Before we get to the recap, we wanted to mention that David Gershman, a CPP CS alum and occasional lecturer for the CS department, has volunteered to give some talks to CSS on various topics, in return for some online feedback to be completed after the talk. The list of topics are available here, if you want to discuss them. The talk will probably be in May, as April is full.

If you missed today's meeting, Dr. Peter Oelschlaeger talked about his research into beta-lactamases. They are the enzymes that provide bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The goal of his research is to understand how enzymes evolve under the selective pressure of antibiotics. The methods they use include molecular dynamics simulations (AMBER 9) and quantum mechanics (Gaussian 03). They use specialized software running on a Linux cluster to do their computer modelling. He would appreciate a computer science student to be involved in his research--someone who can optimize the algorithms, run the simulations and write scripts in csh, C++ or FORTRAN to automate the process.

If this sounds interesting to you, his contact information is available at his website. You may also see him during his office hours on MW 2-3pm in Bldg 4, Rm 3-421.

We only really had time for Science Council announcements. Apparently CSS won Club of the Quarter. Yay us.

You can now apply for the Science Council Scholarship, which is funded from donations and Casino Night. There will be two scholarships of $500 each for College of Science students with minimum GPA of 2.3, showing financial need, with a record of involvement within their community or College of Science. Please see this Word document for application details. The application must be submitted to the Dean's Office by noon on Friday, April 25th.

You can also now register for the 3rd Annual College of Science Research Symposium, which is where College of Science students share their research and projects through oral and poster presentations. The registration deadline is May 7, 2008. The Symposium will be held on Friday, May 23rd, 9am-3pm. If they do the same thing as last year, it'll be held somewhere around building 8.