National Conference on Biology and Bioinformatics of Economically Important Plants and Microbes at NBU,Siliguri

National Conference on Biology and Bioinformatics of Economically Important Plants and Microbes

VENUE: Siliguri, West Bengal

PREAMBLE:

Bioinformatics is fast emerging as an important discipline for academic research and industrial applications. Research and development in bioinformatics and computational biology requires the co-operation of specialized personnel from the field of general biology, Computer science, Statistics etc. The overall goal of the subject is to elucidate cell function and physiology from a comprehensive set of measurements. Various computational methods are being widely used to address a broad spectrum of problems including the research development and management of economically important plants and microbes

The importance of research in the field of economically important plants especially medicinal plants and plants for herbal products and cosmetics and whole lot of bacterial community used for biotechnological purposes for the production of medicines and vaccines etc. are much more relevant today than the last century. Keeping this in view, the present conference is aimed at gathering scientists from various disciplines for fruitful discussion and recommendation on the research and management of economically important plants and microbes through techniques of bioinformatics and general biology.

CONFENRENCE THEME:

AREA OF PRESENTATION:

• Physiology and Biochemistry of medicinal plants
• Taxonomy of economically important plants and microbes
• Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria & fungi.
• Biology and bioinformatics of diazotrophs
• Genomics and Proteomics
• Structural Bioinformatics

• Data Mining and Machine Learning
• Systems Biology
• Model Design and Evaluation
• Next Generation Sequencing
• Pharmaceutical Applications
• Immuno- and Chemo-informatics
• Transcriptomics

REGISTRATION FEES:

Registration type	Early Bird	Spot
Academia	Rs. 1,000	Rs. 1,100
Student and Research Scholar	Rs. 700	Rs. 800
Industry	Rs. 3,000	Rs. 3,000
Accompanying person	Rs. 700	Rs. 700

·         Registration fee will include Ticket to Inaugural function, Conference kit, breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea and a grand cultural program followed by gala dinner.
The Demand Draft may be drawn in favor of ‘Chairman, BBCon2012’, payable at Siliguri.

IMPORTANT DATES:

First announcement 6th June, 2011

Deadline for submission of abstract 9th January 2012

Early bird registration ends 16th January 2012

Conference 17-19th February 2012

FOR DETAILS, PLEASE REFER http://bicnbu.in/Conference.html

Second National Conference on “Antimicrobial Resistance: a cause for global concern” at Allahabad

SECOND NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE: A CAUSE FOR GLOBAL CONCERN”

DATE: 6 - 8TH FEBRUARY, 2012

NCAR 2012

ABOUT:

The rapid emergence of resistance to antibiotics amongst pathogens generates visions of the 'potential post-antibiotic era threatening present and future medical advances'. The extensive use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture has increased the reservoir of resistance genes. It is thus not surprising that the introduction of a new agent is, practically invariably, followed by heightened resistance. Legitimately used antibiotic therapy based on sound evidences is justified; however, the inappropriate use largely exceeds this and introduces a large amount of antibiotic into the environment.

In view of the above, the Department of Microbiology & Fermentation Technology, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Deemed-to-be-University, Allahabad is organizing the Second National Conference on “Antimicrobial Resistance : A Cause for Global Concern” from 6 - 8th February, 2012. The organizing committee takes pleasure to extend a warm and cordial invitation to Faculty members, Scientists, Students, Health Care Professionals and Industrialists from various Universities, Research Institutes and Organizations to participate and present the relevant data under the various themes and sub-themes.

CONFERENCE THEME:

1. Clinical Challenges in addressing resistance to antimicrobial drugs in the 21st Century

            •Epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance

•Molecular Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance

•Diagnostics and Alternative therapeutic approaches to combat antimicrobial resistance

2. Antibiotics, Agriculture, and Super bugs

            • Use of antimicrobials in plant agriculture

• Antimicrobial resistance in livestock

• Antibiotic resistance: Implications for the food system

3. Emergence, spread and environmental effect of antimicrobial resistance

            • Antimicrobial resistance in clinics, hospitals and at home

• Antimicrobial resistance in aquatic environment

• Antibiotic resistant genes as emerging environmental contaminants

4. Computational modeling and the pro-drug approach to combat antibiotic resistance

            • Analysis of Prodrug Delivery System for Treating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

• Challenges in pharmacodynamics studies of antimicrobial resistance

• Computer simulations and understanding of bacterial resistance against commonly used antibiotics

5. Regulatory issues on Antimicrobial resistance

            • Human health impact and regulatory issues involving antimicrobial resistance

• Tackling antibiotic resistance from food safety perspective in India

• Policy proposals for combating antibiotic resistance in environment

REGISTRATION FEES:

Category	Upto 20th Dec.2011	Before 5th Jan.2012	Spot Registration
Student	Rs. 1500/-	Rs. 1700/-	Rs. 2000/-
Delegate	Rs. 2500/-	Rs. 2700/-	Rs. 3000/-
Industrial Delegate	Rs. 3500/-	Rs. 3700/-	Rs. 4000/-

FOR DETAILS, PLEASE REFER http://shiats.edu.in/confMicrobiology/confmain.htm

National Symposium on Forest Genetic Resources at Ranchi

National Symposium on Forest Genetic Resources

Date: 19-20 December 2011

Advances in biotechnology, especially in the area of in vitro culture techniques and molecular biology provide some important tools for improved conservation and management of forest genetic resources. Rapid advances in DNA technology have stimulated the development of novel molecular technologies which allow the screening of germplasm for functional diversity and identify variation at an early developmental stage without the need for performing the time-consuming evaluation tests, such as pathogen resistance screening. Despite the progress made in recent years, there remain many unresolved questions especially in tropical broad-leaved species, which need immediate attention of the researchers. Hence, the Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi is organizing “National Symposium on Assessment & Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources through Biotechnological Interventions” on 19-20 December 2011 to commemorate International Year of Forests 2011.

CONFERENCE THEMES:

§     Priorities, approaches and Strategies for assessment and conservation of Forest Genetic Resources

§     Characterization of genetic diversity among and within populations/species using modern tools and techniques

§     Conservation of FGRs in their natural environment /habitats: Scientific and participatory management

§     Ex situ conservation and sustainable utilization of FGRs

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Papers are invited on the themes identified for the Symposium. Abstracts not exceeding 300 words including a concise title, names and affiliations of the author(s) and 4-5 key words; neatly typed on A-4 size paper (MS Word, 1.5 spacing and Times New Roman font throughout) must reach to Organizing Secretary (sanjaysingh@lycos.com; sanjaysingh@icfre.org) or Director, IFP Ranchi (dir-ifp@icfre.org) preferably through e-mail on or before 20^th November 2011. Intimation about the accepted submissions will be provided before 25^th November 2011. Full papers must be submitted before 5^th December 2011.

REGISTRATION FEE:

Scientists/Officials/Professionals: Rs. 1000

Research scholars/Students: Rs. 800

Accompanying Person: Rs. 500

On Spot registration fee will be Rs. 1500 and Rs. 1000 for category A and B, respectively.

Contact the organizing Secretary for the mode of fee payment

FOR DETAILS, PLEASE REFER http://natsymfgr11.blogspot.com/

PhD Studentship at University of Cambridge, 2012

PhD Studentship: Exploring Nucleic Acid Structure, Function and Recognition

Department of Chemistry

Vacancy Reference No: MA09060

Applications are invited for a four-year BBSRC-funded CASE PhD studentship to work under the supervision of Professor Balasubramanian in collaboration with the biotech company Illumina UK.

ABOUT THE SUPERVISOR AND GROUP:

The Balasubramanian group was involved in the creation of Solexa next generation DNA sequencing (now owned by Illumina). The project will have a strong chemistry component and will involve exploitation of the same platform to explore the construction and interrogation of arrays of nucleic acids of extremely high complexity (typically around one billion features per array). These arrays may constitute sequences and/or structures of DNA or RNA derived from the genome that can be systematically investigated e.g. for protein binding, or drug binding, with the goal of addressing important questions in the life sciences. Our group has a particular interest in four stranded DNA/RNA structures called G-quadruplexes, the investigation of which will form at least part of the project.

Professor Balasubramanian's research group specialises in the chemical biology of nucleic acids and the genome (http://www-shankar.ch.cam.ac.uk). Illumina (http://www.illumina.com) is a world leading life sciences company that specializes in reagents and instrumentation for genomic analysis that includes the world's forefront next generation sequencing technology. For related reading see: Nature, 456, 53-59 (2008); Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 10, 261-275 (2011); Nature Biotechnology, 29, 659-664 (2011).

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENT:

Applicants should have a strong background in chemistry and the molecular sciences, be a good communicator and be highly motivated. The ideal applicant should have an interest in working as part of an interdisciplinary team involving chemistry and molecular biology. Aspects of the project will be carried out at Illumina Cambridge Ltd. which is based near the University of Cambridge.

Applicants must have (or be about to obtain) at least the equivalent of a UK II.1 honours degree (and preferably a Masters) in chemistry or other relevant discipline. The studentship covers tuition fees plus a maintenance grant for UK and other EU nationals who satisfy the eligibility requirements of the UK Research Councils. Owing to funding restrictions, the studentship is not available to non-EU nationals.

DATE OF APPLICATION AND DEADLINE:

The studentship is available from October 2012, though a start in January or April 2013 may also be possible. Applications should include a CV, a personal statement of interest, contact details for two referees, and should be sent electronically to herchel-smith-medchem-pa@ch.cam.ac.uk. Informal enquiries can be made to Professor Balasubramanian (sb10031@cam.ac.uk).

* Limit of tenure: 4 years.

Closing date: 27 January 2012.

FOR DETAILS, PLEASE REFER http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/hr/jobs/vacancies.cgi?job=9060

Gates Scholarship in University of Cambridge for the year 2012-2013

Gates Scholarship in University of Cambridge for the year 2012-2013

Gates Scholarship in University of Cambridge for the year 2012-2013

Gates Cambridge Scholarships are awarded to outstanding applicants from outside the UK to pursue a postgraduate degree in any subject at the University of Cambridge.

The programme aims to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others.

The Scholarships:

History

In October 2000 the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated $210 million to the University of Cambridge, establishing the Gates Cambridge Trust. This is the largest single donation to a UK university. The Trust is an independent charity and manages all aspects of the Gates Cambridge Scholarships programme - selection of Scholars, Scholars in residence, alumni relations and all financial and administrative matters. The programme celebrated its ten year anniversary in 2010.

Facts & figures

• First entry of scholars in 2001
• Between 2001 and 2010 almost 1,000 Gates Scholars from more than 90 countries
• 90 new scholarships awarded each year
• About 250 Scholars from 60 countries in Cambridge
• c. 44% of Scholars are from the USA
• c. 750 alumni spread throughout the world

Gates Cambridge Scholarships are highly competitive full-cost scholarships awarded to outstanding applicants from outside the UK to pursue a full-time graduate degree in any subject available at the University of Cambridge.

Gates Cambridge Scholarships are awarded on the following criteria

• intellectual ability
• leadership capacity
• a person's desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world by providing service to their communities and applying their talents and knowledge to improve the lives of others
• a good fit between the abilities and aspirations of the applicant and what the University of Cambridge can offer in its graduate programme

While at Cambridge Gates Scholars pursue the full range of academic disciplines and are spread throughout all 31 Colleges.

Application deadline: 15^th October for American candidates

2^nd December for candidates outside America

FOR DETAILS, PLEASE REFER http://www.gatesscholar.org/uploads/Gates%20Cambridge%20Poster%202012-13.pdf

OR http://www.gatesscholar.org/

Commonwealth Scholarships for developing Commonwealth country citizens, 2012

Commonwealth Scholarships – developing Commonwealth country citizens, 2012

Information on 2012 Commonwealth Scholarships for students from developing Commonwealth countries for Master’s, PhD, and split-site (PhD) study in the UK. These scholarships are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

There is a nominating agency for Commonwealth Scholarships in each Commonwealth country. In addition, universities and university bodies in a number of developing Commonwealth countries are invited to nominate candidates to the CSC. Each year, the CSC invites each nominating agency/university/university body to forward a specific number of nominations.

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS: CSC’s deadline for nominations (21 December 2011).

• List of nominating agencies invited to nominate candidates, with contact details
• List of universities/university bodies invited to nominate candidates for split-site (PhD) study
• List of universities/university bodies invited to nominate their own academic staff members for Master’s, PhD, and split-site (PhD) study

NUMBER OF AWARDS: Approximately 200-230 scholarships are awarded each year. The CSC invites around three times more nominations than scholarships available – therefore, nominated candidates are not guaranteed to get a scholarship. There are no quotas for scholarships for any individual country. Candidates nominated by national nominating agencies are in competition with those nominated by universities/university bodies, and the same standards will be applied to applications made through either channel.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND ELIGIBILITY:

• Commonwealth Scholarships prospectus 2012 – includes full details of the terms and conditions (please note in particular the eligibility criteria)
• Additional requirements for awards involving clinical training in medicine and dentistry

Applications are considered according to the following selection criteria:

• Academic merit of the candidate
• Quality of the proposal
• Likely impact of the work on the development of the candidate’s home country

For more information, see Selection criteria 2012.

LEVELS OF STUDY:

Candidates can apply for a Commonwealth Scholarship for the following levels of study:

• Master’s
• PhD
• Split-site, where the CSC supports one year’s study at a UK university as part of a PhD being undertaken in your home country

All subject areas are eligible, although the CSC’s selection criteria give priority to those applications that demonstrate strong relevance to development.

You are requested to apply for a course of study at a UK university which has agreed to offer a tuition fee contribution.

• List of UK universities which have agreed to offer tuition fee contributions in 2011 – the CSC anticipates that these universities will enter into similar agreements in 2012-2013

HOW TO APPLY:

All applications must be made through your nominating agency (or university/university body, if applicable) in your home country. You must check with them in the first instance for specific advice on how to make an application and for their own closing dates. The CSC cannot accept any applications direct from candidates.

The CSC expects all candidates being considered for a Commonwealth Scholarship to be nominated by an approved nominating agency/university/university body, and to have completed an application form using our Electronic Application System (EAS).

Full help on how to complete an application form using the EAS is provided in our guides, which should be read in full before making any attempt to use the EAS.

The EAS will close to applicants on 7 December 2011 and no further applications can be made after that date. The CSC will not accept any applications which are not submitted via the EAS to the nominating agency/university/university body in the candidate’s home country.

FOR DETAILS, PLEASE REFER http://cscuk.dfid.gov.uk/apply/scholarships-developing-cw/

Ra/SRf walk-in at IARI

WALK-IN INTERVIEW

Division of Environmental Sciences

Indian Agricultural Research Institute

New Delhi 110012

PROJECT: National Initiative of Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)

Position, No. of vacancies, essential and desirable qualifications of Research Associate (RA) and Senior Research Fellow (SRF) are given below.

Position(No.): RA (2)

Essential qualification:  Ph.D. or M.Sc. (with 2 years experience) in Agriculture/Life Sciences .

Desirable (experience in the following areas): Climate change studies, field experimentation and use of controlled environment facilities

Position: SRF (5)

Essential qualification:  M.Sc. in Agriculture/Life Sciences

Desirable (experience in the following areas): Field experimentation and climate change studies

EMOLUMENTS:

Research Associate:

Rs 23000 per month + HRA admissible as per rule (M.Sc. degree holders)

Rs 24000 per month + HRA admissible as per rule (Ph.D. degree holders)

Senior Research Fellow:

Rs 16000 per month + HRA admissible

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

· The above positions are purely temporary and will be filled on contractual basis.

The posts are co-terminus with the project or up to 31.03.2012, whichever is earlier.

The PI/Host institute have right to decide on the number of post(s) to be filled.

· The candidate age should be maximum 40 years for RA and 35 years for SRF (Relaxation of age as per rule: 5 years for SC/ST/Women & 3 years for OBC).

· Candidates should bring their complete bio-data, duly attested certificates and mark sheets (From Xth onwards), experience certificate and no objection certificate (NOC) from their current employer (in case employed). Only the candidates having essential qualifications would be entertained for the interview.

The interview of eligible candidates will be held on 15 th November, 2011 at 10.00 AM in the Committee Room of the Division of Environmental Sciences, NRL Building, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012.

FOR DETAILS, PLEASE REFER http://www.iari.res.in/files/Job-EnvSci-20111031-174055.pdf

Research Associate walk-in at TANUVAS, Chennai

WALK – IN INTERVIEW FOR THE POST OF RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

A walk-in-interview will be conducted for filling up of one temporary post of Research Associate to work in the Indo-UK Collaborative Project titled “Monitoring and intervention strategies for bluetongue virus epidemics in rural India” at Vaccine Research centre – Viral Vaccines, Centre for Animal Health Studies, TANUVAS, MMC, Chennai – 600 051 and the project is funded through Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The post is purely temporary for about three years from the date of recruitment or till the completion of the project whichever is earlier.

The qualifications and remuneration are as follows

NAME OF THE POST: Research Associate

NUMBER OF POST: One

QUALIFICATION: Ph.D., in zoology / Entomology /Parasitology.

Experience in entomology is preferred.

REMUNERATION: Rs.24,000 Plus Rs.3,200 ( HRA)

1. In case of non availability of the candidate with Ph.D., Qualification for the selection of Research Associate, the suitable candidate with M.V.Sc.,in Veterinary Parasitology or M.Sc / M.Phil in zoology / Entomology / Parasitology will be selected as senior Research Fellow and remuneration of SRF will be paid as per ICAR norms.

2. Qualified and interested candidates for this position may Walk-in for a written examination followed by an interview on 25.11.2011 at 10.00am to be held at the Vaccine Research centre – Viral Vaccines, Centre for Animal Health Studies, TANUVAS, Madhavaram Milk Colony, Chennai – 600 051.

3. No TA / DA will be paid for the candidates preferring to attend the interview. Candidates are

to make their own arrangements for their stay at Chennai.

4. Mere attending the interview does not guarantee them the appointment and the selection will be based purely on merit basis. Candidates are requested to produce all original certificates (UG / PG degrees, age proof, experience certificate, publications and any other testimonials that certify their competency to work in the project) at the time of interview.

5. Selection will be made as per the norms of ASRR, TANUVAS.

6. The appointment is made purely on temporary basis with a condition to terminate the appointment without giving any prior notice and the candidate should not claim any University service.

Field Co-ordinator (Indo UK collaborative Project) and Professor,

Vaccine Research Centre- Viral Vaccine,

Centre for Animal Health Studies,

TANUVAS, Madhavaram Milk Colony,

Chennai – 600 051.

TAMIL NADU VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY

Vaccine Research centre – Viral Vaccines,

Centre for Animal Health Studies, TANUVAS,

Madhavaram Milk Colony, Chennai – 600 051

JOB DESCRIPTION

An enthusiastic, organized and ambitious worker is required to join a three-year multi-disciplinary project carrying out the first systematic survey of Culicoides biting midges in India. The project is a collaboration between India and the United Kingdom funded under the CIDLID scheme http://www.iah.ac.uk/CIDLID/Default.aspx and involving nine separate internationally renowned institutes. Based at TANUVAS, the person employed will play a key role in initially organizing the logistics of Culicoides collection across Tamil Nadu and will liaise with veterinary workers carrying out the trapping. Once the trapping network is in place, the selected candidate will then carry out identification of samples in partnership with experts at the Institute for Animal Health, UK and fellow workers based in Bangalore and Karnataka states. These data will be integrated into models of Culicoides populations allowing prediction of bluetongue virus outbreaks in advance of their occurrence. The selected candidate will additionally be responsible for planning and conducting detailed field experiments based around controlling Culicoides in collaboration with Rothamsted Research and the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. These data will be assessed for integration into the everyday lives of

subsistence farmer groups as part of wider dissemination frameworks for improvement of ruminant productivity and control of vectors of veterinary pathogens.

In addition to the training provided in India, the selected candidate will also benefit from a period of training in the UK under scientists with an internationally competitive track record of peer-reviewed publications. The selected candidate will spend an extended period at the Institute for Animal

Health using state of the art imaging and insectary facilities to complement those already in place in TANUVAS for the project use. There will also be the opportunity to visit other partner organizations during the visit to both form contacts for the future and to understand the breadth of the project areas.

FOR DETAILS, PLEASE REFER http://www.tanuvas.tn.nic.in/nea/docs/VRCVV%20RA-Indo%20UK%20Project.pdf