“How to travel without leaving home”

Claudia Natenzon and Cecilia Hidalgo presented a talk titled “Redes de conocimiento o cómo desplazarse sin salir de casa” [Knowledge networks, or how to travel without leaving home] at the international seminar “Diásporas y Circulación de Talentos,” organized by the French Embassy in Argentina, the Institut de recherche pour le développement, and the University of Buenos Aires. The seminar took place in Buenos Aires on 27-28 November 2008.

Claudia and Cecilia’s paper focused on how virtual collaboration networks can facilitate interdisciplinary research by significantly reducing time and expenses associated with travel.

Preparing Ph.D. Graduates for Climate-Change Careers

Federico Bert (Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires) participated in the 2008 edition of the Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research (DISCCRS), that took place in the Tonto National Forest outside Phoenix, Arizona on November 2-9, 2008.

DISCCRS is aimed at early career Ph.D.-level researchers and aims to catalyze the formation of collegial interdisciplinary interactions. The 2008 DISCCRS Symposium involved 34 early-career scholars from 10 different countries (see photo below). Participants received training through keynote presentations, experiential learning, small group exercises and informal interactions. Skills emphasized were those deemed essential to effective interdisciplinary work: communication, interpersonal and team development skills,

For more information about DISCCRS, visit the project’s WWW site, which also includes career resources on topics such as professional development, job hunting, proposal writing and other topics.