Are you looking for a place to present your research? Do you wish to increase your professional network? The Columbia History of Science Group offers a warm, collegial environment to present papers, meet other science studies scholars, and enjoy the comforts and atmosphere of the University of Washington’s marine biological laboratories in Friday Harbor of the San Juan Islands. Graduate students and junior scholars will find a receptive audience and nurturing environment. Consider attending even if you do not present a paper. Paper Proposals are due February 1, 2012 and the meeting is March 9-11, 2012.

Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University is seeking to hire someone with training in the humanities or social sciences. This opportunity may not immediately seem appropriate to the historian of science, however, it is and historians of the natural sciences are encouraged to apply. Review of applications begins February 13, 2012. Go here for more information.

The first thing we have done is created a job links page.  We pulled together as many sites as we could find that either discuss academic job hunts or post jobs relevant to the young historian of science. We have consciously decided to interpret “relevant” pretty broadly to include public history and museum jobs and are on the look out for other, non-traditional places for which to provide links. We welcome any suggestions to make this page more robust and complete.

The second new step we are taking is posting interesting jobs that may not necessarily cross the path or pique the interest of historians of science. While many of these will be outside of academia, many will but be in departments other than history or history of science. We hope  that our members will think about applying for these positions, of course, but we also hope each post will encourage all historians of science to think outside the proverbial box when planning their job search.

The first installment, which will be posted later today, features a job in the Honors College at Arizona State University. We hope that it not only inspires those looking for work to apply, but also encourage to look deeper at positions that may not seem to be strictly for a historian of science.

Good luck on your job search and, as with all things GECC, this service is only as good as you make it. Please email your suggestions and entries to hss.gecc@gmail.com.

The Graduate and Early Career Caucus (GECC) seeks to address the concerns and issues of graduate students and scholars in the early stages of their careers. As an official committee of the HSS, GECC offers a mentoring program and sponsors a session and social events at the annual meeting. The chairs and officers are graduate students and early career members of HSS, who act as liaisons between the standing committees of HSS and the student/early career constituency.

For HSS, and the Graduate and Early Career Caucus (GECC) in particular, the 2011 annual conference can be seen as an overwhelming success.  GECC sponsored several programs.  Our two sessions attracted large audiences, with standing room only if you came in late.  The mixer for 4S, SHOT, and HSS graduate students and early career professionals was also extremely well attended, giving graduate students and early professionals in the three societies a chance to mingle in a relaxed and festive atmosphere.  Thanks to all of you who bought raffle tickets in support of GECC, your purchases helped make our events a wonderful experience!

All of our events generated a lot of positive feedback, but perhaps our mentorship program produced the most effusive praise.  Darryl Brock, a PhD candidate at Fordham University who was paired with Dr. Stuart McCook (University of Guelph), commented that the mentorship experience was “successful beyond anything I could have imagined.”  Dr. Sally Gregory Kohlstedt (University of Minnesota) met with her mentee, Jenna Tonn a graduate student at Harvard, for over two hours at the opening reception.  As they discussed many of their intersecting topics at the reception, Dr. Kohlstedt was able to introduced Jenna to other historians who had related interests.  At the same time, Dr. Kohlstedt said she received good insights in graduate student concerns that she could use to further student success as department head at the University of Minnesota.  All in all, Dr. Kohlstedt said it was “a terrific experience.”  Clearly, both mentors and mentees had valuable experiences in Cleveland this year.  Scott Printser, a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin who was paired with Dr. Richard Kremer (Datmouth), perhaps said it best when he wrote afterwards “I hope that we’ll continue this program in the future, because my classmates are jealous that they didn’t sign up!”  We certainly will, Scott!  Special thanks to Rachel Mason Dentinger and Cera Lawrence for coordinating this year’s mentorship program.  If you’re interested in being mentored or being a mentor at next year’s HSS meeting in San Diego, please contact hssmentorship@gmail.com for more information.

Be sure to stay in touch with GECC by following our webpage (hssgecc.wordpress.com) or liking us on Facebook (History of Science Society Graduate and Early Career Caucus).  GECC leadership for 2012 will stay intact, with Nathan Crowe (co-chair), Melinda Gormley (co-chair), Rachel Mason Dentinger (mentorship coordinator), and Matt White (communications officer) all returning to serve another year.  If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, feel free to contact any of us through our GECC email, hss.gecc@gmail.com.  At the moment, we’re still looking for session ideas for the 2012 annual meeting and would welcome any and all suggestions.

The panel of the GECC sponsored Author's Workshop. David Kaiser of MIT, Karen Darling of the University of Chicago Press, Audra Wolfe of Outside Reader, and Marguerite Avery of MIT Press. Friday, November 4, 2011. For more photos of GECC Sponsored Events at the HSS Meeting see the Graduate and Early Career Caucus's Facebook page.

Deadline for application: March 15, 2012

The prize was founded in 1967 by Mr. and Mss. Guggenheim-Schnurr from Basel in order to award outstanding young scholars in the field of history of medicine and science.

Applicants should submit studies completed within the last two years, i.e.
- articles published in journals
- dissertations
- printed books
- works of another kind which have been selected by the jury or proposed
to it.

The texts have to be written in German, French, Italian or English and to be related to Switzerland by content, authorship or institution. Work
which has previously been awarded a prize is not eligible. Authors should not be older than 36. Dissertations and books have to be accompanied by a summary of no more than five pages. The detailed regulations can be found at
www.sggmn.ch/sigerist-preis-e.html
The prize amounts to CHF 2000.- (approx. $ 1600)
Applications (in electronic form or in two paper copies, including a short
CV) and enquiries should be sent to the president of the jury:
Prof. Hubert Steinke MD, PhD
Institute for the History of Medicine
Buehlstrasse 26
CH – 3012 Bern
Tel. 0041 (0)31 631 84 29
Fax 0041 (0)31 631 84 91
hubert.steinke@mhi.unibe.ch

*Student Essay Competition***

*Deadline for Submission: August 1, 2012***

The Nicholas C. Mullins Award is awarded each year by the Society for
Social Studies of Science (4S) for an outstanding piece of scholarship by a
graduate student in the field of Science and Technology Studies. The prize
consists of a check for US $1,000 and a plaque.

Only currently enrolled graduate students are eligible to submit a paper
for the 4S Mullins competition. If receipt of PhD (or other terminal
graduate degree) is held by the submission deadline, those degree
recipients are not eligible for the competition.

The competition is for graduate student papers in the field of science and
technology studies, including unpublished papers, published articles, and
dissertation chapters. Dissertation chapters should be adapted so as to
make them “stand-alone.” The work may not be older than two years at the
time of submission. A graduate student can only make one submission a year.
A paper that is coauthored by a faculty member is not considered a graduate
student paper. However, a paper coauthored by current graduate students
only (with no faculty authors) is eligible.

The intended readership for the papers is a general STS audience. All
papers must be submitted in English. The paper should not exceed 10,000
words, including title, notes, and references. Papers longer than the limit
will be disqualified.

The deadline for submission is August 1, 2012. Papers submitted after this
date will not be considered for this year’s competition, and must be
resubmitted the following year. Submissions must observe the following
guidelines:

- The paper must be submitted electronically, as an attachment to an
email message, in MS Word or PDF format.
- The subject line of the email message should read “4S Mullins
submission.”
- The filename of the submission should consist of the first two
significant words of the paper title (excluding articles such as “the” or
“an”).
- Authors must include the total word count immediately after the title
on the first page of their submission.
- To facilitate blind review, the author’s name, address, email address,
and institutional affiliation should appear only in the covering e-mail.
- Also in the covering email, authors must provide the name of their
graduate program, the date they began study, and the date they expect to
receive their degree.

Send the submission to the chair of the Nicholas C. Mullins jury, Prof.
Kenji Ito (ito_kenji@soken.ac.jp).

The winner will be privately notified immediately following the 2012
meeting. The award will be publicly announced at the 2013 Annual Meeting of
4S, and the winner is expected to attend this meeting.

For more information on the Society for Social Studies of Science and
upcoming meetings, see http://www.4sonline.org/

Further details on the Mullins Award and other 4S Prizes can be found here:
http://www.4sonline.org/prizes/mullins

The website for online paper and session submission for the 2012 3-Society Meeting , to be held 11-14 July 2012 in Philadelphia, PA, is now available. Join your colleagues from the British Society for the History of Science and the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science next July for what promises to be an exciting and stimulating meeting in the city of brotherly love. The deadline for submissions is 19 December 2011. The call for papers can be foundhere. Click here to go to the submissions page. A wiki page to help people arrange session proposals for the meeting can be found here.

The programs provide access to the expertise of the Institution’s research staff and the vast invention and technology collections of the National Museum of American History (NMAH).  The NMAH Archives Center documents both individuals and firms across a range of time periods and subject areas including railroads, musical instruments, television, radio, plastics, and sports equipment.  Representative collections include the Western Union Telegraph Company Records, ca. 1840-1994; the Earl S. Tupper Papers, documenting Tupper, and his invention, Tupperware; and the Howard Head Papers, documenting the inventor of Head-brand fiberglass skis and Prince tennis rackets.

The Lemelson Center invites applications covering a broad spectrum of research topics that resonate with its mission to foster a greater understanding of invention and innovation, broadly defined.  However, the Center especially encourages project proposals that will illuminate the role of women inventors; inventors with disabilities; inventors from diverse backgrounds; or any inventions and technologies associated with groups that are traditionally under-represented in the historical record.  Pertinent NMAH collections include the papers of Victor L. Ochoa, a Mexican-American aeronautical inventor; the papers of Dr. Patricia Bath, an African-American inventor of a patented cataracts treatment; and the HIV/AIDS and LGBT Reference Collections, which document innovative public health programs and associated technologies.  For a comprehensive list of Archives Center collections, see http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives/d-10.htm.

The Lemelson Center Fellowship Program annually awards 2 to 3 fellowships to pre-doctoral graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, and other professionals who have completed advanced training.  Fellows are expected to reside in the Washington, D.C. area, to participate in the Center’s activities, and to make a presentation of their work to colleagues at the museum.  Fellowship tenure is based upon the applicants’ stated needs (and available funding) up to a maximum of ten weeks.  Stipends for 2012-2013 will be $575/week for pre-doctoral fellows and $870/week for post-doctoral and professional fellows.  Applications are due 15 January 2012; notifications will be made by 15 April 2012.  For application procedures and additional information, please see http://invention.smithsonian.org/ resources/research_fellowships.aspx.  Researchers should consult with the fellowship coordinator prior to submitting a proposal – please contact historian Eric S. Hintz, Ph.D. at +1 202-633-3734 orhintze@si.edu.

The Lemelson Center Travel to Collections Award Program annually awards 4 to 5 short-term travel grants to encourage the use of its invention-related collections.  Awards are $150 per day for a maximum of 10 business days and may be used to cover transportation, living, and reproduction expenses.  Only applicants who reside or attend school beyond commuting distance of the National Museum of American History are eligible for this program. Applications are due 30 November 2011, with notifications by mid-December 2011.  For application procedures and additional information, see http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/research_travel.aspx.  Researchers should consult with the travel award coordinator prior to submitting a proposal – please contact archivist Alison Oswald at +1 202-633-3726 or oswalda@si.edu.

***Application Deadlines***

Travel to Collections Awards: November 30, 2011

Fellowships: January 15, 2012