VSS is pleased to welcome Katherine J. Kuchenbecker as the VSS 2017 Keynote Speaker. Katherine J. Kuchenbecker is Director of the new Haptic Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany. She is currently on leave from her appointment as Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania, where she held the Class of 1940 Bicentennial Endowed Term Chair and a secondary appointment in Computer and Information Science.
Katherine J. Kuchenbecker will discuss her work on capturing how objects and surfaces feel to the sense of touch in her talk, “Haptography: Capturing and Displaying Touch” which will be held on Saturday, May 20 at 7:15 pm in Talk Room 1-2.
The Vision Sciences Society is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the “Ken Nakayama Medal for Excellence in Vision Science.”
The Ken Nakayama Medal is in honor of Professor Ken Nakayama’s contributions to the Vision Sciences Society, as well as his innovations and excellence to the domain of the vision sciences. The winner of the Ken Nakayama Medal receives this honor for high-impact work that has made a lasting contribution in vision science in the broadest sense. The nature of this work can be fundamental, clinical or applied. The Medal is not a lifetime career award and is open to all career stages.
Nominations can be made by all regular members of the Vision Sciences Society, or those who hold emeritus status. The nominee does not have to be a member of the Vision Sciences Society. Nominations must be submitted by March 13, 2017. The winner will be announced in early April. The recipient will be recognized at the VSS 2017 Meeting in St. Pete Beach.
The nomination package should include the following:
The nomination letter, outlining in detail the excellent contributions and innovations of the nominee. Clear indicators of the impact should be discussed.
A Curriculum Vitae, and an up-to-date publication list of the nominee.
Letters of support by four vision scientists, of which two should be regular VSS members (or hold emeritus status).
The award committee, consisting of the five most recent past-presidents of the Vision Sciences Society, will nominate one candidate to the current board of the Vision Sciences Society. Members of the Award Committee and of the VSS Board of Directors cannot serve as nominators.
Nominations for the Ken Nakayama Medal should be submitted by email to Shauney Wilson.
VSS is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2017 Elsevier/VSS Young Investigator Award, sponsored by Vision Research, are now open. The prize, established in 2007, is awarded each year to an outstanding visual scientist who has received an advanced degree within the past 10 years.
To be eligible, the award applicant must have no more than 10 years of active research/teaching experience. (This allows the exclusion of times that typically “stop the clock” in academic tenure track positions.) If there was no break in active research/teaching, for the upcoming 2017 award, the degree must have been awarded in or after 2007.
Applicants must be active VSS members and have attended two of the last five VSS Meetings.
Nominations must be made by a VSS member and will be reviewed by the Young Investigator Award Committee, consisting of five established visual scientists selected from VSS membership. Members of the Award Committee and the VSS Board of Directors cannot serve as nominators.
The Award Committee will select the winner by March 21, and the prize, which includes an honorarium, will be presented at the 2017 VSS meeting in St. Pete Beach. The awardee will be asked to give a presentation of her/his work at the 2017 VSS meeting, and to prepare a featured review article related to his or her work for Vision Research.
The nominations should include:
A letter of recommendation with a detailed description of the scientific contributions of the nominee.
One additional letter of support.
A curriculum vitae of the nominee.
Nominees from previous years can be re-nominated, assuming the nominee is still eligible. A new nomination letter is required in that case.
Nominations for the 2017 Young Investigator Award should be submitted by email to Shauney Wilson at .
Deadline for receipt of nominations: February 13, 2017
The Vision Sciences Society is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the fifth Davida Teller Award, to be awarded at our 2017 meeting in St. Pete Beach, Florida. The late Davida Teller was an exceptional scientist and a great colleague. The award will be given to a woman vision scientist, who has made exceptional contributions to the field of vision science. A strong history of mentoring will also be given consideration.
Nominations must be made by a member of VSS, and will be reviewed by an Award Committee of three established visual scientists selected from VSS membership. Members of the Award Committee and of the VSS Board of Directors cannot serve as nominators.
Nominations must be submitted by February 6, 2017. The winner will be announced in late March. The recipient will be recognized at the VSS 2017 meeting in St. Pete Beach.
The nominations should include the following: description of the nominee’s scientific contributions and history of mentoring, and a current curriculum vita. The nomination may include supporting letters describing both importance of scientific contributions and mentoring activity. Recipients must have been active VSS members in recent years. Previously considered nominees are eligible to be re-nominated.
Nominations for the Davida Teller Award should be submitted by email to Shauney Wilson at .
As many of you may already know, on Friday our friend and colleague Professor Bosco Tjan died tragically at USC. While we are trying to come to terms with this incomprehensible tragedy, the VSS Board would like to extend its deepest condolences to his wife and son, his students and postdocs, and to his colleagues and friends at USC and in the broader vision community.
We would like to acknowledge his many contributions to the vision community and to VSS in particular. He energized past meetings with his keen intellect and warmth, and he will be sorely missed.
The 2017 ARVO/VSS Research Fellowship Award application is now open through January 31, 2017.
The purpose of the ARVO/VSS Research Fellowship is to encourage and foster new collaborations between clinical and basic vision researchers to better train young scientists in the area of translational research. These fellowships will provide research funds to support students who wish to acquire training in a cross-disciplinary lab to promote their ability to perform translational research and compete for research funding as their career matures.
If you know of ARVO Members-in-Training who may be interested in translational research, please encourage them to apply.
To learn more about eligibility and the general guidelines of the application, please visit: www.arvo.org/ARVO_VSS, and email with any questions.
VSS welcomes applications for satellite events to be held at the 2017 meeting in St. Pete Beach. Satellite events can be workshops, business meetings, social events or ancillary events of interest to VSS attendees, but which are not planned or sponsored directly by VSS. Admission to Satellite Events can either be by invitation to a subset of meeting attendees, or open to all.
To request space for a satellite event at VSS 2017, complete the online VSS 2017 Satellite Events Request Form. Requests will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis as long as space is available.
For complete satellite event information and to complete the online request form, go to Satellite Events.
VSS is seeking interesting visual images to be used for the cover of the 2017 VSS printed program, t-shirts, signage, badges, and tote bags. There will be two separate graphic competitions: T-Shirt Design Competition and Program Cover Competition.
This competition is open-ended in that the images might relate to submitted scientific work, St. Pete Beach and surrounding areas, or VSS. The image could also be an alteration of the VSS Logo.
A $350 award will be given to the winner of each competition.
You must be a current VSS member to submit an image for consideration. Image specifications, instructions on how to submit and previous years’ selected graphics can be found at http://www.visionsciences.org/graphics-competition/ .
The deadline for submitting images is January 12, 2017.
The 17th annual meeting of the Vision Sciences Society will be held at the TradeWinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach, Florida.
VSS has negotiated special room rates for the TradeWinds Island Grand and Guy Harvey Outpost hotels.
New this year: VSS is pleased to offer a limited number of Government Rate rooms at the Guy Harvey for VSS attendees. Rooms will be available on a first come first-served basis.
Discount rates are available May 15 – 26, 2017. The deadline to reserve a hotel room is April 15, 2017 or until the VSS Room Block is sold out.
For detailed room information and a link to make your reservation, go to Accommodations.
