Speaker: Geraldine Seydoux, John Hopkins School of MedicineHost: Yukiko YamashitaTitle: "A structural role for mRNAs in condensates?"The Biology Colloquium is a weekly seminar held throughout the academic year — featuring distinguished speakers in many areas of the biological sciences from universities and institutions worldwide. More information on speakers, their affiliations, and titles of their talks will be added as available. Unless otherwise stated, the Colloquium will be held live in Stata 32-123 (Kirsch auditorium) Contact Margaret Cabral with questions.

Aleksei Oskolkov Univ of Yale

For Researchers Interested in Commercializing their New TechnologyLearn what I-Corps is all about and what to expect in the programExplore the benefits of participating in our I-Corps short courseWhat will the next steps be toward a potential $2MM in non-dilutive funding supportThere will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end of the session

Title: Machine Learning for Full-Quantum Simulations of Condensed Phases and Interfaces: application to the first-principles phase diagram of nanoconfined water

Preparing for a research talk, investor pitch, or interview? Eager to polish your three-minute thesis video, podcast, or public talk? In this NEW, six-session workshop series, learn to refine your speaking and presentation skills across a range of contexts. Whether your audience is intimate or enormous, expert or novice, we will help you find strategies to capture and keep their attention. Each interactive session will invite you to implement tips on tailoring your content, delivery, and visual aids to develop your confidence, clarity, and charisma. At the end of six meetings, you will have solid advice and experience with introducing yourself and your topic, tailoring your talk to diverse audiences, structuring your content, streamlining your flow, practicing effectively, and fielding questions.Session 1: Tue, April 1, 4:00-5:30 p.m. First Impressions Session 2: Thu, April 3, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Engage Your Audience Session 3: Tue, April 8, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Structure Your Presentation Session 4: Thu, April 10, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Tell Your Story Session 5: Tue, April 15, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Enhance Your Presentation Session 6: Thu, April 17, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Finish Strong: Conclusions and Q&A

Hussein IbishSenior Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute(AGSI)After over two years without a president, in January the Lebanese parliament elected former Lebanese Armed Forces Chief of Staff Joseph Aoun the country's head of state. The deadlock, largely caused by Hezbollah's implausible but insistent efforts to install its ally Suleiman Frangieh, was largely broken by the extreme weakening of the Iranian-backed Shiite party in its disastrously miscalculated confrontation with Israel, sparked by the post-October 7 2023 Gaza war. This sudden degradation of Hezbollah as a paramilitary organization, and concomitant political waning, could open a new opportunity for the revival and strengthening of the Lebanese state. Yet this potential opportunity – with the necessary determination of a wide range of national leaders not yet in evidence – has come at an enormous cost to the country, especially its devastated south. And it will require not merely considerable external diplomatic and financial support, but also a favorable regional strategic and political environment. The most significant factor will almost certainly be developments in Syria following the downfall of the 54-year-long Assad family dictatorship. The emerging order in Syria will, as always, play a heavy role in what may be possible in Lebanon, with scenarios ranging from the development of a stable and tolerant new order that can play a constructive role in Lebanese as well as Syrian reconstruction, to renewed Syrian civil conflict and national fragmentation that can spread into northern Lebanon and beyond. Meanwhile, neighbors like Israel and Iran remain eager to meddle with and take advantage of any opportunities they can find in the Lebanese quest for greater state integration and reconstruction. This talk will examine these dynamics as an integrated, textured web of urgent but unanswered questions, teasing out various possibilities and imponderables that will help shape the near-term future for the long-suffering Lebanese people.