JXTX: The James P. Taylor Foundation for Open Science
The most important job of senior faculty is to mentor junior faculty and students. (@jxtx)
These are the words that James Taylor (JT) said and lived by. This, he believed, was imperative to advance science, and in a way that facilitated diversity and inclusion. The mission of this foundation is to continue his legacy, through a multifaceted approach which will be unrolled across several stages.
Recent Foundation Activity and News
The JXTX Foundation's first activity is to sponsor 10 graduate students to attend the 2020 Biological Data Science Conference at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Awards were competitive and we are delighted with our first round of scholarships:
- Sumaira Zaman: JXTX Foundation and Unique Opportunities, November 25, 2020
- Anoushka Joglekar: Making Connections via the JXTX Foundation, November 24, 2020
- David Twesigomwe on the impact of the JXTX Foundation, November 20, 2020
- JXTX Foundation Awards First Ten Scholarships, October 23, 2020
- Call for Scholarship Applications for Biological Data Science 2020, July 8, 2020
- The James Taylor Foundation, May 7, 2020
About the JXTX Foundation
Design by Rebekka Paisner
In its early stages, the JXTX Foundation will provide support for graduate students to attend conferences in computational biology and data science, where they can present their work and form connections with other researchers in the field. Towards the goal of advancing mentorship, JXTX will organize and host mentoring sessions between senior and junior faculty members at select high-profile meetings.
The Foundation will later expand its reach as a platform for academic mentorship. First, it will operate to spark mentoring relationships among the larger computational biology and data science community. As part of membership, faculty and students will have an opportunity to participate in periodic mentorship meetings (virtually). We expect an enthusiastic response to this opportunity, and will recruit additional team members to provide organizational structure if necessary.
In its later stages, the Foundation will sponsor in-person visits from students (high school or college age) to its hotspots, which currently include Johns Hopkins and Penn State. These visits are meant to attract new scholars to computational biology and data science, and in particular to form connections and opportunities for members of underrepresented minorities.
Please consider contributing to continue James Taylor's legacy.