Dear Colleagues,
Many of you may have read the message from Mike Witherell about my plan to step down from my role as Deputy Lab Director for Research and Chief Research Officer in 2021. I have been in this role for more than ten years, and before that, I was the Associate Lab Director for Computing Sciences. I am deeply grateful for the wonderful experiences I’ve had at the Lab, and for the collaborations I’ve had with all of you. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished and am satisfied that together we have strengthened the Lab for a brilliant future. I also feel that it is a good time to pass the torch on to the next person. Of course I will stay in this role until my successor is identified, and will continue as a scientific advisor to the Lab after that.
In the meantime, we are finding our path through the COVID-19 pandemic. As I mentioned in the last Research News, many of you have questions stemming from how the pandemic has impacted your work and personal lives. In particular, postdocs, a significant percentage of whom are from overseas, face multiple questions and challenges during this time. We sought to answer their questions in a recent Postdoc Town Hall, and will continue to respond to questions and to support all of you to the best of our ability. Please feel free to contact me or any of my team if you have suggestions or concerns.
Our work has also shifted. In fact, in some ways, these changes are providing us with opportunities to strengthen our pursuit of our mission. We are beginning to build new capabilities with our early COVID-19-related work. To leverage these emerging capabilities as well as our core strengths, we have embarked on a COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 strategic planning initiative. We have also begun to collect all our related research products in a repository, to support our strategy development and to meet DOE reporting requirements. You can read more about the strategy development initiative and the data repository linked below.
Through all this change, we must not forget what is important to us, including inclusiveness and equity. We remain as committed as ever to training the next generation of scientists and engineers and ensuring that this next generation presents the richness of experience and ideas that comes only with a diverse workforce. I know you will continue to support initiatives and programs like our fellowships and internships, that strengthen the diversity of our community and the scientific enterprise as a whole. I would also like to encourage you to work together in a positive and collaborative manner, in particular demonstrating patience with each other.
As always, I thank you for your hard work and commitment to the Lab’s mission and values.
Horst Simon
Deputy Laboratory Director for Research
Chief Research Officer
Postdoc Town Hall Replay
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on many questions from the postdoc community. To help answer these questions, the Career Pathways Office in the Directorate hosted a Postdoc Town Hall on August 11. The topics raised included career training and development, visas and travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, benefits, postdoc extensions, and online social and networking activities, among others. Replay the Town Hall recording.
COVID-19 Strategy Development and Survey
Since March, Berkeley Lab has been a key participant in the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (NVBL), a consortium of Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories with core capabilities relevant to the threats posed by COVID-19. Through the NVBL, we’ve built new research capabilities in a very short period of time, many of which have long-term benefits for our DOE mission research.
The Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit (ABPDU) is conducting COVID-19-related work at the Lab, as are many Areas and Divisions.
To leverage these new capabilities as well as our core strengths, the Lab has embarked on the development of an inclusive, multi-Area strategy for research of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 disease. The goal is to identify research thrusts across the Lab that can be mobilized for SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research in the event that DOE issues additional funding, as well as to understand how those capabilities can benefit our long-term mission research. A steering committee composed of members from across the Lab has been tasked with leading the strategic planning activities.
In support of this planning activity, the steering committee recently collected a wide range of ideas across the scientific Areas at the lab, via an online survey. These results are now being tabulated and integrated into the planning process. Look for future communications about the Lab’s SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research strategy. Contact Katy Christiansen with any questions.
COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 Research Products Repository
To better coordinate work, inform the development of a COVID-19 research strategy, and meet DOE requirements, the Lab has set up a repository for Berkeley Lab research products related to COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2.
All research products involving Berkeley Lab scientists should be submitted to the repository in advance of submission to a journal or archive or other public release. These include open-literature publications, datasets, website portals, software tools, and presentations or conference abstracts disclosing unpublished work for the first time publicly.
In addition, DOE now requires all CARES Act-funded researchers to complete an information release form to share with the NVBL in advance of public release. The exception to this requirement is user facility research led by an external user.
Research teams should submit their research products (and NVBL information release, if applicable) at go.lbl.gov/covid-repository. NVBL-related submissions will be shared with the NVBL Executive Committee, as requested by DOE.
If you have any questions, please contact Ashley White.
Training Tomorrow’s Scientists and Engineers
Fellowships and internships can make a huge difference in a young scientist or engineer’s career. They provide experiences that can shed light on career options, provide opportunities to explore new areas of science, and build skills, to name just a few benefits.
Berkeley Lab has many such fellowships and internships as a part of its commitment to training the scientists and engineers of tomorrow. These programs are also an initial step in developing a diverse workforce at the Lab.
GEM fellows virtual site visit in August 2020
The National GEM Consortium (GEM), for example, is one of the many fellowship programs hosted by Workforce Development and Education. This prestigious fellowship provides an internship at one of the national laboratories or several Fortune 500 Companies for under-represented minority students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees. It includes amongst its alumni chief executives and senior leaders in industry, as well as half of the minority female deans of engineering and several male counterparts at U.S. universities. The office of the Deputy Lab Director for Research has been supporting three GEM fellows each year; read this story about this year’s GEM fellows.
The Berkeley Bridge Graduate Summer Fellowship (Bridge Fellowship), hosted by the Career Pathways Office, is a collaborative effort between the Lab, UC Berkeley’s Division of Equity and Inclusion, and the Office for Graduate Diversity.The Fellowship encourages top first-year UC Berkeley graduate students to take part in research at the Lab during the summer, providing them firsthand research experience and exposure to what working at a national laboratory is like.The program also creates additional opportunities for collaborations between Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley. Read a recent Elements story about this summer’s Bridge fellows.
Another example of an internship program to help train future scientists and engineers from under-represented communities is the internship program hosted by EESA for Cal State University East Bay (CSUEB), which engages master’s-level students from the nation’s fifth most diverse university. This year, three students are participating in year-long research projects with EESA scientists. As with the other internships and fellowships, these projects are being conducted through telework. Read an EESA story about the internship.
The Lab also supports students who are in earlier stages of their training, through undergraduate internships. Cal Energy Corps is a collaboration with UC Berkeley for talented undergraduates interested in climate and energy research. The Lab is supporting five students in this program this summer.
Outreach programs like the above are vital to training tomorrow’s scientists and engineers, as well as building and retaining a diverse workforce. Connect with the programs above for more information about opportunities to engage or keep a lookout for relevant posts in Elements.