The Biological Sciences Graduate Congress (BSGC)is an annual meeting of graduate students studying biological sciences in Chulalongkorn University (CU) in Thailand, National University of Singapore, and University of Malaya. UM hosted the 2010 conference in KL on December 15th and 16th. In addition to students from CU, NUS, and UM, there were also students from other universities in Malaysia and Thailand as well as from Iran and the Philipines. The theme of this year's congress was "Bridging Ideas, Building Talents". I was asked to be one of the invited speakers and a judge for students' talks and posters.
I had a great time at the congress and I enjoyed learning more about the work being done by some of the best biology graduate students in SE Asia. I wish all of the participants the best of luck in the future! Thanks to the organizing committee to allow me to share in this wonderful event!
I just got back from the final banquet and I will try to post some photos before I get up early tomorrow to head for Borneo.
You can read more about the congress at
http://bsgc2010.um.edu.my/index.php
They took lots of photos and they should be posting them soon.
My Talk
I was invited as the speaker for the Biodiveristy and Ecology theme. You can see a copy of my presentation here.
http://bsgc2010.um.edu.my/index.php
Student Presentations and Posters
Student from UM
This student from CU spoke about her research in forensic entomology. She talked about her work studying the insects that attack pig corpses during decomposition. Someone had the wild idea to schedule this talk right before lunch.
Prof Chong from UM presents a student from NUS with as certificate after completing his presentation.
A student from UM explains her research examining parasites that are spread by feral cats.
The Banquet
The dress code for the evening was "cultural attire". American's over here never quite know what it means to dress lilke an American. I guess that I should have worn my cowboy hat and boots, or even better, worn my shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. These UM students were members of the committee that helped to organize the entire event.
Some UM students in traditional Malay attire.
One of the Thai students from CU wins one of the door prizes!
Students received awards for best posters and presentations in the different categories.
The Performances
Throughout the evening we were entertained by performances by the graduate students from the three universitires. Many of the students were surprisingly talented. I would like to see the grad students from Tech try this sometime.
CU- The Thais were definitely the stars of the show. They performed four different dances.
NUS- Some of the Indian graduate students from NUS sang a traditional Indian song and others danced.
UM- Students from the organizing committe at UM presented a skit about life in graduate school (they hit the nail right on the head) and did a dance number (I hope that most of them are better scientists than they are dancers!!).
UM passes the torch to NUS, the hosts of next year's congress. I guess that I won't be able to make it.
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