FELCOM:
AN INTRO
As
its name implies, the NIH
Fellows Committee (FELCOM) was established to serve the NIH
fellows community. It therefore draws its members from each NIH
institute and from both basic and clinical science. FELCOM representatives
are elected for a one-year term, act as liaisons between postdoctoral
fellows and NIH administrative bodies, and serve as ad hoc members
of several NIH-wide committees, including the CME committee and
the Committee
on Scientific Conduct and Ethics.
A major FELCOM
program is the Fellows
Award for Research Excellence (FARE). Held annually in May,
this competition is based on abstracts submitted for blind peer
review by study sections composed of two postdoctoral fellows and
one senior scientist. The winners receive a $1,000 travel award
to attend and present their work at a scientific meeting, and they
also present a poster to the NIH community in conjunction with a
Wednesday Afternoon
Lecture Series (WALS) event. FELCOM also sponsors up to three
WALS lectures each year.
Ongoing events
include the Survival Skills workshops, aimed at teaching fellows
how to become independent investigators, and a series on Scientific
Careers for the Millennium. FELCOM also tackles such issues as visas,
and it promotes the following teaching activities:
Adventure in Science shows
children ages 811 the excitement of scientific discovery.
Meets Saturdays October through March. Volunteers select their own
material. Contact Edward
Max
NIH Resident
Teacher Program enlists fellows who want to teach
science in Montgomery County public schools at the middle and high
school levels. Offers a chance to earn state teacher certification.
Contact Sandra Shmookler
(also at phone, 301-279-3432; and fax: 301-279-3428).
FAES seeks teachers for its
college-level evening coursesfrom guest lecturers to course
developers; monetary compensation is possible. Contact Constance
Noguchi at 301-496-1163 or see website.
Current FELCOM
chairs are Patricia
Van Bergen and James
Gulley; meetings (first Thursday each month at 4, Building 1)
are open. For more info, see the FELCOM web
site.
Elizabeth
McNeil, NCI
Suzanne
Dashiell, NINDS
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