CCL: Workshop on Computational Biophysics (Berkeley, Aug 3-7, 2015)

Are you sure a discrete graphics card is required?
 "Graphics card: nVidia Geforce Ti4600, or comparable"
 The integrated graphics offerings from AMD and Intel have surpassed the
 performance of the Ti4600 for at least 5 years and definitely meet the
 minimum requirements from a performance standpoint. It looks like they're
 suggesting minimum hardware requirements to run VMD and NAMD, which is easy
 enough to test.
 On Wed, May 20, 2015 at 1:44 PM, Billy McCann thebillywayne_+_gmail.com <
 owner-chemistry!=!ccl.net> wrote:
 >
 > Sent to CCL by: Billy McCann [thebillywayne[A]gmail.com]
 > Hello.
 >
 > This looks like a very exciting opportunity.
 >
 > If you would indulge me, I have a few words.
 >
 > One item in particular about this workshop is somewhat unfortunate for
 > me, that is, the laptop hardware requirements.
 >
 > The workshop requires participants to bring their own laptop. This is
 > understandable.  The hardware requirements for the laptop requires a
 > discrete GPU. This also is understandable. However, such laptops do
 > not come cheaply.
 >
 > I grant that the specifications listed represent technology that is
 > more than a decade old. Perhaps an older, inexpensive laptop with
 > these specs or better could be bought from ebay or craigslist? These
 > sites are patronized for technology with "caveat emptor" writ
 large.
 >
 > This requirement alone keeps me from even applying.
 >
 > I, like many other chemists at the beginning of their scientific
 > careers, am competing with an ever increasing number of colleagues for
 > very few available positions and grant money that shrinks year by
 > year. Some of us simply won't make it. Fact. You are holding this
 > workshop in August, a time approximately when some of us are facing
 > the end of our contracts and whose future employment is still dubious.
 > The acquisition of laptops with a discrete GPU (sometimes referred to
 > as "gaming laptops") will probably take priority far below the
 > securing of food, shelter, clothing, and medicine.
 >
 > I apologize for the rant. But certain aspects of remaining competitive
 > in computational chemistry simply strike an all-too-sensitive nerve
 > for me.  Perhaps I'm over reacting. Perhaps it's that I'm frustrated
 > at the state of job seeking in chemistry. Perhaps I'm frustrated
 > because of the frequency at which I'm advertised such workshops,
 > workshops  that I would love to attend and that I know would help me
 > progress towards my long-term scientific goals (yours in particular
 > does), but the limiting reagent in the reaction is money.  Always
 > money.
 >
 > This ends my words. I may be alone in the sentiments that I've
 > expressed here.  But I have a hunch that I'm not alone.
 >
 >
 > For your consideration,
 >
 > Billy Wayne McCann, Ph.D.
 >
 >
 > --
 > Billy Wayne McCann, Ph.D.
 > irc://irc.freenode.net:bwayne
 >
 > Plays, farces, spectacles, gladiators, strange beasts, medals,
 > pictures, and other such opiates, these were for ancient peoples the
 > bait toward slavery, the price of their liberty, the instruments of
 > tyranny. By these practices and enticements the ancient dictators so
 > successfully lulled their subjects under the yoke, that the stupefied
 > peoples, fascinated by the pastimes and vain pleasures flashed before
 > their eyes, learned subservience as naively, but not so creditably, as
 > little children learn to read by looking at bright picture books.
 > Roman tyrants invented a further refinement. They often provided the
 > city wards with feasts to cajole the rabble, always more readily
 > tempted by the pleasure of eating than by anything else. The most
 > intelligent and understanding amongst them would not have quit his
 > soup bowl to recover the liberty of the Republic of Plato. Tyrants
 > would distribute largess, a bushel of wheat, a gallon of wine, and a
 > sesterce: and then everybody would shamelessly cry, 'Long live the
 > King!' The fools did not realize that they were merely recovering a
 > portion of their own property, and that their ruler could not have
 > given them what they were receiving without having first taken it from
 > them.
 > ~Juvenal
 >
 >
 >
 >
 > On Tue, May 19, 2015 at 11:54 PM, Lela Vukovic Lvukov1/aillinois.edu
 > <owner-chemistry%a%ccl.net> wrote:
 > >
 > > Sent to CCL by: "Lela  Vukovic" [Lvukov1(~)illinois.edu]
 > > The Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, NIH Resource for
 > > Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics (www.ks.uiuc.edu) at the
 > > University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (www.uiuc.edu), announces a
 > >
 > >  "Hands-On" Workshop on Computational Biophysics
 > >
 > > http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Training/Workshop/Berkeley2015/
 > >
 > > to be held August 3-7, 2015 at the University of California Berkeley.
 > Application, selection, and
 > > notification of participants is on-going through July 15, 2015.
 > >
 > > The workshop will explore physical models and computational approaches
 > used for the
 > > simulation of biological systems and the investigation of their
 function
 > at an atomic level. The
 > > course will be based on case studies, and will cover the following
 > topics: using the biophysics
 > > software VMD and NAMD, applications of VMD and NAMD in modern
 research,
 > force fields
 > > and parameterizing new molecules, modeling nucleic acid systems,
 > computational nano-bio,
 > > molecular dynamics flexible fitting of structures into cryo electron
 > microscopy maps, and
 > > refinement of low resolution crystal structures. Relevant physical
 > concepts, mathematical
 > > techniques, and computational methods will be introduced.
 > >
 > > The workshop is designed for graduate students and postdoctoral
 > researchers in
 > > computational and/or biophysical fields who seek to extend their
 > research skills to include
 > > computational and theoretical expertise, as well as other researchers
 > interested in theoretical
 > > and computational biophysics. Theory sessions in the morning will be
 > followed by hands-on
 > > computer labs in the afternoon in which students will be able to set
 up
 > and run simulations.
 > > Enrollment limited to 24 participants. The workshop will be held
 August
 > 3-7, 2015. All
 > > participants are required to bring their own laptop, prepared for use
 in
 > workshop tutorial
 > > sessions. Course materials will be provided.
 > >
 > > The workshop is sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical
 > Sciences
 > > (www.nigms.nih.gov) and the NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and
 > Bioinformatics.
 > >
 > > We look forward to receiving your application!
 > >
 > > TCBG Workshop Organizers
 > > Email: workshop+berkeley2015^-^ks.uiuc.edu>
 >
 >