Please join us on Friday, January 31, at 3:30 pm in FSDE 128B for the next lecture in our Pizza Seminar series. In this seminar, David LeBlanc will give a talk on the potential of machine learning techniques to evolve into models of human intelligence. Pizza and pop will follow the presentation.

The excitement for this Saturday's Gold Rush draw is growing as big as the pot! With no winners in the last FOUR draws, the total pot has grown to more than $16,300!

Gold Rush is a virtual fundraising initiative that raises funds for UPEI’s athletic and recreation programs. You can now select a specific team, club, or program to direct your proceeds from each of your tickets. 

Play today and every week for a chance to win! Download the UPEI Panther Recreation app from the App Store or on Google Play, or play from your computer. The weekly draw is held at 8:00 pm every Saturday.

This workshop, scheduled for today (January 30), is postponed until Monday, February 10, at 2:00 pm. Delivery of the rescheduled session will be hybrid.

Are you thinking about preparing your file for tenure/permanency and/or promotion? Get started by learning about the basics of creating/updating a teaching dossier by checking out the resources in the Professional Growth, Development and Identity Domain of the Academic Instructional Skills Program. Then bring your questions to our workshop, and learn what is needs to be included under our current collective agreement. 

The Faculty of Science Graduate Studies Committee invites the campus community to the next presentation of the 2024-25 Environmental Sciences & Human Biology seminar series on Friday, January 31, 2025, at 12:30 p.m. in Duffy Science Centre, Room 204. Dr. Enooyaq Sudlovenick, Faculty of Indigenous Knowledge, Education, Research, and Applied Studies, will present “Beluga whales, arctic marine mammals, and Inuit knowledge.”

The national systems use a job scheduler called “Slurm.” In this session, you will learn how Slurm works and how it allocates jobs, helping you to minimize wait time by framing reasonable requests; ask for only the resources you need to improve efficiency; increase throughput; run more jobs simultaneously; and troubleshoot and address crashes. This workshop is designed for new HPC users familiar with Linux and Shell Scripting, or for experienced users transitioning to Slurm or seeking to improve efficiency with the scheduler.  

Register at https://www.acenet.training/courses.

The third UPEI Board of Governors meeting of the 2024-2025 academic year will take place on February 6, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. in Room 102, Alumni Hall.  All board meetings generally include sessions that are open to the public. Certain agenda items, including but not limited to human resources discussions, may require the board to go into a closed session. For logistical purposes, members of the public who wish to attend the open session of a meeting are asked to contact board@upei.ca one week prior to the meeting. Members of the public wishing to attend the public portion of a meeting must adhere to the UPEI Board of Governors' Meeting Observer Guidelines.

Many first-year students are invited via their UPEI email to participate in the CUSC-CCREU 2025 Survey of First Year Students, along with students from more than 30 other Canadian institutions. Core areas covered by the survey include

• motivation for and transition to post-secondary education
• use of and satisfaction with various facilities and services
• students’ academic profile
• financing education
• assessment of the overall university experience

First-year students are asked to check their UPEI email to see if they have received an invitation to participate. If so, they are asked to complete it as soon as possible. Responses are confidential, and participation is voluntary. To learn more about the survey, visit http://cusc-ccreu.ca. If you have any questions about the project at UPEI, please contact Dr. Yuqin Gong, Manager of Institutional Research, Office of the Vice-President Academic and Research, at ygong@upei.ca.

UPEI piano professor Magdalena von Eccher will present a solo piano recital featuring Robert Schumann's colourful Faschingschwank aus Wien, Op 26 (Viennese Carnival) alongside Bach's marvelous Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911, interwoven with other selections including Schoenberg's Op. 19 and Ravel's Sonatine. Magdalena will be joined by pianist Glen Montgomery for Debussy's charming piano duet, Petite Suite.

Are you looking for talented and motivated students or recent graduates to join your team? If so, don’t miss the chance to register as an employer for the 2025 UPEI Summer Job and Career Fair!

The Summer Job and Career Fair is a great opportunity for UPEI departments to connect with potential employees or interns. You will be able to meet with hundreds of students and alumni from various disciplines and backgrounds and promote your department’s employment opportunities.

The fair will take place on March 12 (storm date: March 13, same time) from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the W.A. Murphy Student Centre.

Space at the fair is limited and restricted to employers hiring for 2025 summer jobs or looking to hire May 2025 graduates or recent grads. Registration is FREE for all UPEI departments, but you need to register by February 21 at 4:00 pm to secure your spot.

To register, please fill out this 👉registration form.

Registration includes a folding table, two chairs, electricity (upon request), and wireless internet.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Community and Industry Outreach Coordinator Jess Cameron at careerfair@upei.ca or (902) 894-2817.

We hope to see you at the fair!

The Office of Research Services is thrilled to welcome Julie VanLeeuwen to their team as the new research navigator. 

Julie did her undergraduate degree at UPEI, earning a BSc in Chemistry with a minor in Catholic Studies. She went on to complete her Master of Science Communication degree at Laurentian University.   

As research navigator, Julie will assist in supporting UPEI’s Strategic Research Plan (2023-2028) to streamline and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of research administrative processes for research and graduate studies. She will also communicate these changes to the University community as they come into effect. This work will eventually evolve into assisting faculty members in navigating various research processes.  

As this term position is supported by the Canada Research Chair Program (CRCP) Stipend for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Julie will also develop best practices and provide guidance on creating meaningful EDI statements for funding proposals. Finally, she will help highlight recent research successes throughout the University. 

Julie is excited to return to UPEI as a staff member and support the research happening on campus. 

Please join us on Friday, January 31, at 3:30 pm in FSDE 128B for the next lecture in our Pizza Seminar series. In this seminar, David LeBlanc will give a talk on the potential of machine learning techniques to evolve into models of human intelligence. Pizza and pop will follow the presentation.

Happy New Year!

The UPEI Health Research Network is looking for full/part-time undergraduate students for the Connections program, which will start in February 2025. 

Would you like to meet new friends and be involved in an inclusive and non-judgmental environment to learn about food, health, stress, coping, and physical activity? 

The staff at the Health Research Network is offering a free eight-session program to help connect undergraduate students to provide an environment for learning on a variety of topics around health and well-being and connecting to the student community. Snacks will be provided at each session!

Check out our Instagram @upeihrn and our Facebook page "UPEI Health Research Network" for our program posters! 

This free program will include eight weekly (2 hour) group education sessions, including 1 hour with a registered dietitian and health educator followed by 1 hour of exercise sessions with a kinesiologist (plus open gym times) located in the lower level of the Steel Building. These sessions will be student-centered so we welcome any level of knowledge and ability. 

If you are interested in registering and booking the pre-assessment screening requirement before starting the program, please email Anja and Laurie at connections@upei.ca for more information or to register. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Anja and Laurie 

Accessibility Services invites colleagues to our session, “What are Executive Functions,” on Thursday, January 30, 2025, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in the TLC. Learn about executive functions, what they look like in action, and effective supports and strategies for instructors and students. Specifically, the session will cover prioritizing and goal selection; planning and organizing; working memory; attention and flexibility; self-regulation; inhibition and initiation; and execution and goal attainment.

Through a generous endowment from the Fondation J.-Louis Lévesque, UPEI has established the Lévesque Undergraduate Research Awards in Human Health. This program is intended for students interested in performing human health-related research during the summer of 2025.

Please visit the Undergraduate Research Opportunities page for the call for applications and application forms.

The deadline for applications is Friday, February 21, 2025, by 4 pm.  

For more information, contact Leslie Cudmore, Research Grants Coordinator, at lcudmore@upei.ca or 902-566-0709.

The UPEI Office of Research Services will host a Research Breakfast on Thursday, February 6, at 7:30 am in McMillan Hall, W.A. Murphy Student Centre.

Dr. Misty Rossiter will present “Healthy Eating Environments: A Responsive Approach to Feeding Children, and Dr. Senthilkumar Thiruppathi will speak about “Sustainable Automation for the Agri-food and Aquaculture Sector in PEI.”

Please join us at this free event to learn more about UPEI research, and network over a delicious breakfast. Hope to see you there!

Seating is limited. Register at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/upei-researcher-breakfast-tickets-1205630646719?aff=oddtdtcreator

Looking to apply for the HWMEP UPEI Panther Pitch? 👀 Don’t miss this Business Model Canvas Workshop:

🗓 When: Wednesday, January 29
🕓 Time: 4:00--6:00 pm
📍 Where: Catherine Callbeck Centre for Entrepreneurship, 201 Robertson Library

This is the first workshop in our series to help you prepare for the HWMEP Panther Pitch before the February 6th deadline. Perfect for anyone seeking extra guidance to complete their Business Model Canvas! 

Tag your team members, share with friends, and help spread the word! 🙌

✅ Sign up at https://forms.office.com/r/y2GZUJpLAT

In accordance with the UPEI Action Plan: Building A Culture of Trust, Safety and Inclusion, the University of Prince Edward Island has committed to developing a new Harassment and Discrimination Policy and a revised Sexual Violence Policy. In an email message issued on January 21 to students, staff, and faculty, co-chairs Wendy Rodgers and Lucky Fusca announced that a Review Committee has been struck, and work is now underway to develop a recommendation for the two policies, following a university-wide consultative process. 

The Review Committee was selected by the University among individuals who responded to a call for expressions of interest to participate, with a view to ensure a broad representation across constituency groups in the UPEI community (with diverse experiences and backgrounds). The Committee held its initial meeting on December 18, 2024, and will continue to meet on a bi-weekly basis for the next three months, with a target completion date of March 31, 2025. 

All members of the UPEI community are, and will be, encouraged to provide feedback regarding their experiences with the current suite of policies and to offer other comments or suggestions they want to bring forward for the Committee's attention. If you wish to provide feedback, you may do so either through the online feedback form, found here, or by submitting comments by email to Bobby Cameron, Chief of Staff, Office of the President, at trcameron@upei.ca. Individuals are encouraged to provide feedback on or before February 7, 2025.

On Wednesday, January 29, ITSS will conduct routine maintenance on the myUPEI portal and related services from 8:00 pm to midnight. During this time, there may be intermittent access to and performance issues with myUPEI, Self-Service, and Colleague.

We encourage students, faculty, and staff who may need documents or links located on myUPEI to plan ahead and bookmark or download the resources they may need during this period.

As a reminder, you can access Moodle directly using https://moodle.upei.ca and Outlook email using https://outlook.office.com.

If you have any questions, please contact the ITSS help desk at 902-566-0465.

The national systems use a job scheduler called “Slurm.” In this session, you will learn how Slurm works and how it allocates jobs, helping you to minimize wait time by framing reasonable requests; ask for only the resources you need to improve efficiency; increase throughput; run more jobs simultaneously; and troubleshoot and address crashes. This workshop is designed for new HPC users familiar with Linux and Shell Scripting, or for experienced users transitioning to Slurm or seeking to improve efficiency with the scheduler.  

Register at https://www.acenet.training/courses.

Shell scripting helps you save time, automate file management tasks, and better use the power of Linux. You’ll learn how to use the command line to carry out repetitive tasks, extract information from files quickly, combine commands in powerful ways, learn about job scripts, shell variables and looping commands, and capture a workflow so you can re-use it easily. Save time, reduce errors, and use Linux more effectively. This workshop is designed for either new high performance computing (HPC) users who are familiar with working in a Linux environment, or for experienced users seeking to get more out of shell scripting.

Register at https://www.acenet.training/courses.