Deadline extension for a further week.

Hi all,

It appears some who registered for the symposium missed out on submitting an abstract and vice versa so to give everyone an equal chance to be considered for talk/poster we have extended the deadline till 5pm this Friday (26th). So make sure you pass this on to anyone you think may have missed out.

Remember, in addition to submitting your abstract by downloading the abstract submission form (see post below this one), you also need to register your attendance at the event by going here and filling out your details.

Remember we have two excellent plenary speakers, loads of great student talks, plenty of posters, prizes galore and coffee, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and post-event drinks all provided for FREE!

We look forward to seeing you all there!

- SOBR team

ABSTRACT DEADLINE EXTENDED

We have extended the abstract deadline by one week to make sure everyone gets a chance to submit their work. We have also been lucky enough to secure two fantastic guest speakers! So make sure you fill out the abstract submission form and send it through to us by THIS FRIDAY.

Abstract submission requires this document to be downloaded, filled out and e-mailed to sobrnetwork@gmail.com. See poster for details.

The 2014 Annual SOBR Student Symposium - Call for abstracts

The 2014 committee is proud to present the 2014 SOBR Student Symposium. This year the symposium will be in the Ian Potter Auditorium at the Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health. Abstract submissions are now open for posters and talks!

Abstract submission requires this document to be downloaded, filled out and e-mailed to sobrnetwork@gmail.com. Abstract deadline is the 12th of September.

As always, there are tons of great prizes for both posters and speakers so get submitting!

Thank You!

Thank you all so much for making the 2014 Professional Development dinner a huge success. We managed to sell the event out! We had 120 students from over 15 universities and institutes Melbourne wide along side 30 VIPs from industry, academia and media. The keynote speeches from Adam Bandt and Sen Penny Wright were interesting and covered a wide range of topics from how government is failing science through to evidence based policy and generated a discussion amongst all attending.

Now we must look forward to next amazing SOBR event! The 2014 Student Symposium! This year the symposium will be held at the Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health on the 15th of October. There will be both student posters and student presentations and abstract submissions will be opening in the coming weeks so keep an eye out and start getting your abstract ready!

In the mean time, here are a few photos from the professional development dinner:

 

The 2014 SOBR Professional Development Dinner

Hi SOBRers!

The time has come for you to get your tickets to the 2014 professional development dinner! 1st of July is just around the corner and tickets are selling quickly. We have a limited capacity so be sure to get your tickets, they're only $40 and that gets you not only a 2-course meal at the Rialto InterContinental but also 4 hours of drinks and some excellent talks from our guest speakers.

Tickets can be found here

See poster below for more information and we look forward to seeing you on the night!

- SOBR

The SOBR Professional Networking Dinner 2014 -- July 1st -- Save the date!

It’s that time again and we have been working hard behind the scenes and are pleased to announce the annual Students of Brain Research professional networking dinner will be held on the 1^st of July at the Rialto. This year the theme is revolving around a highly topical and contentious issue: “Politics in Science”. The dinner will be emceed by none other Dr Andi Horvath, the media officer for science at the University of Melbourne and will feature keynote speakers Sen. Adam Bandt (the spokesperson for science for the Greens and the man behind the ‘Respect Research’ campaign’) and Sen. Penny Wright who is the spokesperson for mental health, also from the Greens party. The speakers this year will provide interesting insight and discussion into the interplay between science and politics, a discussion not to be missed by young researchers. So it’s time to save that date. The 1^st of July. Tickets will be on sale later this month.

Scientists from the Florey, in collaboration with other Australian institutes, are now one step closer to a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease

"One step closer to a blood test for Alzheimer's"

They identified blood-based biological markers that are associated with the build up of a toxic protein in the brain which occurs years before symptoms appear and irreversible brain damage has occurred.

"Early detection is critical if we are to make any real difference in the battle against Alzheimer's, giving those at risk a much better chance of receiving treatment earlier, before it’s too late to do much about it," said Dr Samantha Burnham from CSIRO’s Preventative Health Flagship.

Alzheimer's is the leading cause of dementia. One quarter of a million Australians currently suffer from dementia and given our ageing population, this is predicted to increase to one million people by 2050.

Sophisticated mathematical models were used to analyse data from 273 participants in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle study of ageing (AIBL).

This identified nine markers that correlate with brain positron emission tomography (PET) imaging measurements of a toxic protein, amyloid beta, which deposits in the brain as plaques early in disease development.

"The progressive build up of the toxic protein, amyloid beta, is one of the earliest changes in the brain associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr Noel Faux, from the Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health.

"A recent study from the AIBL team showed that amyloid beta levels become abnormal about 17 years before dementia symptoms appear. This gives us a much longer time to intervene to try to slow disease progression if we are able to detect cases early."

Dr Burnham adds “We hope our continued research will lead to the development of a low cost, minimally invasive population based screening test for Alzheimer’s."

"A blood test would be the ideal first stage to help identify many more people at risk before a diagnosis is confirmed with cognitive tests and PET imaging or cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) testing."

The results have been published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

http://www.csiro.au/Portals/Media/One-step-closer-to-a-blood-test-fo

Abstract Submissions extended until Friday 30th August

Due to popular request, the deadline for abstract submission has been extended until this Friday 30th August at 5pm.

  

Don't miss out on this invaluable opportunity to present your research, hear from a prestigious guest speaker, and network with other young brain researchers from across Melbourne. Plenty of excellent prizes will be awarded to the most outstanding young researchers on the day.

This free symposium will be held at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Royal Parade, Parkville) on Wednesday 30^th October, with more details to follow in the coming months.

Abstract submissions
Submit your abstract by filling out the abstract submission form and sending your completed form to sobrnetwork@gmail.com by 5pm 30th of August. 

Submissions can be made for poster presentations or oral presentations, the latter of which will automatically be considered for a poster presentation should the submission not be accepted for an oral presentation.

The abstract submission form can be downloaded here and an example submission for is provided here for those who need some help.

Registrations
All attendees (whether presenting or non-presenting) must register for the symposium by 24th of September via the following link: http://www.trybooking.com/DEUZ

Abstract submissions now open for SOBR Symposium 2013

Registrations and Abstract Submissions Now Open for The SOBR Symposium 2013!!

We are pleased to inform you that abstract submissions for the upcoming 2013 SOBR Symposium are now open. This free symposium will provide you with an invaluable opportunity to present your research, hear from a prestigious guest speaker, and network with other young brain researchers from across Melbourne. Plenty of excellent prizes will be awarded to the most outstanding young researchers on the day. The symposium will be held at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Royal Parade, Parkville) on Wednesday 30th October, with more details to follow in the coming months.

Registrations
All attendees (whether presenting or non-presenting) must register for the symposium by 24th of September via the following link: http://www.trybooking.com/DEUZ


Abstract submissions
Submit your abstract by filling out the abstract submission form and sending your completed form to sobrnetwork@gmail.com by 24th of August. 

Submissions can be made for poster presentations or oral presentations, the latter of which will automatically be considered for a poster presentation should the submission not be accepted for an oral presentation.

The abstract submission form can be downloaded here and an example submission for is provided here for those who need some help.



We look forward to reading your submissions and should you require any further help with the submission of your abstracts simply email sobrnetwork@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Abstract help’.

Sobr - Professional Development Dinner 2013

Dear fellow students, 

Following last year's great success, have a look at what we organised for the 2013 dinner: 

Special speakers for this year are 

Dr. Graham Mitchell, from 'Foursight Associates'; 

Dr. Elizabeth Finkel, scientist and scientific writer; 

Dr. Chris Langmead, head of Servier Australia. 

+

30 other VIP guest from the science, industry and communication field

Bookings available from: http://www.trybooking.com/CTIS

For more information you can send an email to: media.sobr@gmail.com

Australian Research Council CEO Professor Aidan Byrne

Dear Victorian EMCRs,


The Australian Early Mid Career Researcher Forum is pleased to welcome the Australian Research Council CEO Professor Aidan Byrne to meet with emerging scientists from universities and research institutes in Melbourne.
Forum Member Dr Sharath Sriram from RMIT University will lead the Q&A Session – please bring along your questions and your ideas for improving the future of Australian science.
The Forum thanks Professor Doug Hilton and the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute for generously hosting this event.
All early and mid career researchers are welcome. Please join us. A great opportunity not to be missed!

When: Friday, April 5th 12pm – 1pm

Where: Lecture Theatre, Level 7, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville

Discussion points include:

• The future of Future Fellowships
• ARC initiatives for early and mid-career researchers (EMCRs)
• ARC policies on gender equity and mentoring
• ARC peer review – does it work for EMCRs?

For further information:

http://www.wehi.edu.au/education/seminars_conferences/special_seminars/

ICT for Life Science Forum: A map of the Brain

Dr Allan Jones, Chief Executive Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science (producers of the Allen human brain atlas), Seattle will be giving a talk entitled "A map of the brain" on Thursday 21st February. Refreshments will be provided from 5-6pm with the talk commencing at 6pm. 
Click here to register!

THINK ABOUT IT.. 

The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health organized a successful School Outreach Program since 2009 and it’s now time to plan for 2013. The program, rebranded ‘THINK ABOUT IT’, entails a neuroscientist visiting a school and talking to Year 10-12 students about aspects of the brain or a career in medical research. 

The talks can range between 20-45 min including discussion and are organized during Brain Awareness Week (11-17th March, 2013). Some schools request topics and they try to match the topic with the neuroscientist’s expertise as we find this to be a rewarding experience for everyone involved.

The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health is looking for neuroscientists who would like to share their knowledge. The good news, there is no age limit on participation, everyone is welcome!
Hope you can be involved.

ICT for Life Science has some interesting seminars coming up next month, starting with a seminar by Dr Alcino Silver, Director of the UCLA Integrative Centre for Learning and Memory. Dr Silver will be presenting his research on repairing the adult mind on February 6th at the Melbourne Brain Centre. Refreshments will be provided prior to the presentation which begins at 6pm.

Register here!  

Videos now online from SOBR Symposium 2012

That's right a selection of the presentations from SOBR Symposium 2012 are now online, so those of you who weren't able to make it on the day can now see what all the fuss was about. You can view the videos by going to the SOBR Network's Youtube channel or by clicking on the links for the individuals talks below. Thanks again to all the presenters for their hard work and we look forward to seeing you all in 2013.

Robert Smith

Susan Carey

Orwa Dandash

Matthias Koenning

Nastasia Lim

Bevan Main

Samantha Barton

Dominic Dwyer

Andrew Walker

Congratulations Lizzie Manning - GSA Graduate Student of the Year

Earlier today, SOBR's Lizzie Manning was announced as The University of Melbourne Graduate Student Association's Graduate Student of the Year. In a highly competitive field of nominees it was great to see Lizzie's commitment to community outreach, her PhD and of course the SOBR Network recognised by both the GSA and her peers. So on behalf of the entire SOBR Network, Congratulations Lizzie Manning, Graduate Student of the Year    

Lizzie being presented with the award by His Excellency The Governor of Victoria, Alex Chernov

Lizzie with His Excellency The Governor of Victoria, Alex Chernov, joint-winner Melanie Alforque and GSA President Mr Martin Spencer

The SOBR support crew showing their support for Lizzie

Call for Abstracts - Australasian Brain Stimulation Meeting 2013

More information can be found here.

Science Communication Award winner Dominic Dwyer's RRR Interview

Dominic Dwyer presents at SOBR Symposium 2012.

Dominic Dwyer, recipient of the Science Communication Award at SOBR Symposium 2012, recently had his interview with RRR's Jacinta Parsons. As always Dominic gave a candid overview of his own research as well as some of the philosophies behind the neuroscience and self-control in a more general sense. You can now listen to Dominic's interview here (interview starts at 1:18:40).

Image Courtesy of SMN Photography.

Student Open Day - The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health

Under the Coverslip - Science Photography Competition