This is a listing of Researchers and Programs in analytical sciences that students thinking of graduate school should know about. I would consider it an honor if one of the students in my courses found there way into one of these labs or programs. When reading this list of people and programs remember they reflect my background and interests.
The point here is that everyone thinks of the big name schools (Harvard, Cambridge, California Insititute of Technology,..) when thinking about great programs for graduate studies. These universities and institutes have excellent reputations and there is a reason for that. However, graduate level research, particularly at the Ph. D. Level is not so simple and there are pockets of excellence in places you might not expect it. For example, in the area of fluorescence spectroscopy (which is dear to my heart) none of these great institutions come to mind. Instead I think of places like: The University of Illinois Urbana Champagne, The University of Maryland Baltimore. The former is a very strong university across the sciences (particularly chemistry) and if you haven't thought about it in the same league as Harvard, maybe you should.
As another example, if you are thinking about optical sciences the University of Rochester and the University of Arizona have been very strong for some time, but within the specialty of microscopy (also dear to my heart) the US as a whole is not very strong and you should look elsewhere (Germany, England, and Australia) because that is where the best are located.
I will try to update this listing as I have time and people and programs come to mind. Please do not get offended if you are not on the list. It is probably a matter of time more than anything else. If you would like to jog my memory please provide a comment or send an e-mail.
Biological sciences:
European Nuerobiology Institute: I visited the European Nuerobiology Institute in Göttingen last summer and ever since I have been trying to get student to think about the International Graduate program offered jointly by the University of Göttingen, The Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, The Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine and the European Neurobiology Institute. The details may be found here: http://www.gpneuro.uni-goettingen.de/The University of Göttingen has been a very strong University for a very long time (44 Nobel prize winners have studied or worked there). But more important than the reputation of these places for you as a student, I do not know of anywhere in the world where such a combination of resources is being brought to bear on such an important scientific problem. There are Nobel prizes waiting for those who figure out how the brain works. Trust me, I'm a Doctor (well in the Ph. D. sense at least).
Analytical Sciences:
M. Bonner Denton (University of Arizona, US) http://www.chem.arizona.edu/faculty/profile/profile.php?fid_call=dent
Paul Geladi (university of Umea, Sweden)
.http://www.chem.umu.se/dep/ok/staff/people/pg/index.html (Has been very influential in the field of multi-variate image analysis and chemometrics). A bit of a weak web site though.
Jonathon Sweedler (UIUC – Note this University has a very strong analytical chemistry program) http://mrel.beckman.uiuc.edu/sweedler/
Richard Zare (Stanford University) http://www.stanford.edu/group/Zarelab/
Fluorescence and/or Biophysics:
Bob Clegg (UIUC, US) http://www.physics.uiuc.edu/People/Faculty/profiles/Clegg/
Eliot Elson (Washington University of St. Louis). http://www.biochem.wustl.edu/~elelab/ele.htm.
Enrico Gratton (UIUC, US) http://www.physics.uiuc.edu/People/Faculty/profiles/Gratton/
Thomas Jovin (MPI Germany) http://www.mpibpc.gwdg.de/abteilungen/060/
Joseph Lakowicz (UM Baltimore, US) http://www.umbi.umd.edu/~mbc/pages/lakowicz.htm
Doug Magde (UCSD, US) http://www-chem.ucsd.edu/Faculty/bios/magde.html
Nancy Thompson: (UNC Chapel Hill. Note this University has a very strong analytical chemistry program) http://www.chem.unc.edu/people/faculty/thompsonnl/nltindex.html.
Microscopy:
Min Gu (Swinburne University, Australia) http://www.swin.edu.au/bioscieleceng/soll/cmp/profiles/Mingu.html.
Stephan Hell (MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany) http://www.mpibpc.gwdg.de/groups/hell/
Thomas Jovin (MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany) http://www.mpibpc.gwdg.de/abteilungen/060/
Colin Shepperd (National University of Singapore) (Formerly of Oxford University, and University of Sydney). http://www.bioeng.nus.edu.sg/people/colin/index.htm
Enrst Steltzer (EMBL, Heidelberg Germany). http://www-db.embl.de/jss/EmblGroupsOrg/per_546.html
Tony Wilson (Oxford University, UK) http://acara.eng.ox.ac.uk/som/People.html
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Hurricane and Storm Resources 1: Where to go for the images and advice
Last September I gained new respect for weather systems when hurricane Ivan passed by. While our island was lucky that time, others were not. It is simply a question of time until every island in the Caribbean is hit. What was helpful in the time before Ivan passed was having a fair amount of advanced warning. Ivan was a well established storm by the time it reached 45 degrees W. The papers were a little slow to warn on this one and the University was open the morning before it passed. While it is not necessary to panic every time a storm shows up on the Atlantic, it won't hurt to stock up on noodles, cans, plastic bags, and lay in a store of water when a hurricane forms at 45 degrees west. There are several places to go for information.
These are a series of sites I found useful and I consult some of them daily during the hurricane season.
1) For a quick summary of storms and weather outlook visit:http://hurricane.terrapin.com/. For storms of tropical depression strength or above you will find links to track plots and predicted tracks. Note that storm track prediction is an inexact science. Ivan was predicted to hit us last year but swerved south at the last minute.
2)There are several worthwhile links at the site indicated above to images: http://hurricane.terrapin.com/imagesandmaps.html.en and weather discussion before and after storms: http://www.stormcarib.com/.
3) Unisys provides historical data and current images: http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/index.html. When you visit this site, you will probably want to scroll down to the middle of the page where you will find current tropical weather satellite images and aviation model forcasts. One link that I like is the sea level pressure maps.
4) The US National Hurricane Center is quite helpful and may be found here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml.
5)In the links on the US National Hurricane Center site, there is a good set of frequently asked questions: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqHED.html. My favorite is the question about taping windows. Having dutifully taped my windows for Ivan, I was surprised to learn this was a waste of time and tape.
6) Having learned that tape was not much help, my wife and I constructed a set of plywood shutters based on information and designs found here: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/weather_sub/shutters.html. This is something you will want to do in advance. It took us number of weekends to complete these.
7) The European Union operates a satellite (METEOSAT) that covers the whole of africa and the atlantic ocean up to the caribbean. This is an nice view of what is coming for people living in the windward Islands. It can be animated if desired and includes visible, IR, and water vapor imagery. You can acces the site here: http://oiswww.eumetsat.org/IDDS-cgi/listImages?a=0,m=7,f=1,c=2,o=1,s=0,n=6,d=1,v=400,p=0.
8) Here is a good place to go for information about how to deal with potentially contaminated water. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/recovery.asp#water.
9) Further health related information in English, Spanish, French, and Creole may be found here:http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/recovery.asp.
10) Finally, be very careful about any wounds that come in contact with flood waters. This is a potential route for leptospirosis infection.
Take some time to check your supplies.
These are a series of sites I found useful and I consult some of them daily during the hurricane season.
1) For a quick summary of storms and weather outlook visit:http://hurricane.terrapin.com/. For storms of tropical depression strength or above you will find links to track plots and predicted tracks. Note that storm track prediction is an inexact science. Ivan was predicted to hit us last year but swerved south at the last minute.
2)There are several worthwhile links at the site indicated above to images: http://hurricane.terrapin.com/imagesandmaps.html.en and weather discussion before and after storms: http://www.stormcarib.com/.
3) Unisys provides historical data and current images: http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/index.html. When you visit this site, you will probably want to scroll down to the middle of the page where you will find current tropical weather satellite images and aviation model forcasts. One link that I like is the sea level pressure maps.
4) The US National Hurricane Center is quite helpful and may be found here: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml.
5)In the links on the US National Hurricane Center site, there is a good set of frequently asked questions: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqHED.html. My favorite is the question about taping windows. Having dutifully taped my windows for Ivan, I was surprised to learn this was a waste of time and tape.
6) Having learned that tape was not much help, my wife and I constructed a set of plywood shutters based on information and designs found here: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/weather_sub/shutters.html. This is something you will want to do in advance. It took us number of weekends to complete these.
7) The European Union operates a satellite (METEOSAT) that covers the whole of africa and the atlantic ocean up to the caribbean. This is an nice view of what is coming for people living in the windward Islands. It can be animated if desired and includes visible, IR, and water vapor imagery. You can acces the site here: http://oiswww.eumetsat.org/IDDS-cgi/listImages?a=0,m=7,f=1,c=2,o=1,s=0,n=6,d=1,v=400,p=0.
8) Here is a good place to go for information about how to deal with potentially contaminated water. http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/recovery.asp#water.
9) Further health related information in English, Spanish, French, and Creole may be found here:http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/recovery.asp.
10) Finally, be very careful about any wounds that come in contact with flood waters. This is a potential route for leptospirosis infection.
Take some time to check your supplies.
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