Brian Baynes, president and chief scientific officer of Codon Devices, will present a lecture on "Programming the Genome" at 10 a.m., Friday, May 2, in 102-103 Colburn Laboratory. Baynes will discuss how understanding, harnessing, and enhancing the capabilities encoded in the genomes of natural organisms could help solve critical social problems, such as energy shortages, pollution, and hunger.

UD seniors Patrick J. Knerr, a biochemistry major, and Michael T. Pirnot, majoring in chemistry, received second-place awards for their research papers in the biochemistry and organic divisions of the 2008 Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention (ISCC), held April 19 at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pa.

Three students in UD's Howard Hughes Medical Institute's (HHMI) Undergraduate Science Education program and the University's American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Undergraduate Affiliate Network chapter won first-place awards at this year's Experimental Biology Meetings in San Diego, April 5-9.

Ian Appelbaum, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware, has received a $484,370 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) for a major study on "spintronics."

The University of Delaware will honor the 2008 winners of the Franklin Institute's Benjamin Franklin Medals at events on April 15 and 16, as part of a weeklong series of activities under way in the Philadelphia region to familiarize students and the community with the accomplishments of the Franklin Institute laureates.

Researchers at the University of Delaware, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Ohio State University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Minnesota and the University of South Carolina are studying how the properties of mineral nanoparticles (a nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter) change as a function of their size.

Delaware's statewide Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) held its third annual meeting on February 15 at Delaware State University's MBNA Hall. More than 100 scientists, government officials, and private industry representatives gathered to network and assess EPSCoR's progress in Delaware, where the program is managed by the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI) at the University of Delaware.

"Creating a Livable Delaware: Pathways for Enhancing Prosperity and Quality of Life" will be the focus of a daylong conference on Tuesday, March 25, at the University of Delaware's Clayton Hall Conference Center in Newark.

The conference also will be broadcast live at UD's Carvel Research and Education Center, 16483 County Seat Highway, in Georgetown, Del.

Cost of this conference is $50, and registration is open on a space-available basis until March 17. Additional conference information and online registration are available at www.udel.edu/partnerships. The broadcast in Georgetown is free and open to the public, and lunch will be available for $15.

The conference is sponsored by UD, the Office of the Governor, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, Delaware Public Policy Institute, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical and Community College, First State Innovation, Select Greater Philadelphia, Nemours health and Prevention Services and the News Journal.

A University of Delaware research team has received a $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant to study one of the least appreciated of all life forms -- viruses.

A University of Delaware technology for safeguarding drinking water is among the top advances for 2007 highlighted by NASA Tech Briefs magazine in a review of the year's most innovative technologies.

The Delaware EPSCoR Fall 2007 Research Forum takes places on Friday, November 30, from 3-5 p.m. in room 102 of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. This annual networking event for EPSCoR researchers includes opportunities for building collaborations and partnerships, a poster session, and refreshments.

RSVP by phone (302-831-2173), fax (302-831-3455), or e-mail (kelsch@dbi.udel.edu).

The Delaware Biotechnology Institute's second annual science retreat, held Sept. 29-30 at the Virden Center in Lewes, brought together 100 life science faculty, postdoctoral researchers and students to discuss current research and potential new scientific collaborations.

Science teachers from throughout the state gathered at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute for an EPSCoR-sponsored in-service workshop focusing on biotechnology and the environment.

Scientists at the University of Delaware have uncovered a hidden weapon that one of the most invasive wetland plants in the United States uses to silently and efficiently "bump off" its neighbors.

All are welcome to attend the Life Sciences Core Instrumentation Centers open house for an overview of the advanced research facilities available at the University of Delaware and INBRE/EPSCoR affiliated institutions.

When: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm, October 5
Where: Delaware Biotechnology Institute, room 102

Registration is required; click on the link below for an on-line form. For more information call 302-831-3432

Register for upcoming in-service workshops for high-school science teachers to be held at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute on October 12. Workshop choices include Bioethics and the Environment, The Living Dead: The Special Role of Viruses in the Environment, and a hands-on session in Comparative Microscopy.

This is a major national meeting of philosophers and scientists focusing on ethical issues surrounding energy production and use and their environmental consequences.

Sponsors of the meeting include the American Philosophical Association, the Delaware Interdisciplinary Ethics Program, Delaware NSF-EPSCoR, Delaware Biotechnology Institute, and the Science, Ethics, and Public Policy Program (SEPP).

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded scientists at the University of Delaware and Delaware State University nearly $1 million for research on blast-resistant materials and wall-penetrating radar.

Thomas H. Epps III, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, is the recipient of the 2007 Lloyd Ferguson Young Scientist Award from the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).

Thomas H. Epps III, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, is the recipient of a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Xinqiao Jia will never forget a visitor to her professor's lab at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, when she was working on her master's degree in polymer chemistry and physics. The lab was working to synthesize polymers for carrying cancer-fighting drugs in the human body.

An advisory board of distinguished scientists and policymakers from across the United States--including two members of the National Academy of Sciences and leaders from academia, national labs, state agencies and industry--has been appointed to help guide Delaware's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and the Center for Critical Zone Research. Both programs are administered by the University of Delaware through the Delaware Biotechnology Institute.

Gabriela Stoleru, UD assistant professor of materials science and engineering, has received a grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to research nanostructured solar cells. The grant, $449,223 over a three-year period, allows Stoleru and her collaborators to theoretically and experimentally investigate the excitation, recombination, and transport properties on which advanced-concept nanostructured solar cells rely.

Stoleru was eligible to apply for the grant because UD is a member of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), a program started by the National Science Foundation in 1979 to develop a more equitable distribution of federal research and development funds. DOE's solicitation for proposals was for establishment of partnerships between EPSCoR state universities and DOE national laboratories.

The final presentation in the new seminar series launched this semester by the recently formed Center for Critical Zone Research will take place on May 15, 2007, in room 102 of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute.

Brad Tebo of the Department of Environmental and Biomolecular Systems at Oregon Health and Science University will speak at 12:00 noon on "Changing the Manganese Paradigm: New Insights from Mechanistic Studies of Bacterial Manganese Oxidation."