Dear Colleagues,

The Mineralogical Society of America is delighted to announce our 2014-15 Distinguished Lecturers: Bethany Ehlmann, Colleen Hansel and Lutz Nasdala. Their affiliations and lecture titles are listed below

Bethany Ehlmann (Department of Geological and Planetary Science, California Institute for Technology, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA)

1. Aqueous Environments during Mars' First Billion Years: Mineralogic Clues from Orbiting Infrared Spectrometers.

2. Roving Mars with Curiosity: Geochemistry and Mineralogy at Gale Crater.

Colleen Hansel (Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA USA)

1. Making and Breaking Minerals: Microbes as Single-Celled Geochemists.

2. Microbial and Geochemical Synergy in the Biomineralization of Manganese.

Lutz Nasdala (Institute of Mineralogy and Crystallography, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria)

1. Micro-spectroscopy: New opportunities to explore non-destructively minerals and their internal textures.

2. Natural radiation damage in minerals: What can we learn?

We invite you to request a visit by an MSA lecturer to your institution during the next academic year. The MSA covers Lecturer travel to and from your institution, but host institutions are expected to cover local costs, including room and meals.  We also appreciate your help with local travel. We encourage requests from colleagues at primarily undergraduate institutions and institutions outside North America.

If your institution is interested in requesting a visit, please send your request to Tim Grover at tim.grover@castleton.edu.  The Lecture Program is designed to run from September 2014 through May 2015.  Lecturer requests received by May 4, 2014 will be given priority.

For more information about the MSA Distinguished Lecturer Program please visit the following link: http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/Lecture_Prog.html.

Sincerely,

Tim Grover

Lecture Program Coordinator

Timothy W. Grover
Professor of Geology and Chair of the Natural Sciences Department
Dept. of Natural Sciences
Castleton State College
Castleton, VT  05735

tim.grover@castleton.edu
(802) 468-1289

Dear Colleagues:

There is One Tenure-Track Faculty Position to be filled at Peking University.

The School of Earth and Space Sciences at Peking University, China, seeks an excellent scientist to fill one tenure-track faculty position at the level of assistant professor or associate professor in the field of high-pressure sciences. The appointment will be associated with the High-Pressure Laboratory of Peking University. The candidates, with either experimental or theoretical research background, are encouraged to apply.

The High-Pressure Laboratory of Peking University is currently equipped with high-pressure devices including piston-cylinder apparatus, cubic press, and diamond-anvil cells. The routinely available analytical tools include SEM, EMPA, LA-ICP-MS, Raman, IR, and other conventional techniques. The ideal candidates will be expected to work both independently and as a part of the high-pressure scientific team, bring to the laboratory new research directions, establish an innovative, externally-funded scientific program, and be committed to education including teaching and mentoring at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Peking University recently adopted a new faculty-recruiting system. To be a new faculty member, the candidates should be qualified to enter either the “One-Thousand-Young-Scientists-Program” of the Chinese government or the “One-Hundred-Scientists-Project” of Peking University.

The minimum requirements for the current position include:

1. PhD in the broad field of high-pressure sciences;
2. PDF experience for at least 2 years;
3. more than 5 first-authored SCI papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals;
4. excellent written and oral communication skills in both Chinese and English.

The expected conditions provided by the School include:

1. starting-up funds up to 2-3 million CNY, in conjunction with support provided by the “One-Thousand-Young-Scientists-Program” of the Chinese government or the “One-Hundred-Scientists-Project” of Peking University.
2. up to 100 m2 laboratory space and office space;
3. competitive annual salary in the scale of 0.2-0.4 million CNY, subject to the background of the candidate;
4. relocating and housing benefit up to 1 million CNY, dependent on what program the candidate enters;
5. other benefits such as excellent education opportunity for children, and health care, etc.

All interested applicants should submit: (1) a cover letter, (2) CV, (3) research statement, (4) teaching statement, (5) a list of at least five individuals who can provide letters of reference, and (6) up to five representative publications via e-mail to xi.liu@pku.edu.cn.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Xi Liu

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Dr Xi Liu
School of Earth and Space Sciences
Peking University
Beijing 100871
P. R. China
Tel.: 010-62753585
Fax.: 010-62752996
Mobile: 86-13501146858
Email:xi.liu@pku.edu.cn
http://sess.pku.edu.cn/organization/gwgy//EN/liuxi.html

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