IRNSC News Letter 2015

Presidents Note:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your membership and update you with the activities of our
Community.
We are in the process of establishing our Mission & Vision statements. An ad-hoc committee is drafting a set
of bylaws which will be presented to the membership at large. Each member will then have a chance to review
and make suggestions to improve the documents. Subsequently, we will vote on implementing these bylaws so
that there will be a more official way to select the members of the leadership council and conduct business
relating to IRNSC.
All successful organizations need financial security to attain their vision and mission goals. One of the greatest
challenges for our community has been the lack of funds. Thanks to our relentless Treasurer, Dr. Mahmoud
Kiaei, this hurdle is about to be lifted. We are in the final stages of receiving our non-profit status which will
allow us to receive Tax Exempt Status. All future membership fees and donations to IRNSC will soon be
completely tax-deductible. This will allow us to solicit larger donations from our Iranian colleagues who wish to
sponsor our cause.
We have updated the membership roster based on responses received from a form that was sent in April. We
hope to draft a membership directory which will enable us to communicate more effectively. There will be two
Student Travel grants available to assist with expenses incurred for the 2015 SfN meeting. Dr. Masoud Shekarabi
has sent information regarding these grants. Please also refer to the IRNSC travel awards section below. Please
make sure to apply, and furnish complete information so that the reviewers can justly judge your merits before
making a final decision. During the SfN meeting in Chicago, we will have a Social (see below for time and place).
We will have the opportunity to meet face-to-face and welcome new members into our Community. Please
invite Iranian colleagues and friends to join us at our annual social.
I welcome all suggestions from our members. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions
or comments regarding IRNSC.
Arezoo Campbell
acampbell@westernu.edu

IRNSCs Financial Status:

Dr. Mahmoud Kiaei
IRNSC as a neuroscience entity has successfully made it thus far due to the efforts of tireless organizers and
generous donors. The funding for IRNSCs has come from membership dues and donations. It has been a great
struggle to secure the funds needed to run the operation. We have registered IRNSC as an entity and the nonprofit, as well as the approval of IRS tax exemption form, is pending. Once the approval is obtained, then the
possibility of better funding situation is ahead of us.
Currently, we have $69.00 in our PayPal account. We encourage all of our members to pay their membership
and donate to support IRNSC to continue and grow. IRNSC is totally dependent on its members and only with
your continuous support it can be a vibrant growing organization. We rely on you and your support. Please visit
www.IRNSC.net make a donation, and pay your membership dues. Please feel free to contact me
mkiaei@uams.edu.

Tarikh Bozorg (Big History)

By: Dr. Amir Kolini, DDS
Big history is an educational project funded by Bill Gates and
developed by a team of scientists in various disciplines headed by
Dr David Christian. The aim of the project is to develop the history
of everything from Big Bang through matter and galaxies
formation to life and human history and finally modern societies
and future of human in one educational course and teach it in
different educational systems globally. Dr. Kolini, in collaboration
with a physicist, Dr. Ali Nayeri, has started a TV series called
Mehbang that is being regularly aired in Persian language TV
stations and the podcast of this series is available on Facebook.
The focus is to introduce and promote the Big History Project to
Farsi speaking people and evaluate how to incorporate it into
Iran's educational system. The programs could be found in:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tarikh-Bozorg

How to join IRNSC

IRNCS invites every Iranian who is interested in Neuroscience anywhere in the world, to join and benefit from
this unique community that is growing year by year. The membership fee to join IRNSC is listed in the IRNSC
web site and can be paid via PayPal, www.IRNSC.net. Iranian neuroscientists currently residing in Iran can join
for free. The suggested membership fees are (faculty, industry appointees $50.00 or more, postdoctoral fellows
and technical staff, $30.00 or more, graduate Students $15.00 or more).

IRNSC travel awards

By: Dr. Masoud Shekarabi, PhD
As previous years, IRNSC is pleased to announce two travel awards of $500 each: A presidential award sponsored
by the president of IRNSC to support a student or postdoctoral fellow attending the conference from Iran, and
one additional travel bursary which will be awarded to a student or a postdoctoral fellow who will be presenting
their research at this years SfN meeting. Iranian neuroscience graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who
have submitted an abstract and will be participating at the 2015 SfN annual meeting in Chicago are eligible to
apply for these awards.
To be considered for the awards, the applicants should be in good standing for their membership dues (please
visit www.irnsc.net for membership fees). Please note that there is no membership fee for researchers
attending the meeting from Iran. Each applicant should provide a short CV (maximum 2 pages), a one-page
summary of research and a copy of the abstract submitted for the SfN meeting plus up to two reference letters.
The CV should provide information about the applicants academic background, publications, honors and
awards, teaching experiences and any outreach or leadership abilities. All documents should be merged into a
single PDF file. The research summary should be written in lay language to be understandable to the members
of our selection committee with a wide range of academic backgrounds. The application should be sent to
IRNSCs email address: Iranianneuroscientists@gmail.com by September 30th. The results will be announced by
the second week of October to the successful applicants and the awards will be officially announced and
presented at the IRNSC social event.
IRNSC 2015 Social Event will be held in Rezas Restaurant (432 W Ontario St) on October 18th at 6:30PM. We
look forward to seeing you there!