Peter van Gisbergen, PhD in the Bezanilla Lab, writes about his recent experience choosing between three postdoc offers.  "The next step. You know it is coming, but when it is there, it catches you by surprise anyway. Suddenly, questions start popping up in your mind; academics or industry, the USA or somewhere else? For foreign students, back to my home country or staying here? What about future opportunities? Significant others? Salaries? You would almost forget about the most important question of all: where can I work on a problem that captivates me and that I can sink my teeth in for at least a couple of years?

            I faced these questions recently. For me it was clear academics was the way to go, as I’ve wanted to pursue that path since I was a teenager. No 9 to 5 job, no discoveries to help humanity, but doing research for my own personal interests. The other questions were harder to answer. I applied to the three labs whose research I like best based on the papers I read in journal club. I also met all the PIs at a conference. They did not have job ads out so I just sent an open application, but got an interview and later also an offer for all three. That is when the above mentioned questions needed answering. Two of the labs were in the U.S., one in Switzerland. The U.S. labs use techniques I would like to learn, while the Swiss lab has the more interesting biological question. Staying in the U.S. means better job opportunities later on, but going to Switzerland means being closer to family (same time zone at least) and a better salary. Staying in the U.S. means an easier move and transition whereas moving to Switzerland has better prospects for my wife.

            I chose the option that was the overall best in terms of living conditions, chances for my wife and I, and the most interesting problem. There was one clear answer; we’re going to Switzerland! I will be working on fission yeast reproduction, no longer on plants. Yeast mating requires two cells to grow a structure towards each other (called a shmoo) in a pheromone-guided way. Then, the two cells need to fuse, which requires them to basically make a hole in themselves, for which the cytoskeleton is necessary as well as my favorite protein family: formins. The cells are under a high turgor pressure though, and if they do not do this at exactly the same time, at exactly the same place, they will basically blow up. How two very basic cells can successfully accomplish this almost 100% of the time fascinates me. The fact that the Martin lab at the University of Lausanne looks out over Lake Geneva and snow covered Alps didn’t negatively affect the decision either. Life is not all work."

The titan arum, officially known as Amorphophallus titanum and also known as the "corpse flower" due to its magnificent rotting smell, bloomed this summer in the Morrill Science Center greenhouse.  It last bloomed about 10 years ago and had just started to fade in both stature and smell when some of the PB graduate students gathered for a viewing! We hope to have a timelapse video of the blooming posted in the near future, courtesy of the Hazen lab.

Scott Lee, Hazen Lab, received a DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Award to conduct part of his Ph.D. research with Dr. John Vogel at the DOE-Joint Genome Institute. His project was part of his dissertation research on the discovery of biofuel-related traits in natural accessions of Brachypodium distachyon. In concert with the JGI, he performed whole genome sequencing for a total of 65 distinct B. distachyon accessions which were then mapped back to the reference line. Scott continues to work with the Vogel lab using the JGI's supercomputing infrastructure to construct de novo genome assemblies for their sequenced lines which should shed light on the total genome-wide variation of B. distachyon and how that relates to important biofuel traits. He commented, "Overall, the experience was truly remarkable as I was able to work in one of the best genomic facilities with some of the field's leading scientists, and be exposed to great cutting edge technology."

Congrats to PB grad student Huiyuan Guo for her first author paper in Environmental Science and Technology! Huiyuan is a PhD student in the lab of Dr. Baoshan Xing, Stockbridge School of Agriculture.  Huiyuan developed a new technique for detection of silver nanoparticles in consumer products that will help in the understanding of the environmental impacts of nanotechnology. The official title of her article is Analysis of Silver Nanoparticles in Antimicrobial Products Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) She also traveled presented talks at two conferences this year.  Well done, Huiyuan!