IN THIS ISSUE:

• SfN Spotlight
• Membership & Chapters
• Education & Advocacy
• Professional Development
• Annual Meeting
• Across the Field

Are You Ready for Brain Awareness Week 2010? Brain Awareness Week 2010 takes place March 15-21. This annual celebration brings together thousands of scientists and their communities to participate in neuroscience education activities across the globe. Check out the updated BAW Web site to help plan your BAW activities.

Don’t Miss the Opportunity to Attend the Annual Spring NDP Conference. Registration is now open for the annual spring conference of Neuroscience Departments and Programs, themed The Future of Higher Education and Training in Neuroscience: Challenges and Opportunities, taking place March 26, 2010, in Washington, DC. View the agenda, registration, and hotel information. Save on registration fees and take advantage of other Institutional Program (IP) membership benefits by renewing or joining today.

Shape Your Society – Nominate Members for Council or Committees. Regular, postdoctoral, and emeritus members can submit nominations for president-elect, treasurer-elect, and four councilors. The Committee on Committees also is accepting 2010 committee replacement nominations. View the list of committees, charters, and rosters. Nominations are encouraged from all sections of the membership and are due March 11.

Join or Charter a New Chapter and Get Involved in Education Outreach.  Find a local chapter in your area today or start a chapter and bring neuroscience outreach to your local community. Petition to form an SfN chapter by March 1 and receive a $500 start-up chapter grant once approved. SfN chapters provide opportunities for networking and information sharing, as well as funding for lectures, public education, and other neuroscience initiatives.

Join or Renew as an Institutional Program Member. Support your neuroscience departments and programs by joining or renewing as a 2010 Institutional Program (IP) member. IP membership benefits include a listing in the online searchable directory of neuroscience training programs. Complete the IP application form or the IP member renewal form and mail to SfN.

Enjoy Member-Only Benefits. SfN members qualify to register one week prior to nonmembers and are eligible to submit abstracts for SfN's annual meeting. Now is the time to renew your SfN membership or encourage a colleague to apply for new membership. Abstract submission for Neuroscience 2010 opens April 22.

View New SfN Recovery Act Stories and Share Your Own. SfN launched "In the Lab: Recovery Act Stories,” which share promising science funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that is improving health, while contributing to the economy. To tell us your Recovery Act story, fill out the Recovery Impact form. A new ARRA and Neuroscience fact sheet is also available. Also, read Neuroscience Quarterly’s If We Are Not for Science, Who Will Be for Us?, a message from the SfN President about the importance of communicating scientific progress.

Attend 2010 SfN Capitol Hill Day – Make the Case for Strong Research Funding. With the release of the President’s budget, the FY2011 budget season has launched and legislators will be making critical decisions about the future of science funding. Meet your legislator in-person to share the story of your research and its potential benefits. Join SfN colleagues in Washington, DC, for the 4th Annual SfN Capitol Hill Day on March 25 to urge support for strong, sustained funding in FY2011 and beyond. Contact SfN staff at advocacy@sfn.org.

Get Your Neuroscience Outreach Started – Use SfN’s Classroom Tools. SfN's Neuroscience Core Concepts and the Neuroscience Education Resources Virtual Encycloportal (NERVE) offer you a wealth of education resources ideal for K-12 audiences.

Connect with International Colleagues at the 2010 FENS Forum. SfN is pleased to offer $2,000 travel awards to support up to 15 U.S., Canadian, and Mexican graduate students presenting an abstract at the July 2010 FENS Forum in Amsterdam. Deadline: March 1.

2010 Satellite Event Submission Opening Soon. It’s not too early to start planning your satellite event at Neuroscience 2010 with the opening of the satellite submission Web page in February. Don’t miss the opportunity to include your satellite event in the Neuroscience 2010 Preliminary Program.

Purchase Neuroscience Products and Services. Contact Neuroscience 2009 vendors offering products and services through My EXPO, a virtual directory of Neuroscience 2009 exhibitors. My EXPO is searchable by exhibitor name, product, or keyword.

The NIH OppNet Basic Behavioral and Social Science Research Request for Information welcomes broad input from internal and external communities on current and emerging priorities in basic behavioral and social science research. OppNet‘s mission is to pursue opportunities for strengthening basic behavioral and social sciences research across NIH while innovating beyond existing investments. Deadline: February 19.

The Summer Program in Neuroscience, Ethics and Survival (SPINES), will be held from June 12 to July 10 at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Mass. The program includes laboratory techniques, contemporary neuroscience research, ethics, grant writing, teaching, and public speaking. The program welcomes those interested in neuroscience, and especially encourages applications from underrepresented groups in neuroscience. All costs are covered by the National Institute of Mental Health and MBL. Application deadline extended to February 16.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction is pleased to circulate a call for proposals for the European Research Projects on Mental Disorders, which aim to enable multi-national, collaborative research projects. Pre-proposal deadline: March 9.

A Workshop on Sex Differences and Implications for Translational Neuroscience Research is being held in San Francisco from March 8 to 9. Sponsored by the Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders, an initiative of the Institute of Medicine, the workshop outlines the public health importance, principles, and strategies of studying sex difference in the nervous system, in health and sickness, including the potential application to health care delivery.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is seeking comment on proposed criteria for the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health and other health professionals for diagnostic and research purposes. Proposed DSM-5 draft criteria will be available for review and comment at www.DSM5.org from February 10 to April 20.

The 2011 McKnight Neuroscience Memory and Cognitive Disorders Awards sponsored by The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience provides $100,000 a year for three years to scientists working to translate basic research into treatments, preventions, and cures for human diseases of the brain. Letter of intent deadline: April 1.

The Neurobiology of Stress Workshop 2010 being held in Boulder, Colo., is bringing researchers together who study stress-brain interactions and their impact on mental and physical health, while featuring new research work, novel ideas, and examination of clinically relevant issues. Workshop dates: June 15-18.

The Vision Sciences Society (VSS) 10th annual meeting exploring the latest vision research, visual psychophysics, neuroscience, computational vision, and cognitive psychology will be held in Naples, Fla. The meeting includes the Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest and all entries are due by February 15. VSS meeting dates: May 7-12.