The Sloan Foundation awarded a three year grant to the Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center of ASU for its Program in Exemplary Mentoring. The award funds improvscience workshops and coaching to advance faculty's mentor skills and students' ability to direct their careers. Workshops begin this summer with the Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI). If you're interested in a faculty training or mentoring group during the year, sign up for more information.   

I don't know many people who look forward to those large social gatherings of professional colleagues where striking up seemingly random conversation is dubiously expected to find new common interest and joint projects. Okay, sometimes I am excited to go and find people who are doing things I have only dreamt about. But I still find it anxiety producing. How do we talk to one another? How will I share what I do? How will they respond to my work? How will they respond to my interest in their work?

After a couple of weeks on the road, it’s nice to be able to sit and reflect on the events that took place. And when those events include courageous, playful colleagues, it’s a pleasurable recollection. So, what happened?

The scientific community is rallying behind the cry, "Communicate your science."  This call is being answered by innovators who bring the arts and skills of communication to science students and professionals. The significance of improvisation in graduate education and our scientific professional development is the focus of the Nature Career feature, "Communication: spontaneous scientists" by Rachel Bernstein.