12-week paid summer internship will be from May 18th to August 7th 2015, with the grant covering the costs of return travel to and from Charleston, dormitory housing with the College of Charleston, a $4,500 stipend and any associated individual intern research project costs (up to $500 per student). Each intern will receiving expert training in the key professional skills needed to pursue graduate school and/or a career in the marine and environmental science disciplines, design and complete an individual research project under the guidance of their mentor(s), and will present their findings to their peers and the Fort Johnson research community at the end of the program in a one-day colloquium setting.

DUE DATE: FRIDAY, MARCH 13TH

The School of Engineering is offering a summer research program with a stipend valued at $4500, as well as providing housing, food, and up to $400 in travel expenses.

During the nine-week period, students will investigate topics in the interdisciplinary field of Surface and Thin Film Science and Engineering. Participants will contribute to the forefront ofresearch on the synthesis, structure and properties of thin films and materials surfaces. Work side-by-side with faculty mentors, doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in our labs to conduct original research, gain valuable new experience, and make new friends and contacts. The program provides professional development, career exposure, industry visits, advanced analytical skills, and a variety of recreational activities.

Special Collections has a new music collection available for you to come and explore! Whether you’re a musician-in-training or simply a lover of the classics, you now have access to an impressive collection of noted concert violinist and conductor Robert Gerle’s personal, marked scores. At UMBC, Gerle is perhaps best known for beginning the orchestral program here and remaining its conductor for nearly two decades. In addition to conducting the UMBC Orchestra, Gerle also taught at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and the Mannes College of Music in New York.

In 1972, when the first concert was planned, UMBC’s music major was actually in jeopardy of being removed from the school by the Maryland Council on Higher Education. The council cited that there were other, similar programs offered by nearby University of Maryland institutions and therefore did not need to be repeated. Despite this threat, the UMBC Orchestra’s inaugural concert remained slated to take place on December 11, 1972. To read all of the details, be sure to check out the Retriever article in our Digital Collections (hint: take a look at pages 1 and 5)! Scores from several of the pieces played at this concert can be found in the collection, including Richard Wagner’s “Overture to Die Meistersinger,” Wagner’s only comic opera.

Robert Gerle was born in 1924 to Jewish Hungarian parents. According to a New York Times article [1] published in 1958, during World War II Gerle and 26 other Hungarian Jews were caught and arrested by a group of Soviet soldiers while they were hiding in the crawl space above a music professor’s house. The Soviet soldiers suspected them of being snipers. As Gerle was brought before the firing squad, the officer in charge noticed his violin case and demanded that he play a work by Tschaikovsky. A student of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and the Hungarian National Conservatory of Music, Gerle’s technique impressed the officer. He was convinced that Gerle was a musician, not a soldier. Gerle’s technique, which would be coined as “flawless” later in his career, supposedly saved not only his life, but the lives of the 26 other individuals with him.

When the war ended, Gerle began to play concert engagements in both New York and London, becoming best known for his performances of Back’s Chaconne for solo violin and Heinrich Biber’s violin sonatas. He and his wife, Marilyn Neely - also a UMBC professor - even won an Emmy for the video presentation of the complete Beethoven violin and piano sonatas.

The Gerle collection was transferred from College Park last year. It contains a wide variety of musical scores and compositions, ranging from full orchestral pieces to solo violin pieces. The collection contains not only classics such as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, but also a host of lesser known treasures to explore. My personal favorite is Vivaldi’s Violin-Konzert, Ops. 3, No. 6. This score, just one of Gerle’s many personal marked scores, is available for you to come in and take a look at. Check out our finding aid for more information!

[1] MEYER BERGER. "About New York." New York Times (1923-Current File), Oct 20, 1958. http://search.proquest.com/docview/114511079?accountid=14577.

This post was written by Special Collections Graduate Assistant Jessi Deane. Thank you, Jessi!

The Society for Invertebrate Pathology records contain documents relating to the founding of the society, society publications, papers and records belonging to society members, photographs, meeting and seminar materials, and interview recordings. The full finding aid is available online.

If you're interested in viewing the full collection, please contact Special Collections to set up an appointment at x52353 or speccoll@umbc.edu. We also hold open research hours on Monday through Friday, 1pm to 4pm, with additional hours from 4pm to 8pm Thursday nights.