Featured Postdoc: Dr. Thomas Procter

Postdoc Talk Event: 6 October 2015 (7 PM), at the Railway Club
(all welcome, more details)

Tom

Postdoc Talk Title:
Lost in the woods: Discovering TRIUMF

Summary:
Nestled in the forest, swaddled by a blanket of Pacific Northwest woodland, just south of the UBC campus, may not be where you would expect to find particles being accelerated up to 75% the speed of light! This forested area is home to TRIUMF, Canada’s national centre for particle and nuclear physics and accelerator-based science.

An international hub for scientific exploration and discovery, at the heart of TRIUMF is its cyclotron accelerator, a machine that propels protons up to incredible speeds. Not just a few protons either – TRIUMF accelerates trillions of these particles per second. And the laboratory has been doing this for nearly 50 years!

But why? Accelerating protons is one thing, but by providing a facility to use high energy protons to investigate and benefit the world around us is where TRIUMF comes into its own. In his talk Dr. Thomas Procter, a postdoctoral researcher in TRIUMF’s Laser Spectroscopy Group, will share how TRIUMF, with the help of electricity and giant magnets, accelerates protons and what it uses these speedy particles for: like exploring the reactions that power the stars, testing electronics, treating cancer, and developing tracers for medical scans. And, if he remembers, he’ll talk about how he uses lasers to measure properties of rare elements that can only be produced with accelerators like the ones at TRIUMF…

Biography:
Dr. Thomas Procter received his PhD from the University of Manchester in 2013, working on experiments performed at the ISOLDE facility at CERN, Switzerland.  At CERN, he worked on developing a new experimental setup for extending the sensitivity of nuclear physics experiments whilst also looking into how nuclei (the tiny things inside atoms) change size and shape when neutrons are added or taken away. Thomas continues this type of research at TRIUMF, where he is a nuclear physics postdoctoral fellow in the Laser Spectroscopy Group, working on new techniques for improving sensitivity and looking at different elements to see how protons and neutrons can affect how a nucleus behaves.

POSTDOC SOCIAL: Pub Quiz Tuesday 27 October

Quiz
Do you think you know it all? Is your head crammed with useless information that is waiting to be freed? Then this evening is for you! Join us for a Pub Quiz on Tuesday 27 October at 7:30 pm at Mahony and Sons, UBC. We will supply a couple of plates of nachos; you supply the answers. If you are keen to join, sign up here. Contact us if you have any questions.

You can add this event to your Google Calendar by clicking on the button below. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the entire calendar, with all our events, here!



UBC PDA Travel Award 2015


We are pleased to announce a new funding initiative, The UBC Postdoctoral Association Travel Award. UBC postdoctoral fellows are invited to apply for a $600 travel award to attend the 2015 Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars (CAPS-ACSP) (October 29th and 30th 2015). This meeting is held jointly with the 2015 Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Administrators (CAPA) Conference.

CAPS-ACSP are a committee of postdoctoral scholars and representatives who aim to better the training experience for postdoctoral researchers. Attend the CAPS general meeting and the CAPA conference to learn more about postdoc issues in Canada.

Applications Due (extended): October 5th 2015
Notification of Acceptance: October 6th 2015

The adjudication of this award will be performed by the UBC Postdoctoral Association and supported by the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology. Additional information on eligibility and how to apply can be found in the application form.

POSTDOC SOCIAL: Postdoc Appreciation Week Dinner Fri 25 September


PAW
Join us as we end the Postdoc Appreciation Week off with a dinner and, if the mood strikes, some karaoke on Friday 25 September at 7:30 pm at the Royal Seoul House. If you are keen to join, sign up here. Significant others are welcome. Contact us if you have any questions.

You can add this event to your Google Calendar by clicking on the button below. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the entire calendar, with all our events, here!



PDA Research Day 2015

2015 Research Day website

IMPORTANT NOTICE: POSTER ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 16 SEPTEMBER

We are excited to announce that we are holding our annual Research Day on Tuesday 22 September 2015! This half-day mini conference is our flagship event every year. This is a great opportunity to showcase your research and network with individuals from diverse departments at UBC and the industry.

Presentations (2 – 4PM LSC3 Theatre)
Posters and reception after the oral presentations (LSC Atrium)

If you are a UBC postdoc or research associate and would like to make a 10 minute oral presentation or a poster presentation, please submit your abstract here (the oral submission has closed, but you can still submit a poster until 16 September).

Attendance is free and open to all interested parties. Please RSVP here. Space is limited (last year we had a wait list), so please sign up early to avoid disappointment! Cash prizes to be won and drinks and refreshments will be served.

POSTDOC SOCIAL: Jurassic Park Outdoor Movie Night

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Tuesday 18 August (6.30 PM)
Enjoy a summer evening with your fellow postdocs by joining us for an Outdoor Movie Night under the stars at Second Beach in Stanley Park on Tuesday 18 August. Pack a picnic and meet us between the two globes on the beach side of the cinema at 6:30 pm where will we enjoy some snacks and good company while we wait for the screen to come alive with scenes from the original Jurassic Park. If you are keen to join, sign up here. Children and partners are welcome. Contact us if you have any questions.

You can add this event to your Google Calendar by clicking on the button below. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the entire calendar, with all our events, here!
 

POSTDOC SOCIAL: Ice Cream & Beer Tuesday 14 July

Ice_cream_and_beer

Join us for some of the best ice cream in town followed by a beer on a sunny patio on Tuesday 14 July. We will start with some ice cream at Earnest Ice Cream (Quebec street) at 6:30 pm followed by a beer at Tap & Barrel (Olympic Village) at 7:30 pm. If you are keen to join, sign up here. Partners are welcome. Contact Britt if you have any questions.

You can add this event to your Google Calendar by clicking on the button below. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the entire calendar, with all our events, here!


‘Postdoc Talks’: Call for Abstracts!

SONY DSC

The PDA is calling for postdocs to present their field of research to a non-specialized audience in an engaging, informal and fun way that captures the imagination and leaves us wanting more! This talk will be nothing like your typical conference presentations, or your academic job talks. We want to know what you do in a broader context, and what the significance and real world applications of your research are.

Why? Promote postdoctoral research in the local community and improve communication and public engagement skills.

When? This is a brand new series of talks that will be held at the Railway Club over the summer. First event will be held on July 8th 2015.

More dets? Two speakers with different backgrounds will be featured. Each talk will be 30mins with time for discussion.

This is a great opportunity for the public to engage in YOUR research! If you’re passionate and up to the challenge, please send us your abstract . Abstracts that demonstrate your ability to communicate the significance of your research in an accessible and engaging way will be selected.

Introducing UBC PDA Postdoc Talks

Presented by the UBC Postdoctoral Association.

Postdoctoral researchers are critical to the research performed at academic institutions. UBC ‘Postdoc Talks’ is a public forum that will allow you to learn more about what postdocs do in an engaging, informal and fun atmosphere. Everyone is welcome, so share the word with your friends and family!

Details for our first event:
The Railway Club – 579 Dunsmuir St. at Seymour
Wednesday, July 8th at 7:30pm

PRESENTATIONS:
The first event will feature two postdocs who will explain their diverse research to you in an accessible manner. Find out more about these two speakers by clicking on their names below. This will take you to our new ‘Featured Postdocs’ section on our blog!

Dr. Justin Hart: Robot self-modeling and self-other reasoning
Dr. Hart’s research involves artificial intelligence, computer vision, and human-robot interaction in which reasoning about the robot’s “self” plays an important role. In this talk, Justin will discuss how his research will enable robots to perform self-other social reasoning that will ultimately help robots to work in roles where they can act as collaborators to human operators.

Dr. Masahiro Minami: Giving peace a chance…
Dr. Minami’s research applies group dynamics theories to effective mediation, inter-group conflict resolution, and community psychosocial reconciliation in post-war contexts. After the Genocide against Tutsis occurred in Rwanda, the Rwandan government released perpetrators back into the communities. In this talk, Masahiro will discuss his research to nurture reconciliation through action, and discuss the experience of the survivors and perpetrators.

You can add this event to your Google Calendar by clicking on the button below. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the entire calendar, with all our events, here!

Featured Postdoc: Dr. Justin Hart

JHart

Postdoc Talk Event: 8 July (7.30 PM), at the Railway Club
(all welcome, more details)
Postdoc Talk Title:
Robot Self-Modeling and Self-Other Reasoning
Abstract:

Dr. Justin Hart’s research encompasses areas of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and human-robot interaction in which reasoning about the robot’s “self” plays an important role. Traditionally, robots do not learn about their selves. Knowledge of the robot’s body and senses typically comes from engineering drawings or external calibrations; a process that can cause problems that designers must work around. These robots learn and reason about the tasks that they perform, but the robot itself is often absent form this learning process.

This talk will discuss material from Justin Hart’s doctoral work, in which he designed a system that enables a robot to learn about its body and senses by using them in conjunction with each other. The robot constructs a unified “self-model,” which is inspired by the earliest forms of self-awareness learned in infancy.The robot is able to use its self-model to perform novel tasks such as inferring the visual perspective of a mirror.

The talk will also discuss Justin’s current postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia, in which he is developing techniques to enable robots to perform self-other social reasoning. Such reasoning comes easily to humans (“He is looking at that.” “She intends to hand me the object.”), but is still remarkably difficult for robots to perform. Advances in self-other social reasoning will help to enable robots to work in roles where they must act as collaborators to human operators.

Biography:
Justin Hart is a postdoctoral fellow in the Collaborative Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Systems (CARIS) Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of British Columbia, where he is supervised by Professor Elizabeth Croft. At UBC, his research focuses on enabling humans and robots to effectively communicate and collaborate with each other. As part of this he is working on enabling machines to make inferences and predictions about human behavior, and to perform self-reflective reasoning processes in order to effectively collaborate on human-robot collaborative assembly tasks.

Dr. Hart received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Yale University in November, 2014, where he was advised by Professor Brian Scassellati. For his dissertation, “Robot Self-Modeling,” he developed a system that enabled a robot to make inferences about its body and senses through data sampled during operation. This process is inspired by the process by which children learn about their sensory and physical capabilities and how they are able to interact with the environment; which represents one of the earliest forms of self-awareness to develop during infancy.

Dr. Hart’s work has appeared in New ScientistBBC NewsNBC NewsBusiness StandardCBS SmartPlanetEl Mundothe Yale Graduate School NewsletterGE’s Focus Forward Films, the Ideacity Conference, abd Creative Mornings: Vancouver, and received an award from the SME. More on information can be found at http://justinhart.net.