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TASSA
2013
INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS
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CONTACT US
Please submit news and announcements that you would like
to be included in the future issues.
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ABOUT
Turkish American Scientists and Scholars Association
(TASSA) is an independent, non-profit and non-political organization
established in June 2004 in Washington, DC. READ MORE
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Editorial
Team
M.Sena Sahin Editor
and Managing Director
Hasan Ayaz Vice
President,
Web Committee Chair
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Mark your
calendars to attend the TASSA 2014 Biennial Conference (and a symposium
on WISE) at the University of Maryland at College Park on March 22 -
23, 2014
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More
information to come regarding registration and hotel information in
the next issue of The Bridge
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TASSA publishes the Turkish Science Diaspora Map of the
United States
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In
this report we provide some demographic characteristics of the
Turkish scholars and scientists in the United States. The
analysis uses TASSA's contact database. In this study, we exclude
student contacts and non-US contacts. We obtain 2283 faculty members
and scientists. Each contact record, at a minimum,
contains a member's name, institution, technical group, and
address as of the end of July 2013. We provide summary information
regarding geographical distribution, institution type, and technical
groups... Full Story
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Funding Opportunities to Connect U.S. and Turkish
Universities
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We are happy to
provide a report, which compiles a list of funding opportunities to connect
U.S. and Turkish Scientists and Scholars through a variety of
exchange programs. Under the separate sections, the list covers
programs to bring both Turkish Scholars to the United States and U.S.
scholars to Turkey. These programs would offer a nice
opportunity to bring the scientists and scholars together to initiate
collaborations and further investigate extensive grant opportunities
provided by several federal U.S. and Turkish agencies.
We hope TASSA community will utilize these resources effectively.
Please Click Here for
the Full List
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Nilgun Özer gets
a 2013 Women in STEM Award!
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 "Assembly member Nancy
Skinner announced today the recipients of the 15th Assembly District
Women of the Year Awards, celebrating women trailblazers who have
made significant contributions in Science, Technology, Engineering
and Math (STEM). This year's honorees recognize women and
organizations that have made groundbreaking
contributions
in STEM fields and have helped advance, involve or educate women and
girls in STEM."
Full Story
Reference: "Prof. Özer gets a 2013 Women in STEM
Award!." TABC. N.p., 27 june 2013. Web. 18 Sep 2013. <http://www.tabc-us.org/prof-ozer-gets-a-2013-women-in-stem-award/>.
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Mustafa Akbulut, Ömer Oralkan and Nuh Gedik Embark on
DARPA Research Effords
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"A group of
early-career scientists at research universities have received grants
totaling more than $12 million for basic research to address some of
the Department of Defense's (DoD) most challenging technological
hurdles. From 226 applicants, 25 tenure-track faculty members were
selected to receive up to $1 million each over the course of three
years. The technology areas they will investigate align with DARPA's
future program directions and were chosen with the ultimate goal of
going beyond current research and providing new paths forward to
realize tomorrow's national security capabilities."Full Story
Reference: "ELITE
GROUP OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS EMBARK ON DARPA RESEARCH EFFORTS."
DARPA. Darpa, 27 Aug 2013. Web. 18 Sep 2013.
<http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/08/27.asp&xgt;.
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Pluto's Gate Uncovered in Turkey
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"
A
"gate to hell" has emerged from ruins in southwestern
Turkey, Italian archaeologists have announced.
Known
as Pluto's Gate -- Ploutonion in Greek, Plutonium in Latin -- the
cave was celebrated as the portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman
mythology and tradition.
Historic
sources located the site in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis,
now called Pamukkale, and described the opening as filled with lethal
mephitic vapors."
Full Story
Reference:
Lorenzi, Rossella, ed. "Pluto's Gate Uncovered in Turkey."
DNews. DNews, 29 Mar 2013. Web. 18 Sep 2013. <http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/gate-to-hell-found-in-turkey-130329.htm>
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Glowing green bunnies born in Turkey, look for glowing sheep
next
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"By the light of day, the two
transgenic baby rabbits look no different from their non-transgenic
siblings -- white, fluffy and very cute.
But
put the whole litter under a black light, and you'll know exactly
which two bunnies are special. They'll be glowing bright ,
fluorescent green.
The
glowing bunnies were born this month in a lab at the University of
Istanbul. Scientists at the university gave the rabbits their glow by
inserting a gene for a jellyfish protein into their genomes in a
process called transgenesis." Full Story
Reference: Netburn,
Deborah, ed. "Glowing green
bunnies born in Turkey, look for glowing sheep next." Los
Angeles Times, Science. Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug 2013. Web. 18 Sep
2013. <http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-glowing-green-bunnies-20130814,0,7755055.story>.
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New Office Space for TASSA
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Turkish Cultural Foundation-
TCF and Turkish-American Scientists and Scholars
Association -TASSA signed an agreement for the use of TCF's office
space by TASSA.
TASSA Board and Executive Committee members are highly appreciative
of this generous gesture by TCF. Please visit us at 1510 H Street NW,
Washington, DC!
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Haluk Unal
Dear Friends of
TASSA,
How
exciting it is to let you know that the date of the TASSA Biennial
meeting is set. It is going to BE on March 22-23, 2014. The 2012 meeting
was a huge success and we will do our best to make the 2014
conference another success. Registration and further information will
be in the next issue of The Bridge.
Full Story
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Crossing the Bridge
by
Nilay Papila
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NSF Program
for Catalyzing New International Collaborations for US-based
researchers
The National
Science Foundation (NSF) has recently published FY 2014 solicitation
for "Catalyzing New International Collaborations"
(CNIC).
It can be considered
as another great tool to connect US-based researchers with
Turkey-based researchers. The word to be highlighted is
"new". Full Story
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A
Conversation with
Nihal
Altan-Bonnet
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1. Could you please give us a brief
summary of your background?
I was born in
Ankara. My father was a member of the Turkish Foreign Service and
because of his postings I got to travel a lot and live in different
countries as a child. When I was 14 we moved to New York City. Even
though my family stayed for 5 years and then moved back to Turkey. I
was interested in pursuing a scientific career so I decided to stay
and continue on to college and graduate school in the US. I received
my PhD from The Rockefeller University in 1998 and then went on to do
post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health. I then
became an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University in 2006. Since this
September I have a new position as a laboratory head at the National
Institutes of Health. Full Story
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Young
Scholar
of
the Month
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Alp
Şimsek
1.
Can you please talk about your background? (How did you
choose your major? How did you decide to come to the USA?)
I
came to the US when I was 17 to study at MIT. I didn't make a
deliberate plan to come to the US at an early age -it was to some
extent a chance event. I went to high school in Izmir Fen Lisesi
(IFL). I enjoyed my time at IFL, not the least because it introduced
me to math olympiads. I won a medal in a national competition
organized by TUBITAK. I knew one past olympiad winner, also from IFL,
who had continued his education at MIT. Although my main plan was to
study in Turkey, I also decided to apply to MIT and got
admitted through the waiting list. It was then an easy
decision to come to the US since MIT is an excellent university.
Full Story
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Gizem
Dönmez
on Brain Aging
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Brain
aging is associated with many biological, physiological and
pathological changes. Aging affects the structure and function of our
brains. These age-related changes lead to a decline in learning and
memory together with psychological changes. Most importantly, aging
is the major risk factor for almost all of the neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's Diseases.
1 in 3 people over age 80 have Alzheimer's Disease.
Full Story
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