Libby Shaw, 13-4149, 617-253-5045, elshaw@mit.edu

Pam Greenley

Jan/13

Tue

01:00PM-04:00PM

N52-496 Conf. Rm A/B, Laptop (optional)

Enrollment: Register via MIT Learning Center
Sign-up by 01/06
Limited to 25 participants
Prereq: Registration required

This is a training course for new and existing EHS reps on their role in the EHS Management System, their responsibilities under the EHS-MS, and a brief overview of EHS issues they may be asked about by their lab mates.

Topics include:

• Interacting with your PI and lab mates
• Updating your lab's PI/Space registration database
• Helping new people complete the EHS Training Needs Profile
• Generating training reports for your lab group
• How to conduct a Level I inspectionHow is your lab evaluated during a Level II inspection
• EHS issues and resources like and are not limited to finding SDS's, how to set-up chemical storage, and what to look for in hazardous waste satellite accumulation areas.

 

Web: http://ehs.mit.edu

Register at https://web.mit.edu/training/learning_center.html

Sponsor(s): Environment, Health and Safety Office
Contact: Jessica Van, N52-496, 617 452-3233, JVAN@MIT.EDU

Nancy Ouyang

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Day-to-day schedule and sign-up form here. List of RSVPs so far here.

There are now hundreds of publicly available human genomes thanks to efforts like the 1000 Genomes Project and the Personal Genome Project. How can we explore, visualize, and create interesting hypotheses from this wealth of data? We’ll take a hands-on approach to answering this problem by diving into the topic of personalized medicine. Specifically, we’ll explore what it means to have the ApoE4 allele, a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s, from different perspectives (genomic, physiological, population-wide, etc.) Along the way, we’ll cover current tools and limitations in bioinformatics. On the last day, we’ll present our work to each other, so make your projects fun and interesting -- games, interactive art, and static visualizations are all possible results of taking this class. Extra points for wackiness (for instance, a musical or pastry interpretation of ApoE)!

Some programming experience will be helpful (bring a laptop, this is a hands-on class!), depending on the project you want to do and how much of the technical intricacies of bioinformatics you want to delve into. Pastry interpretations of genomics are always welcome though.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Sponsor(s): Electronic Research Society
Contact: Nancy Ouyang, (678) 379-8088, NOUYANG@ALUM.MIT.EDU

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Exploring Public Genomes

	Jan/12	Mon	06:00PM-07:00PM	66-154, Bring laptop please!
	Jan/13	Tue	06:00PM-07:00PM	66-154, Bring laptop please!
	Jan/14	Wed	06:00PM-07:00PM	66-154, Bring laptop please!
	Jan/15	Thu	06:00PM-07:00PM	66-154, Bring laptop please!
	Jan/16	Fri	06:00PM-07:00PM	66-154, Bring laptop please!

See description for tentative schedule for each day.

UROP Staff

Jan/21

Wed

01:00PM-02:30PM

5-233

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

This workshop is aimed at undergraduates with little to no research experience seeking to learn more about how to be productive undergraduate researchers and clear communicators. The workshop will focus on effective communication strategies; understanding individual learning and communication styles; setting realistic goals and expectations with mentors; and how to effectively address issues that may arise in the research environment.

Sponsor(s): Office of Undergrad. Advising/Academic Programming, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program -UROP
Contact: J Alex Hoyt, 7-104, 617 324-6700, JAHOYT@MIT.EDU

Katherine McNeill

Jan/22

Thu

03:00PM-04:30PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/21
Limited to 20 participants

Need data to answer a research question? Interested in analyzing raw datasets with micro-level records about individual respondents? This hands-on workshop will familiarize you with the resources of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and the Harvard Dataverse Network, which provide access to datasets in the social sciences and related fields. Topics will include the structure of data files, finding and downloading datasets, and understanding data documentation.

Please register for this session.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Katherine McNeill, E53-168c, x3-0787, mcneillh@mit.edu

Fatima Hussain

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 12/06
Limited to 25 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

Attention Freshmen!

Introducing the IAP Freshman Mini-UROP Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering!

Are you a freshman interested in Course 1, but unsure about what it has to offer? Want to learn about some of the most applicable research to today's sustainable challenges?  From transportation networks to biological materials, and environmental remediation to microbial evolution, Course 1 is one of the most diverse majors at MIT.

This IAP, graduate students in Course 1 have put together a set of mini-UROP projects to give you a taste of the broad range of research, all related to real-world environmental and societal problems. The program will pair interested freshmen with a Course 1 graduate student or post-doc to complete a mini-research project. It will also pair research activities with weekly social events to introduce freshmen to the Course 1 community and the research of their fellow mini-UROP participants.  The program will last for the entire duration of IAP.

Interested?  Fill out the survey below and become a part of the CEE Freshman Mini-UROP Program!

http://goo.gl/forms/vnjFxS7PTR

We will be hosting an event on Friday, December 5th, that will give an overview of each project offered.  You will also get the opportunity to meet the grad students and/or postdocs leading the projects.  The deadline to confirm is December 6th.  Three units of credit are offered for this program.  In order to receive credit you must register for 1.S991.

Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
Contact: Stephanie Bright, 1-290, 617 253-9723, SBRIGHT@MIT.EDU

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IAP Kick-off lunch

Jan/05

Mon

12:00PM-02:00PM

1-131

Kick-off event.  Meet fellow students and reconnect with research mentors.

Fatima Hussain

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Friday Social/Chalk Talk

	Jan/09	Fri	12:00PM-02:00PM	1-131
	Jan/16	Fri	12:00PM-02:00PM	48-316
	Jan/23	Fri	12:00PM-02:00PM	1-131
	Jan/30	Fri	12:00PM-02:00PM	48-316

Weekly lunches will be held on Fridays during the program to both socialize and discuss research, with the final date, January 30th, being an end of IAP party.

Fatima Hussain

Greta Suiter, Collections Archivist, Jessica Venlet, Library Fellow for Digital Archives

Jan/23

Fri

10:00AM-12:00PM

14N-118, Bring your laptop

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/22
Limited to 14 participants
Prereq: None

There are many interesting women associated with MIT who have sparse Wikipedia entries or no presence at all. You can help fix this! Come to this Wikipedia Edit-a-thon to create or edit articles about MIT women using collections from the MIT Institute Archives as well as secondary sources. The Institute Archives collects materials from MIT alumni, faculty and departments. One of the collections we’ll be using for this Edit-a-thon is the Howe, Manning, Almy papers. Lois Lilley Howe, Eleanor Manning and Mary Almy are believed to be the first women to open an architecture firm in Boston.

This session is perfect for anyone interested in learning more about women at MIT, the Institute Archives’ collections, or Wikipedia editing. Let’s make Wikipedia a more complete record of MIT women’s achievements! No previous editing experience is necessary, but make sure to bring your laptop. 

Sign up to reserve your spot and learn about Wikipedia editing on the Meet Up page. 

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Greta Suiter, 14N - 118, 617-258-5533, gsuiter@mit.edu

Tim McClure

Jan/29

Thu

10:00AM-01:00PM

13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/26

The Center for Materials Science and Engineering's Analysis Shared Experimental Facility has an extended range FT-IR Microscope with a variety of sampling accessories that are available for the use of researchers. Come find out about the many sampling options now available for FT-IR.  Pre-register via e-mail.

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Tim McClure, 13-4149, x8-6470, mtim@mit.edu

Dr. Micah Altman, Director of Research, MIT Libraries

Jan/08

Thu

01:00PM-05:00PM

E17-133

Enrollment: Sign up at: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=849716

Increasingly, conducting innovative research requires resources that exceed those readily on-hand to the individual scholar. You can use research funding to access a wider set of research methods, to accelerate your research project, expand its scope and depth, and increase its impact. This short course provides an overview of the types and sources of funding available for research support, and introduces the fundamental elements of planning, proposal writing, and management for "sponsored" projects. The course is geared toward junior faculty, postdocs, and graduate students (in late stages or on the job market), who are new to the funding process, are considering whether to seek funding from new sources, or who would like a systematic review of the grant writing and review process. The course will be presented in a half-day format, followed by an individualized consulting session focused on each attendee’s research project.

Participants are eligible for individual consultations.

Please register for this class.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Randi Shapiro, (617) 324-4988, shapiror@mit.edu

Charlie Whittaker, KI Bioinformatics and Computing Core Facility Research, Jingzhi Zhu, KI Bioinformatics and Computing Core Facility Researcher

Jan/30

Fri

09:00AM-11:00AM

14N-132 DIRC

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/27
Limited to 40 participants
Prereq: This session is open to Researchers affiliated with Koch Ins

The Koch Institute Bioinformatics and Computing Core Facility provides researchers with support for various computational recourses. These resources include a Linux compute cluster, extensive data storage and a wide range of applications. Please sign up for this session if you are a researcher affiliated with the Koch Institute, MIT Biology Department, MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences or MIT Biological Engineering and are interested in learning how to get the most from the support we provide. We will cover IT-related topics such as cluster usage and storage access as well as provide general examples of bioinformatics analytical pipelines. Registraion Required. 

 

Note: This session is open to Researchers affiliated with Koch Institute Member Laboratories, MIT Biology Department, MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences or MIT Biological Engineering.

Sponsor(s): Biology, Biological Engineering, Libraries
Contact: Courtney Crummett, 14S-134, 617 324-8290, CRUMMETT@MIT.EDU

Steven Strang

	Jan/05	Mon	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/06	Tue	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/07	Wed	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/08	Thu	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/09	Fri	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/12	Mon	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/13	Tue	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/14	Wed	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/15	Thu	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/16	Fri	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/20	Tue	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/21	Wed	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/22	Thu	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/23	Fri	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/26	Mon	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/27	Tue	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115
	Jan/28	Wed	10:00AM-04:00PM	E39-115

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: none

The Writing & Communication Center (WCC) will continue to offer free consultations and advice on oral presentations and on any writing problem, including writing strategically, finding a topic, generating ideas, overcoming writer's block, improving grammar, crafting effective sentences and paragraphs, organizing ideas, using of evidence, analyzing audiences. We can help with technical writing; theses in all departments; job, graduate and med school application essays; research and teaching statements; resumes; conference talks; articles for publication; book proposals and chapters; and papers for any course. We also offer help on pronunciation. The WCC is open throughout IAP. You must be registered with our online scheduler. Go to https://mit.mywconline.com/index.php to register and to schedule appointments. Open to MIT undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-docs.

Sponsor(s): Writing and Communication Center, Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Contact: Steven Strang, E39-115C, 617 253-4459, SMSTRANG@MIT.EDU

Alex Hoyt, Sara Nelson

Jan/13

Tue

03:30PM-04:30PM

5-217

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

The Amgen-UROP Scholars Program invites undergraduates to participate in faculty-mentored summer research at MIT in the science and biotechnology areas.

Students admitted to this program (known as Amgen Scholars) will have opportunities to conduct research, analyze data, present research results, network with other undergraduates with similar research interests, and develop working relationships with MIT faculty mentors and other research staff.

Sponsor(s): Office of Undergrad. Advising/Academic Programming
Contact: J Alex Hoyt, 7-104, 617 324-6700, JAHOYT@MIT.EDU

Kevin Cohen, Robert Atkins, Ken Gregson, Matt Cornick, Hamilton Shepard, Bob Galejs

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/05
Limited to 24 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: None

Do your innovative ideas get the attention they deserve? Would you like to become more innovative? In this interactive innovation tournament, we will collectively generate hundreds of new ideas to present, evaluate, refine, and ultimately transform into system concepts that solve relevant and challenging problems. We will discuss techniques and tools for brainstorming and concept development, including the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Blue Team process, and provide mentoring, presentation skills training, and lectures in advanced technology across diverse fields. This is the perfect opportunity to practice innovation and hone your skills for future research, development, and entrepreneurship.

*This work is sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract #FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.

Sponsor(s): Lincoln Laboratory
Contact: Kevin Cohen, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, cohen@ll.mit.edu

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Innovation Tournament

	Jan/20	Tue	08:00AM-12:00PM	NE45-202, Beaverworks Center
	Jan/22	Thu	08:00AM-12:00PM	NE45-202, Beaverworks Center
	Jan/27	Tue	08:00AM-05:00PM	NE45-202, Beaverworks Center
	Jan/29	Thu	08:00AM-05:00PM	NE45-202, Beaverworks Center

Kevin Cohen, Robert Atkins, Ken Gregson, Matt Cornick, Hamilton Shepard, Bob Galejs

Patrick Boisvert, Technical Associate

Jan/29

Thu

02:00PM-03:00PM

13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

The lecture will provide an introduction to the basic principles of Scanning Electron Microscopy with an approach to EDX, EBSD, and BSE.

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Patrick Boisvert, 13-1018, x3-3317, pboisver@mit.edu

Bo Yang Yu, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering

Enrollment: Sign-up highly preferred
Sign-up by 01/04
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

If you are interested in what is optimization and how it can be used in engineering design, or if you need to use optimization tools for your research but find most optimization courses too math intensive, this is the course for you. The goal of this course is to make you comfortable with different types of numerical optimization methods through the use of hands-on MATLAB demos and “just enough” mathematical detail.

This short course consists of four lectures. The first two lectures will cover the role of numerical optimization in engineering design, and introduce commonly used optimization algorithms. The last two will be tutorials on the use of MATLAB for design optimization.

Both graduate and undergraduate students from all disciplines are welcome. Prior knowledge in numerical methods is useful but not necessary. Basic understanding of MATLAB syntax will be necessary to follow the demos

Sign-up form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Zb_EeUXkFAm0X7R-WqGGjRF0kOrUua1UUXTns3ZJeOs/viewform

Sponsor(s): Mechanical Engineering
Contact: Bo Yang Yu, BYYU@MIT.EDU

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	Jan/06	Tue	10:00AM-11:30AM	3-370
	Jan/07	Wed	10:00AM-11:30AM	3-370
	Jan/08	Thu	10:00AM-11:30AM	3-370
	Jan/09	Fri	10:00AM-11:30AM	3-370

Bo Yang Yu - Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering

Shiahn Chen, Research Specialist

Jan/29

Thu

03:00PM-04:00PM

13-2137

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

This lecture will cover the basic principles of ion source, optics and ion-material interaction in a focused ion beam machine with an emphasis on the differences from, and similarities to, the electron-beam instrument. In addition, the lecture will describe the configuration of the FEI Helios 600 Nanolab Dual Beam workstation in the CMSE Electron Microscopy Facility, and conclude with application examples of the material characterization and nanofabrication uses of the dual-beam workstation.

Sponsor(s): Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Contact: Shiahn Chen, 13-1027, 2534622, schen3j@mit.edu

Courtney Crummett, Biosciences Librarian

Jan/15

Thu

11:00AM-12:00PM

14N-132 DIRC

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15

Come learn about JoVE, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, and find out how watching scientific research in a video format enhances laboratory outcomes and saves time. JoVE includes several peer reviewed journals in the life science and physical science fields. Watch a protocol in action, learn how to do particular experiment or procedure, or watch videos demonstrating a paper’s materials and methods section. Click here for MIT Libraries subscriptions to JoVE. Please register! 

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Courtney Crummett, 14S-134, 617 324-8290, CRUMMETT@MIT.EDU

Jennie Murack

	Jan/23	Fri	11:00AM-12:00PM	14N-132
	Jan/26	Mon	11:00AM-12:00PM	14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

Using citation management software to create and maintain a collection of references or PDFs is common and important in today’s academic world. These tools will help you to save citations from your favorite databases and websites, store related PDFs or attachments, and quickly build a bibliography for your papers and publications. We’ll review Zotero and Mendeley and show how to use them together to help your manage your PDF's and citations.

This workshop is being offered twice. Only register for one workshop.

Jan. 23rd registration: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=842843

Jan. 26th registration: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=842844

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU

Nora Murphy, Archivist for Reference, Outreach and Instruction

Jan/30

Fri

12:00PM-01:00PM

14N-118, Sign up: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=857405

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/29
Limited to 20 participants

The Institute Archives and Special Collections stewards a wealth of material to be mined for innumerable topics of interest – there are original materials, in tangible and electronic formats, about every aspect of MIT. Though it might seem a daunting task to find specific information, it’s not as difficult as you think. In this session you will learn some tips about how to find relevant original material, tools that archivists use to manage the collections, and a chance to examine some boxes to better understand why things are arranged the way they are (or aren’t!).

Please register for this session.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Nora Murphy, 14N-118, 617 253-8066, NMURPHY@MIT.EDU

Howard Silver

Jan/15

Thu

01:00PM-02:00PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/15
Limited to 30 participants
Prereq: none

A couple hours in the Library can save you a couple of weeks in the lab. Don't waste your time reinventing the gelatin sponge-choriallantoic membrane assay. Improve your efficiency by learning strategies for finding published research protocols and methods. This session is a hands-on practicum that introduces attendees to resources that support bioscience bench research.

Please register for this session.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Howard Silver, 14S-134, 617 253-9319, HSILVER@MIT.EDU

Stephen Skuce, Program Manager for Rare Books

	Jan/09	Fri	10:30AM-11:00AM	14N-118, Sign up: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=851651
	Jan/09	Fri	11:15AM-11:45AM	14N-118, Sign up: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=851654

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/07
Limited to 12 participants
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session
Prereq: none

Tired of boring first dates? Spend a few minutes with a number of fascinating types (and typefaces) from the rare book collections in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. Some are lavishly illustrated while others have hidden charms, but they're all very attractive and look great for their age. Library staff members will provide discreet introductions in rapid succession. If you feel a spark, you'll be welcome to return and become more familiar with any volumes that you’d really like to spend more time with. (Note to those who attended last year: this year's selection is almost entirely new.)

Please register for one session:

10:30am-11:00am: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=851651

11:15 am-11:45 am: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=851654

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Stephen Skuce, 14N-118, 617-253-0654, skuce@mit.edu

Katherine McNeill

Jan/12

Mon

04:00PM-05:00PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Register at: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=849490
Sign-up by 01/11
Limited to 35 participants

Do you manage research data here at MIT?  This workshop will provide you with basic strategies for:  best practices for retention and archiving; effective directory structures and naming conventions; good file formats for long-term access; data security and backup options; and metadata, tagging, and citation options.  For more in-depth coverage of some of these topics, see our other workshops in the Research Data Management Series.

Please register for this session.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Katherine McNeill, E53-168C, 617 253-0787, MCNEILLH@MIT.EDU

Katherine McNeill

Jan/22

Thu

11:00AM-12:00PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Register at: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=849491
Sign-up by 01/21
Limited to 35 participants

Do you struggle with organizing your research data?  Wonder if there’s a better way to arrange and name your data files to optimize your work?  This workshop will teach you practical techniques for organizing your data files.  Topics will include: file and folder organizational structures and file naming.   Will include hands-on exercises to apply the concepts to your particular data project.

Please register for this session.

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Katherine McNeill, E53-168C, 617 253-0787, MCNEILLH@MIT.EDU

Helen Bailey, Digital Curation Analyst, Christine Malinowski, Library Fellow for Research Data Management

Jan/14

Wed

11:00AM-12:00PM

14N-132 (DIRC)

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Limited to 20 participants

Not sure how to publish and share your data? Unclear on the best formats and information to include for optimal data reuse? This workshop will review existing options for long-term storage and strategies for sharing data with other researchers. Topics will include: data publication and citation, persistent identifiers, versioning, data formats and metadata for reuse, repositories, cost models and management strategies.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=848583

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Helen Bailey, E25-131, 617 324-4493, HBAILEY@MIT.EDU

Christine Malinowski, Library Fellow for Research Data Management

Jan/21

Wed

11:00AM-12:00PM

14N-132 (DIRC)

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 35 participants

Ever struggle to find that file you tucked away last semester (or last week)? Having trouble remembering details in order to re-use your own data? Need others to understand & use your data? This workshop will introduce you to the power of metadata: what it is, why it’s so important, and how to get started with it. Stop wasting time in finding, interpreting or sharing your data. Whether you are new to thinking about metadata or you’re looking to build off some basic knowledge, this workshop is for you!

Please register for this workshop at: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=849542.

 

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Christine Malinowski, E53-100, 617 324-6394, CMALIN@MIT.EDU

Ellen Finnie Duranceau, Program Manager, Scholarly Pub., Copyright, & Licensing, Michelle Christy, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs

Jan/15

Thu

01:00PM-02:00PM

1-150

Enrollment: Please email efinnie@mit.edu to reserve a spot.
Sign-up by 01/12
Limited to 40 participants

Do you or your colleagues get or seek federal funding for your research?  Want to stay up-to-date on rules to get your next grant, or help others with managing their grant requirements?  Come to this session and learn about new requirements from the federal government for open access: in 2013, the White House directed all large federal agencies to develop requirements for open access to publications and data created through research they fund.  These requirements are now being implemented, starting with the Department of Energy (DOE).

In the session, staff from the Office of Sponsored Programs and the Libraries will:

•             provide an overview of the new requirements

•             focus on the requirements that have been issued from the Department of Energy

•             update you on any additional requirements released in time for this session

•             describe services at MIT that can help you comply with these requirements

In addition, guest speaker Martin Greenwald, Associate Director of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, and former Chair of the DOE Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee, will give you an inside look at the DOE requirements.

 

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Ellen Duranceau, 14S-216, 617 253-8483, EFINNIE@MIT.EDU

Alex Oberg

Jan/26

Mon

02:00PM-03:00PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 22 participants
Prereq: Experience with GIS software is helpful, but not required.

Geospatial data is often extremely costly and difficult to access, but there are an increasing number of free and open GIS datasets that can be just as suitable and useful as their expensive, proprietary counterparts. We will explore specific sources and strategies for discovering this data. Examples of sources covered include OpenStreetMap, Natural Earth Data, the Database of Global Administrative Areas, and others. Some experience with GIS may be helpful.

Sign up here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=836003

 

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU

Charles Settens, Research Specialist - CMSE XRD SEF

Jan/12

Mon

10:00AM-04:00PM

13-4041, Lunch break from 12pm-1pm

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/07
Limited to 10 participants

This workshop will introduce set of general guidelines for structure refinement using the Rietveld (whole-profile) method. The practical rather than the theoretical aspects of each step in a typical Rietveld refinement are discussed with a view to guiding newcomers in the field. The topics covered include (1) data collection, (2) background contribution, (3) peak-shape function, (4) refinement of profile parameters, (5) Fourier analysis with powder diffraction data, (6) refinement of structural parameters, (7) use of geometric restraints, (8) calculation of estimated standard deviations (ESD's), (9) interpretation of R values and (10) some common problems and possible solutions.

Contact: Charles Settens, 13-4009A, 845-430-2584, SETTENS@MIT.EDU

Carmen Varela, Research Scientist

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/05
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions
Prereq: none

You want to be a scientist. . . and you want to be good at it. . . but what does that involve? Can we promote quality and excellence in a highly creative and dynamic field such as that of scientific research? Explore, discuss, and relect on what it means to be a good scientist these days. Although we will touch on scientific ethics and integrity, the main focus of the class is to reflect on what, within ethical practices, constitutes high quality science and on what, if any, mindsets and approaches can help you make it better. Examples and readings will be drawn primarily - but not only - from the neuroscience literature.

Sponsor(s): Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Contact: Carmen Varela, 46-5233, 617-501-6261, carmenv@mit.edu

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	Jan/05	Mon	05:00PM-06:30PM	46-3015
	Jan/09	Fri	05:00PM-06:30PM	46-3015, Group presentation/discussion
	Jan/12	Mon	05:00PM-06:30PM	46-3015
	Jan/16	Fri	05:00PM-06:30PM	46-3015, Group presentation/discussion
	Jan/20	Tue	05:00PM-06:30PM	46-3015
	Jan/23	Fri	05:00PM-06:30PM	46-3015, Group presentation/discussion

Participants must attend all sessions

Carmen Varela - Research Scientist

Jennie Murack

Jan/22

Thu

01:00PM-03:00PM

14N-132

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 22 participants
Prereq: A basic knowledge of ArcMap

Are there clusters in your data? Are similar values grouped together? How are several pieces of data related? This workshop will introduce you to the spatial statistics techniques of spatial autocorrelation and regression. We will use both ArcMap and Geoda.

Prerequisites: A basic knowledge of ArcMap, including how to load data and a familiarity with the interface.

Register here: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=836000

Sponsor(s): Geographic Information Systems Lab, Libraries
Contact: Jennie Murack, 7-238, 617 258-6680, MURACK@MIT.EDU

UROP Staff

Jan/15

Thu

02:00PM-03:00PM

5-217

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Join us to learn key strategies for finding a UROP and participate in small-group discussions including one-on-one advice from UROP staff. All MIT undergraduates are welcome and encouraged to join.

Sponsor(s): Office of Undergrad. Advising/Academic Programming, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program -UROP
Contact: J Alex Hoyt, 7-104, 617 324-6700, JAHOYT@MIT.EDU

Peter Cohn

	Jan/20	Tue	05:00PM-06:00PM	14N-132
	Jan/21	Wed	05:00PM-06:00PM	Online

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Attendance: Repeating event, particpants welcome at any session

Personal content management tools help you get organized so you can work more efficiently and save yourself time. Some tools help you organize all sorts of information (notes, pdfs, documents, etc.) and work more efficiently. Others let you annotate, cite, and/or share your content. In this session we’ll show you tools for doing this while working solo or in a group.

Please register for this event:

• January 20, 5-6 pm: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=844044 (in person)
  
• January 21, 5-6 pm: http://libcal.mit.edu/event.php?id=847559 (online - participants will be e-mailed link to the class)

Sponsor(s): Libraries
Contact: Peter Cohn, pcohn@mit.edu

Dr John F. Carrier, Sloan School of Management

Jan/29

Thu

10:00AM-11:00AM

4-149

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/29
Limited to 45 participants

 Would you like to reduce your lab's output by 10%, 20%, or even as much as 50%?

Then Optimally Dismal Laboratory is a must attend event for you!

 

In this session, we provide an optimal approach for disrupting productivity, reducing safey, and dampening morale for your laboratory. We will explain the rationale behind these techniques through the systems and psychological studies of several notable MIT faculty, including Jay Forrester, John DC Little, Ed Schein, Douglas McGregor, and Kurt Lewin.  

Finally, we will show some "best practices" from several MIT labs. Also, feel free to submit photos of your lab's best productivity-disrupting activities for inclusion in the talk.

 

Sign up today at:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-dismally-optimal-laboratory-tickets-15015572983

 

 

Finally, we'll present our “30 minute recipe” for reducing your lab's productivy - so you can start seeing results today!

Common Questions

Q: I am worried about the impact on my colleagues' productivity.

A: No need to worry. It will reduce their productivity as well.

Q: Could these techniques be used in reverse to improve productivity, safety, and morale?

A: Yes, but that would require a modicum of consideration and self-discipline.

 

 

 

Sponsor(s): Chemical Engineering, Sloan School of Management, Environment, Health and Safety Office
Contact: John Carrier, jcarrier@adv-mfg-group.com

Prof. Paulo Lozano and Iulia Jivanescu 'G

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/07
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Time Capsule to Mars is a global endeavour whose purpose is to send a bit of humanity to Mars. The spacecraft will carry photos, videos and other digital media to be preserved for future generations when the next big leap in space travel is achieved.  TC2M intends to be the first student led mission to another planet.  As a joint effort between universities throughout the country, the project brings about a partnership between educational and the professional world.  
 
The scope of the IAP for this project is to assist in developing the systems level requirements for the mission.  Currently the main drivers for success lie in further developing the concepts for communications, power, GNC, and propulsion subsystems engineering. As an example, the communications team would be needed to help determine how often to communicate with DSN and the antenna that would be needed for this, and in the process the team will develop an initial link budget. This work would then feed into the power requirements, GNC development, and propulsion needs.
 
TC2M is not a paper project. It is a CubeSat  project that will be built and sent to Mars in 2017. This is an opportunity for students to make a mark on humanity and be part of a team of elite engineers working on a historic project! The project starts on Friday, January 9, and wraps up at the end of IAP with a presentation to program representatives and other industry members. Meeting times will be decided at the kick-off meeting. 

Sponsor(s): Aeronautics and Astronautics
Contact: Iulia Jivanescu, jiva@mit.edu

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Jan/09

Fri

10:00AM-12:00PM

, Room 37-402, Additional meeting times TBA.

Prof. Paulo Lozano and Iulia Jivanescu 'G, Iulia Jivanescu

Emily A. Ranken, IHP Officer, EHS, Judith M. Reilly, Assistant to the Director, EHS

Jan/20

Tue

10:00AM-11:30AM

46-3310

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/19
Limited to 30 participants
Prereq: Chemical Safety Training

You are considering an experiment involving something toxic and reactive, and you don't want to be exposed or blow up the lab.  Laboratory research often involves the potential for exposure to safety or health hazards associated with chemicals or materials being used and/or the process and equipment involved.   Sometimes the hazards are well characterized and the precautions needed for safety are well defined.  However, this is research, and many times they are not. 

This class will introduce you to a tool, the Lab Specific Safety Procedure form,  to help you identify the hazards and complete a plan for conducting a procedure or experiment safely, managing any waste generated appropriately, and being prepared for an emergency. The first part of the class will be an overview to present the form and provide representative examples for how it can be used.  During the second part, participants will have an opportunity to begin a procedure for their own research.   

Once a Lab Specific Safety Procedure is developed it can be a useful tool for training others in conducting that  procedure or experiment safely, or helping lab mates know what to do if a problems occurs.

Advanced registration required: http://ehs.mit.edu/site/content/iap-course-registration

Sponsor(s): Environment, Health and Safety Office
Contact: Emily Ranken, N52-496, 617-253-0908, EMRANKEN@MIT.EDU