The Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovations is currently accepting applications for the spring 2019 Boyd Venture Challenge. The Boyd Venture Challenge is a seed-fund grant competition conducted in the fall and spring semesters each year. Graduate and undergraduate students from any degree program can apply to pitch for up to $20,000 in funding for their legally established start-up business. This is the final pitch competition for the 2018-2019 academic year. Applications are due by April 10. Full application instructions and eligibility details are available at tiny.utk.edu/BoydVC. Read about some recent winners of the Boyd Venture Challenge, which include UT graduate students.

The Commission for Women and the Office of the Provost are sponsoring a panel discussion entitled “Empowering Women to Deal with Unit-Level Conflicts” on March 29 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Frieson Black Cultural Center. This “Ask the Experts” panel features several experts on conflict resolution (and, more generally, difficult conversations) who will help the audience explore productive and unproductive ways to resolve conflicts at the unit level on campus. For more information about this event, contact Joan Heminway (jheminwa@utk.edu).

On March 27, OIT’s IT Community of Practice (ITCoP) will have its next session in the UT Gardens. Participants will meet at the South Greenhouse, room 122, at 12:20. The Greenhouse is located at 2518 Jacob Drive (get directions). This session, presented by Joanne Logan, from the Department of BioSystems Engineering and Soil Science, will explore how innovative teaching and learning spaces and practices are implemented in the UT Gardens on the Ag Campus. Participants will see how students engage in both the process and the learning of concepts related to public-use plant collections. Come experience the role of “plant data collector.”

Friday, March 22, is the deadline to submit an application for the NIMBioS Graduate Awards. This program, from NIMBioS (National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis), is a new program offering up to twenty NIMBioS Graduate Awards effective April 2019 and tenable through June 2020. The awards are designed to supplement the funding available for UT graduate students to enhance their research and education. The awards are each $2500 and will be awarded through a competitive process managed by the NIMBioS Leadership Team. Notice of recipients of the awards will be made April 1. Get full program information including how to apply.

Our graduate students have been working hard studying, writing, teaching, creating and researching, and they deserve some appreciation. April 1–6 is GPSAW, or Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week. Campus units and student organizations have been setting up events to celebrate our graduate and professional students. Learn more about GPSAW or get all the events at calendar.utk.edu/gpsaw_events.

Two companies operated by UT graduate students won local and international competitions recently. Lia Winter, a dual MS–MBA candidate studying biomedical engineering and business administration won first place and about $16,000 in prize money last week at an international pitch competition in Manitoba, Canada. Erica Grant, a doctoral candidate studying quantum computing, won top prize in “What’s the Big Idea? 48-hour Launch” competition on March 3 in Knoxville. Read more about these two companies, as well as a company started by undergraduate Sofia Tomov, which won a competition in Maryville.

Are you a finishing up a doctoral degree in the physical sciences, life sciences, computational sciences, behavioral sciences, or engineering? The ARL Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships will provide the opportunity for recipients to pursue independent research of their own choosing that supports the mission of the Army Research Laboratory. Applicants must complete each section of the online application as outlined on the website instructions. Applicants must register online and ensure all application materials are submitted by the deadline of May 31, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

The Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life is currently seeking individuals interested in serving as a live-in House Director for several fraternity on-campus residences.  Working in collaboration with university staff, local Housing Corporation Boards and Inter/National Fraternity Headquarters, House Directors are an important partner in providing oversight to the residential facility, offering mentorship and guidance, and ensuring the health and safety of all residents. Get more information about responsibilities, qualifications and benefits. Interested candidates may send resume and contact information to Jennifer Pierce, Assistant Director of Sorority and Fraternity Life at greeklife@utk.edu.

A new study published in Global Change Biology and coauthored by researchers from UT, explores how climate, evolution, plants, and soils are linked. The research is the first to show how climate-driven evolution in tree populations alters the way trees directly interact with their immediate soil environment. Ian Ware, PhD candidate in UT’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is lead author of the study. Find out more about this project at Tennessee Today.