The Molecular Foundry will host a two-day workshop on “Transport in Nanostructured Materials” on Thursday and Friday, April 1 and 2. Topics will cover theoretical and experimental investigation of electrons, phonons, ions, and molecules moving through nanostructured materials. Speakers include Sossina Haile (Cal Tech), David Cahill (Univ. of Illinois), Olgica Bakajin (Porifera, Inc.), and Daniel Vanmaelkelbergh (Utrecht University). There will be a poster session and participants are encouraged to submit entries. More>
Last Wednesday, Saul Perlmutter of the Physics Division was at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to deliver a public lecture on “Stalking Dark Energy and the Mystery of the Accelerating Universe” and, not incidentally, to receive the 2009 Dickson Prize in Science, a $50,000 award presented annually to the person the university faculty judges to have made outstanding contributions to science in the United States. The prize was established in 1969 by Pittsburgh physician Joseph Dickson and his wife, Agnes Fisher Dickson. Previous Berkeley Lab winners include Jean Fréchet and Alexander Pines, both of the Materials Sciences Division. More>
Taking technical glitches and swirling rumors in its stride, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva is steadily ramping up to enter a new era of high-energy physics. In the early morning of Friday, Mar. 19, the giant collider achieved a record energy of 3.5 trillion electron volts in both of its counter-rotating beams, on track to achieving 7 TeV proton-proton collisions in the near future. Watch Today at Berkeley Lab for information on the April 1 public event in San Francisco to explain “everything you always wanted to know about the LHC” with Berkeley Lab ATLAS experiment group leader Ian Hinchliffe.
The rollout of Google Apps at the Lab continues. Gmail will be implemented incrementally over the next several months, Calendar over one weekend (mostly likely in May), and Docs and Sites as needed by employees. If you are the go-to person in your area for common desktop or collaboration software, enjoy helping your co-workers, and have an interest in Google, consider attending the first Google Guides meeting on Friday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Building 50 Auditorium. For more information, visit lbl.gov/google.
Due to the Department of Labor’s new Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations that went into effect last year, the process for providing employees information packets on FMLA/Disability leave of absence has changed. Packets now must be prepared with information and eligibility data prior to the employee receiving the packet. This process may take up to five days after the request is received. Per FMLA guidelines, employees have 15 calendar days to return forms or their FMLA may be delayed or denied. For more information, contact Marquetta Rosser (x5922).
You may change your designated beneficiary at any time by using the At Your Service website and selecting “Sign in to My Accounts.” Changes in your family situation including divorce, marriage, or birth of a child, do not automatically alter or revoke your previous choices. Prior beneficiaries remain valid until you change them online.
Friday’s edition of Today at Berkeley Lab listed the incorrect location for tomorrow’s Fidelity investment strategies workshop. It will take place in the Building 50 Auditorium from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
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