BME core faculty member Fran Ligler was named to the Advisory Committee for ASCOS, a European initiative to establish an education, discussion, and contact platform for young researchers working in the field of optical chemical sensors. Eight ASCOS study courses have been offered, generally on a biennial basis, with the ninth one-week course scheduled for July 2015 in Portugal. Bright young scientists, typically at the graduate or postdoctoral level, are brought together to learn from selected tutors and from each other in a relaxed atmosphere. ASCOS attempts to reach the ideal of a tutorial course—first teaching theory and basics and then mentoring teams of participants in the design of practical sensors.
Dr. Ligler has served on three previous occasions as an ASCOS tutor. As a limited number of ASCOS participants are accepted from the United States, BME graduate students interested in applying for a place in the ninth ASCOS in 2015 should contact Fran for further details.