The Graduate Student Symposium was developed by the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2005 to promote graduate student involvement in ACS National meetings. Since then, each ACS National Meeting features one symposium organized entirely by graduate students. The topic changes at each meeting and is selected by the particular Graduate Student Symposium Planning Committee (GSSPC) in charge of the one- day symposium. A group of eight graduate students from Virginia Tech was chosen through a competitive process to be the GSSPC for the Fall 2017 ACS National Meeting. The theme selected by the Virginia Tech GSSPC for the Fall 2017 Graduate Student Symposium is ?Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Developing Chemistries for Improved Global Health.? Through this theme, top scientists in various disciplines have been invited to speak at the symposium. Speakers have been instructed to discuss recent breakthroughs in their labs, but also to highlight how their mentors influenced their careers and chosen areas of study. The overall goal of the symposium is to provide a forum through which the next generation of scientific leaders in biomedical science (graduate students) can learn from and be inspired by current leaders. To achieve this goal, elements beyond a typical technical symposium have been developed for the 2017 Fall Graduate Student Symposium. These include a networking event designed to facilitate interactions between symposium speakers and graduate student attendees, and six travel awards that will be given to deserving students in the southeastern region of the United States. The theme of global health will appeal to graduate students from a wide range of disciplines. Appropriate representation of women, racial/ethnic minorities, and other underrepresented groups was an important consideration in the selection of both GSSPC committee members and speakers. Symposium marketing will be conducted using a targeted approach by partnering with various ACS committees and national societies devoted to increasing the involvement of underrepresented groups in science. Overall, this symposium will exert a positive influence on graduate student attendees from all groups, providing insight into the career choices of today's top scientists and inspiring the next generation of scientists to strive to make discoveries that will have a positive impact on global health.
This symposium will bring together top scientists in a variety of fields related to global health with graduate students who have limited opportunities to connect with leading researchers. The goal is to provide a forum through which the next generation of scientific leaders in biomedical science can learn from and be inspired by current leaders.
