Educational Programms
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Below is a list of educational programs that young biologists can take, which will help them go forward in to the future and may be attend colleges or online universities if that is what they want to do. The programs are great opportunities to encourage learning from a young age. This is a great opportunity to meet like minded people and spend time socialising with them. Not only will the young biologists have a great time but they will come away feeling they have learned a lot and their passion for biology will be fuelled even further.
2012 Call for Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship in Developing Countries Bioversity International announces Fellowships in the field of biophysical, economic and social themes related to the conservation and use of of genetic resources in developing countries-2012 Study Subject(s):Biophysical, economic and social themes related to the Eligibility: Scholarship Application Deadline: 6 November 2011 Further Scholarship Information and Application Conventional far-field microscopy is limited in spatial resolution by the diffraction phenomenon. This diffraction limit can however be broken by implementing STimulated Emission Depletion microscopy (STED microscopy). An additional beam of light is focused at the periphery of the fluorescence spot in order to deplete the excited state of the fluorophores. By saturating the depletion everywhere in the focal region of the microscope objective except at the center, only molecules close to the focal point contribute to the detected fluorescence signal. The size of the fluorescence spot can thus be considerably reduced and becomes no longer diffraction-limited. Nanoscopic systems, especially in biology, can now be imaged via optical microscopy. In the framework of research project involving 4 laboratories of the Paris area and funded by a grant from the National Research Agency (ANR), we are developing a tunable STED microscope. The ability to change the wavelength of both the excitation and de excitation beams is crucial in order to be able to excite the large variety of fluorophores commonly used for cell imaging. A resolution of 50 nm × 200 nm (transverse × axial) is aimed. Ultrafast excitation (picosecond pulses) is utilized for fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) using time-correlated single photon counting. Fluorophores lifetimes are indeed sensitive to local physico-chemical interactions and can be used to study the proximity of fluorescent molecules by FRET (Förster Resonance Energy Transfer). Fluorescence nanoscopy in complement to time-resolved imaging will provide a powerful tool for intracellular live processes understanding. The instrument is located in the new Biomedical Photonics Centre of the University of Paris-‐‑ Sud 11 (Orsay), where physicists, biologists and physicians have been working together since 2006. In this centre, a wide range of home-‐‑made or commercial optical microscopes is available, allowing multimodal studies, along with a fully equipped biological laboratory (class II). The instrument will primarily be dedicated to the study of membrane mechanisms in neurons for which a nanoscopic resolution is mandatory. The person appointed to the position will take part in the finalization of the set-up and the optimization of its performances. Candidates should have an extensive knowledge of the Photophysics of fluorescent probes and a strong experience in microscopy. An interest in research projects involving both Physics and Biology is recommended. Interested candidates should send a curriculum vitae, a statement of research interests and names of two references.
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