As the year draws to a close and everyone gets into holiday mood, here’s some yuletide cheer for biology teachers in this country.

The Ohio State University has announced a promising programme that might benefit biology teachers at undergraduate institutions in India. The university will share its experiences and expertise in teaching biology to undergraduate students in this international outreach initiative for professional development of undergraduate life science educators. The university’s Centre for Life Science Education is currently inviting applications for

this programme from interested teachers at small, teaching‐colleges in India.

The centre will participate in weekly discussions through video conferencing on various aspects of scientific teaching methods that might help build a vibrant learning environment in Indian universities.

The initiative is being overseen by Caroline Breitenberger, Director (breitenberger.1@osu.edu) and Judy Ridgway, Assistant Director for Educational Research and Development (ridgway.14@osu.edu), who are the people to get in touch for more information.

This week got good news for young scientists of this country with two very insteresting opportunities.

The first one is an international competition. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has launched an international competition to select up to 35 early career scientists working at academic institutions in 18 countries including India. A total of $ (US) 24 million dollars will be awarded with the goal of helping them establish independent research programmes in their home countries.

HHMI vice president and chief scientific officer Jack Dixon says these countries have robust scientific infrastructure but resource constraints hamper research funding. This competition is designed to give a boost to international scientists who return to their home country to do research after training in the United States. HHMI is hoping to replicate the success of this pilot project for a larger international endeavor.

The competition opened on December 1, 2010, and closes February 23, 2011. Scientists can submit their applications on HHMI’s website.

The second opportunity is an endeavour of the three national Science Academies of the country (Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore; Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi and The National Academy of Sciences, India, Allahabad). Together they are offering several two-month summer fellowships to enable students and teachers to work with fellows of the academies and other scientists during 2011.

The fellowships will accept students and teachers for joint short-term projects. Students and teachers will have to get in touch with the Co-ordinator, Science Education Programme, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore. The last date for receipt of applications online is 31 December 2010.