Through the glass doors of DC's famous Cosmos Club, I can see an elderly man waving and smiling warmly at me. "We've been expecting you," he says with a lovely accent that includes unmistakable British politeness and traces of German. "Shall we sit upstairs?" It's hard to keep up, as the 90-year-old Dr. Walter Munk, Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations Oceanography, and Chair of the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, briskly climbs up the stairs, needing no assistance but a simple walking stick.
Walter Munk and his travel companion Faye Girsh at the Cosmos Club
A couple of weeks ago, Walter Munk had kindly agreed to meet with me for a personal interview during his stay on the East Coast on the occasion of a National Academies meeting in Washington, DC. He and his travel companion Faye Girsh, a distinguished psychologist who is senior vice president of the Hemlock Society, a group standing for dignified death and legalized physician's aid in dying, led me through the antique rooms of the Cosmos Club. The Cosmos Club is the oldest club in the United States, incorporated in Washington, DC, in 1878 by men distinguished in science, literature, and the arts. Many of the current members are Nobel or Pulitzer Prize laureates.
However, many decades ago, a young Munk hadn't the slightest intention of becoming a member of such a distinguished club. In the early 1930s, his mother had to send him to the United States at only 15 years of age to attend prep school in New York "because they made boys work hard. My mother practically exiled me," Munk remembers with a laugh, adding: "Clearly I didn't want to come. I had way too much fun at home, always skiing instead of studying."
Growing up in the picturesque Austrian Salzkammergut in the village of Altaussee, Munk was more interested in sports than in school; he was president of a skiing club and once even made it to the Austrian semi-semi finals in tennis. His mother had planned his career in banking and wanted him to join the New York City bank started by his grandfather Lucian Brunner, a prominent banker and Austrian politician. "I hated the whole thing and did a lousy job! At one stage my mother gave up on me. She gave me some money and wished me good luck. So I bought a car and drove to California."
"The metro," she said, as if whispering the name of an archnemesis, "its very functional, but quite energy-demanding during the rush hour commute. I need one hour in the morning to get back to normal once I get into the lab after being on the metro."
Dr. Daniela Pollak
Somehow the charm of New York City seems to end for Daniela Pollak as she descends into the belly of the city's subway system. To an Austrian postdoctoral research scientist spending her first extended term in a US city whose population approximates that of her entire home country, The Big Apple at first seemed really big, really fantastic, and really taxing - just as it's portrayed in TV series like Sex and the City. A series called Science and the City might attract a slightly different audience, but Pollak is currently living a New York City drama that unfolds in the Laboratory of Professor Eric R. Kandel at Columbia University's Center for Neurobiology and Behavior .
RE$EARCH RE$OURCES: One-Time Promotion Initiative for Female Scientists: the Austrian “Laura Bassi Centers of Expertise”
w-fFORTE, a program of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor (BMWA) aims to provide "economic impulses for women in research and innovation." It has recently launched its newest initiative called the "Laura Bassi Centers of Expertise." As a one-time impetus campaign, the "Laura Bassi Centers of Expertise" will increase the visibility of outstanding female research achievements and scientific management competence by women at the gateway between science and business in Austria. The application deadline is 08/26/2008.
bridges vol. 17, April 2008 / News from the Network: Austrian Researchers Abroad
In its "moves & milestones" section, bridges presents
career steps and other outstanding events in the professional lives of
Austrian scientists and scholars in the US and Canada.
Angelika Amon Angelika Amon was honored with a National Academy of Sciences Award in molecular biology in January 2008.
Amon is an investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor at the department of biology and David Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The prize was awarded "for groundbreaking studies that have provided insight into the mechanism of the central process of chromosome segregation and the regulation of segregation".
Thomas Bugnyar an associate researcher at the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Vienna, recently won the Young Scientist Award 2007.
His research focuses on social intelligence in animals, with a special interest in the possibility of convergent cognitive evolution between primates and ravens. Previously, an Erwin Schroedinger grant allowed him to spend some time researching this topic at the University of Vermont and he also worked temporarily as a lecturer at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
"While it is natural to miss home, it is also natural to look for the best that one can find in terms of infrastructure, financing, career prospects, and working conditions. In that sense you are part of a long-standing tradition of scientists who have made your way across the Atlantic to seek your scientific and personal fortunes," said Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner of Science and Research, addressing members of ERA-Link, a network of European researchers, scientists, and scholars abroad, at an event at Embassy of Austria, Washington, DC, in February 2008.
"At the same time, you exemplify the kind of researcher we want to see more of: not only highly educated, but also highly mobile and experienced in a country not of your origin. In the face of globalization, mobility of European researchers both within and outside the EU is not only beneficial but indispensable," noted Potočnik, whose speech addressed the topic on the minds of many of the event's attendees: Are there enough resources to come back home? In the over 3000 ERA-Link members, the majority has 7-10 years of professional experience. It is this experience group that is most concerned about the opportunities for funding if they decide to return to Europe.
bridges vol. 17, April 2008 / News from the Network
The OST network of Austrian scientists & scholars abroad was established by the Office of Science & Technology (OST) at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, DC, and focuses on the outreach of government-related agencies to Austrian scientists in North America. Its main objective has been to support the scientific community with information and specific advice wherever necessary and requested.
Encouraged by the OST, an independent association - ASciNA (Austrian Scientists and Scholars in North America) - was founded in 2002 with local chapters being established throughout the US and Canada. For further information about ASciNA please visit www.ascina.at
OST Scientist Network activities
Austrian Scientists meet with President of the European University Association Georg Winckler in Boston
On the occasion of the European Career Fair in Boston in February 2008, the OST in cooperation with ASciNA and brainpower austria organized a discussion bringing together 25 Austrian scientists with Georg Winckler. In October 1999, Dr. Winckler was elected (and has been twice re-elected) as rector of the University of Vienna. Shortly thereafter, he also became president of the Austrian Rectors' Conference. In March 2005, he became president of the European University Association. This enabled him to become actively involved in the Bologna Process and efforts to create the European Research Area.
In a lively discussion, Rector Winckler emphasized that the human resources were key to the development of the university, and he was quite concerned about career development opportunities for young scientists at Austrian universities. He was very interested in talking with Austrian scientists in North America to learn where they see the most urgent needs for action to make Austrian institutions more competitive and attractive for the best scientists.
Recent reports indicate that up to 30 percent of Internet searches on popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo! are people related. Users want to reconnect with old friends and classmates or find out more about a potential date or babysitter, while companies are interested in any information to be found about job applicants. People are increasingly using social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Xing to stay connected to their family, friends, and colleagues. Micropublishing using blogs and sharing photos or videos on platforms such as Flickr, Pbase, Revver, and YouTube is also becoming more popular – and not only among young people. Altogether, these trends lead to more available information about people than ever before. However it isn’t always easy to find relevant materials. Some results may be outdated, others might be useless. When searching for people with relatively common names it can be close to impossible to find the specific person you’re looking for. Therefore there is a need for specialized search engines that address this specific scenario.
Alex Baecker
bridges spoke with Alex Baecker, the founder and CEO of abInventio, which defines itself as “the invention factory.” Along with other products, abInventio has recently released Whozat? a new contender in the people search engine market.
bridges vol. 17, April 2008 / News from the Network
The I.S.T. Austria has heard a “big bang” on Saturday, April 26, when the 28m-tall free-standing chimney was blasted between 12:45 pm and 1:30 pm.
This marked the end of the five-month demolition phase and the beginning of the 2008 construction phase on the future campus. This year the focus of the construction activities will be on the access road, a central power-supply, and a lecture hall with 200 seats. In addition, the former central office and administrations buildings will be extensively renovated. By spring 2009 all the necessary buildings such as offices for scientists, a seminar venue, the cafeteria, and a guest house are going to be completed.
Angelika Amon was honored with a National Academy of Sciences Award in molecular biology in January 2008.
an associate researcher at the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Vienna, recently won the Young Scientist Award 2007.
This marked the end of the five-month demolition phase and the beginning of the 2008 construction phase on the future campus. This year the focus of the construction activities will be on the access road, a central power-supply, and a lecture hall with 200 seats. In addition, the former central office and administrations buildings will be extensively renovated. By spring 2009 all the necessary buildings such as offices for scientists, a seminar venue, the cafeteria, and a guest house are going to be completed.
