News of the Week

August 03, 2026

CBE News

Congratulations to Mark Blenner for receiving the SIMB 2026 Waksman Outstanding Teaching Award. This award is made ‘in recognition of the important role that educators play in sustaining the fields of industrial microbiology and biotechnology.’
Congratulations to Yushan Yan on his selection as the recipient of the 2026 Global Energy Prize! Yushan was recognized in the “Non-Traditional Energy” category, for his ‘forward-looking ideas and work facilitating clean hydrogen production technology and progress in transforming this technology into a global commercial project.’
Congratulations to CBE Alumni Michael Betenbaugh and Michelle O’Malley, and CBE Faculty Abraham Lenhoff and Kelvin Lee on being named for the 2026 ACS Fellow. ACS fellows are ACS members who have made outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the chemistry profession, and the society.

OTHER DEPARTMENT’S SEMINAR/EVENTS

7th Annual 3M RISE Symposium
The 7th annual 3M RISE Symposium (Raising Influence in Science and Engineering) is accepting applications! The purpose of the symposium is to introduce emerging doctoral students in science and engineering to the wide range of rewarding careers in research and development at 3M. This is a virtual event that will be hosted August 17th-19th, 2026 and is a great way for future STEM leaders to get introduced to the corporate world. Ideal applicants are expected to complete their graduate degree appointment within 24 months of the RISE event. We will accept applicants from any STEM field. HERE is a flyer describing the symposium.
CBE Annual Grad Picnic
Join us on Monday, 08/24/26, starting at 4:30 PM for our annual grad picnic at the WCCSP to welcome our new fall first year students. This will be a great opportunity for everyone to relax, play games, and get to know each other while enjoying some delicious picnic food in the great outdoors. This event is for the CBE Community ONLY. Please RSVP HERE by Aug. 12th.

Other Events

ACS I&EC Division Graduate Student Award Symposium
This symposium will be featured at the ACS Fall National Meeting, in Chicago, August 23-27, 2026. The symposium will be held in person.
University of Michigan
You are invited to apply to the Explore Michigan Engineering Research and Graduate Education (EMERGE) campus visit program. EMERGE is an annual program that brings together a cohort of domestic students from across the nation to learn about graduate school and select Michigan Engineering doctoral programs during a funded campus visit. Applications are due on July 15; space in this selective program is limited. The event will take place from September 30 to October 3, 2026.
Merck Lectureship
Dates: October 13-14, 2026
The program will bring approximately 20–25 Merck scientists from the West Point facility (primarily from their Analytical R&D group) to campus for keynote lectures, student research presentations, poster sessions, career-focused programming, and faculty engagement. Event includes:
- Poster session
- Career-focused programming
- Faculty engagement
More details to follow
Arthur B. Metzner Centennial Commemorative Issue – AIP Publishing LLC
Manuscripts are invited on Rheology-related advances inspired, directly or indirectly, by the work of the late Arthur B. Metzner in experiments, theories, modeling and computation involving rheology and the behavior of complex fluids under flow. Submission Deadline: October 31, 2026. A symposium is being organized in honor of the life and work of the late Professor Arthur B. Metzner on the occasion of his 100th birthday at the University of Delaware, College of Engineering. This all-day event will be held on Saturday, April 17, 2027.
Chemical Biology Symposium
Register Now for the Chemical Biology: Peptide and Protein Design half-day symposium on October 29, 2026, in New York City. Attendees will explore “designer” peptides and proteins, and how chemists and biologists alike are using these specialized biomolecules as tools to understand biological mechanisms and as therapeutics to treat human disease. The program highlights keynote speaker Dr. Sam Gellman from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in addition to 4 plenary talks from leading researchers in academia and industry. Please see the complete agenda here. Abstracts for poster presentation and short talk consideration are currently being accepted. Trainees and early-career researchers are highly encouraged to apply. Submit your abstract here by September 10, 2026. Any questions, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Cassie Chartier at cchartier@nyas.org.

TIDBIT

MS Publisher no longer supported
In October 2026, Microsoft Publisher will reach its end of life. After that time, it will no longer be included in Microsoft 365 and existing on-premises suites will no longer be supported. Microsoft 365 subscribers will no longer be able to open or edit Publisher files in Publisher.
FedEx Update
To help make your shipping experience faster and more secure, FedEx is transitioning entirely to digital shipping labels and will soon be retiring paper air waybills. Read more…

Jobs/Recruiting

InDE Fellowship
Entrepreneurship may seem like it’s disconnected from research, only for the business-minded, or primarily about starting a company. While a startup company is a potential result, entrepreneurship, at its core, is a mindset that opens opportunities to create value from ideas. It’s about curiosity, impact, problem-solving, discovery, and professional development. The entrepreneurial mindset will help you stand out in a crowded field. The InDE Fellowship provides STEM researchers and innovators develop this mindset by creating the opportunity to learn about and gain first-hand experience with the process of translating ideas, discoveries, and inventions from the laboratory to the marketplace. If you’re interested in understanding how this program helped InDE Fellowship alum energize their research approach, land their dream job, or launch their startup, reach out to Troy Wilford, Director of Commercialization Programs (wilford@udel.edu). Click HERE for more information about the InDE Fellowship. Applications for Cohort 4 are open now.
Editing Press
Position: Laura Bassi Scholarship
Brief description: The Laura Bassi Scholarship was established in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed, within their disciplines. The scholarships are open to every discipline and are awarded three times per year: December, April, and August. Deadlines are as follows:
~~⮚ Summer 2026: due July 12, 2026~~
⮚ Winter 2026: due November 15, 2026