The deadline for abstract submission has passed and as you are making plans to attend the Hartford meetings Aug. 3-7, please don*t forget about MSA*s student bursary program. Its purpose is to encourage students to attend the meetings by helping to defray some of the costs; giving them an opportunity to meet and interact with the established microscopy community.
The students will be paid $10 an hour to work for ~20 hours (up to 40 hours) during the meeting or pre-meeting events. The jobs involve such things as providing support in the different symposia (assisting with audio-visual needs, speaker set-up, maintaining an attendance count), staffing the volunteer office, monitoring use of the Internet Cafe, and helping with vendor tutorial sign-up. Payment is given as a check at the end of the meetings or when the student leaves Hartford.
Once the program has been finalized, each registered bursary will be contacted and allowed to choose the times and activities they would like to work. Many times they end up *working* sessions they would attend anyway. There is an added bonus of $10 cash to help with meals for each morning and/or afternoon session worked and a meeting shirt.
If anyone would like to participate in the bursary program, please check the *I wish to apply for a student bursary* box in section 2 of the registration form and send me an email of your intention. Bursary space is limited, so sign-up early. Applicants for the bursaries must be members of MSA or MAS, enrolled as students at a recognized educational institution, and have paid their registration fee.
For those *non-students* volunteers are also needed to help with the above mentioned meeting activities. Although not paid on an hourly basis as the student bursaries, volunteers do receive a meeting shirt and the same cash allotment to help with meals. Volunteers also have the opportunity to interact more with the microscopy community as they assist with meeting tasks.
If anyone has any questions about the bursary/volunteer program, or would like to participate, please contact:
Amanda Lawrence
Institute for Imaging and Analytical Technologies
Mississippi State University
662-325-7998
alawrence@i2at.msstate.edu