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TV EYE: The Prisoner (Redux)
July 29, 2009 / saxonbullock2000
There are few projects guaranteed to raise my hackles as much as a Prisoner remake. Just below Who, The Prisoner was one of the shows that defined my childhood and my teenage years, and which raised my general level of weirdness tolerances to all new levels. I've already talked here in the wake of Patrick McGoohan's death about how much I loved the series – it's a fascinating piece of television, flawed and creaky in parts and yet hugely ambitious and wildly experimental, both of its time and weirdly universal in a way that very few television programs have ever managed. There have been threatened movie versions – indeed, the movie rights are currently in the hands of Christopher Nolan, a filmmaker who (despite his occasional flaws and excesses) does have the chops to make something potentially good out of the idea – but before that, we're getting a six-part TV miniseries that will (if memory serves me correctly) be screening here on Sky One sometime later this year. Filmed in South Africa and starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellan, it's gradually going into publicity mode – there was a panel at Comic-Con, but – more interestingly – a 9 minute 'highlights reel' that gives some major indications (and at least a handful of spoilers) as to what we'll be seeing:
My verdict? I'm not blown away, but I am intrigued. I already knew that they were avoiding a good proportion of the original series iconography, and I'll be willing to bet that whatever ending they go for, it won't be the whacked-out lunacy that featured in the original's finale. Also, as an international co-production, a good deal of the quaint Englishness has been dropped for a more transatlantic flavour (It does sound utterly wrong for people in American accents to be saying "Be Seeing You!" (Or, as the actor in the reel says it, "Be Seeing Ya!")), the 'Number' in everyone's name has been dropped (The main character is now simply 'Six'), and having been shot in South Africa, this is a very different visual proposition to Portmerion. There is, however, some enjoyably sinister stuff here – it does look like at least some of their attempts to capture the spirit of the original have been succesful, there's a few trippy-looking corridor shots that could have come straight out of the 1967 series, and there's at least a couple of shots that had my inner geek leaping with delight. There are some less effective moments here – the brief scenes that directly reference the original episodes actually come off the worst (especially the map scene in the Village shop, and the very unwise decision to have Caviezel saying "I am not a number, I am a free man" in a somewhat wet manner that gets nowhere near McGoohan's iconic yell), the dialogue isn't exactly amazing, and it does look possible that it could be way too serious for its own good (the best of the original show does have a very unsettling sense of anarchy and humour to it). Certainly, the one absolute winner it's got on its side is Ian McKellan, who seems to be having a whale of a time, and is about the most ideal candidate for the role of Number Two (or 'Two', here) that I can think of. Whatever happens, he's certainly going to be watchable – and I'm reserving judgement on Jim Caviezel until I've seen more of him. I'm not totally convinced by his performance in some of the clips here – but then, he's going up against Patrick McGoohan's absolutely bloody amazing intensity, which would leave most actors looking wishy-washy. Overall, I'm interested to see what they've done – like most remakes, I very much doubt this will top the 1967 show's best moments, but from the looks of things it's at least going to be worth watching, and doesn't look like it's going to completely dishonour the memory or repuation of the original.
Of course, after transmission I could be thinking something very different. Only time will tell…
the prisoner, tv
← Voices from the Past
Tron: Legacy →


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Twitter: Elon Musk, unscrupulous tenant
Elon Musk isn't shy about saving as much as he can to keep Twitter costs down. This Wednesday, January 11, the company's employees in Singapore were asked to vacate their offices, leave the premises due to unpaid rent, one more thing. After a few hours, they found out that he could indeed return the next day …
Incredible situation for Twitter employees in Singapore
In an email sent at 5 p.m. local time, Twitter employees were told they must vacate the CapitaGreen building in the city-state's business district due to unpaid rent. They were not fired, like many of their colleagues around the world, but were offered to continue their activities remotely. Rebound, that same evening, according to Business Insider, Elon Musk would finally pay the bills and ask his employees to come back the next day.
Twitter, which has been based in Singapore since 2015, has chosen the country to be the focal point for its Asia-Pacific region. The company has hired a lot of engineers for development and, ahead of the arrival of Elon Musk, set a goal of doubling the workforce by 50 people in 2022.
First fine in France for TikTok
Since the billionaire took office at the end of October, a dozen international offices have closed or are about to close, including those opened in 2021 in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Mexico, Australia, South Korea and Ghana. French branches, for example, were finally suspended on 4 November.
Today, the company will aim to limit its buildings to major cities such as San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, London, Dublin or even Singapore. The rest of the locations are considered small outposts, mostly used for commercial operations such as advertising sales. According to an anonymous Business Insider testimonial, the following unspecified closures should result in the layoff of several hundred employees. They will be added to the list of 3500 people who have already left the company in 3 months.
Elon Musk is mean?
However, as the example of Singapore shows, even guaranteed settlements can find themselves in a ridiculous situation. Elon Musk already has a history of non-payment of rent. Last month, the owner of the company's San Francisco headquarters filed a complaint for this reason, seeking $136,250. The company is also the subject of a lawsuit filed in December for an unpaid bill of $197,725 for two flights the CEO took in his first week in office in November.
The billionaire who lost $132 billion in 2022 is looking for ways to cut costs. Since his arrival, the company has been losing more than $4 million a day, he said. Things are likely to get worse as Twitter lost 50 of its top 100 advertisers and 90% of the company's revenue comes from ads. In order to strike a balance, Elon Musk has decided, among other things, to cut fixed costs such as offices or wages.
Elon Musk tenant Twitter unscrupulous

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I have been working on festival plans today, and specifically on the world premiere. Cannes is looming and it would be great to get into competition there and give them the world premiere. I have been reliably informed that if we have already done French subtitles, that will work in our favour – and so today, I have been figuring out how to get subtitles onto a DVD. It's actually not too hard.
The production values are super high, it looks and sounds beautiful. The story was well honed and crafted so that twice during this short I caught my breath and had to totally re-evaluate what I had been expecting to happen. It's delicious when that happens and a real testament to a well thought through plot. I am totally delighted with how the film turned out. It got a standing ovation and everyone smiled and laughed all night long at the party, the feelgood factor from the film was so infectious. I would love to see more people raising the bar on short films to make them as good as this.
Saturday 12 January 2008 was a day to remember. The seminar should be saved as a template for all future film making seminars. That was "The" Seminar... Save it!!! Nothing but the love of movies could have prepared us better for such a magnificent premiere of a well crafted story in pictures, sound and music on to the silver screen – all in ten minutes, a showing that was so complete, it felt like it was the viewing of a full-length feature. With the benefit of persistence of vision, I declare, it was a complete success. And thanks to your hard work Chris, you made it all happen.
Chris, many Thanks for what you are doing for the U.K Filmmakers. You make me believe that I can do it! So it is stop procrastinating and I have been planning for some time. "Gone Fishing" is a story well told, with a Superb Cast. Cinematic! Emotional! Captivating!
The film was great - we wanted more!! Me and my friend were really impressed at the way you told the story in such a minimal way yet on such a big scale - if that makes sense?! It felt like we'd watched a much longer movie by how engaged we were with the characters / story. Congratulations!
What a journey you have been on. The standing ovation you received last night was a sign of the support you have from a huge number of industry colleagues and companies who believe that the talent and spirit you demonstrate in your film making is passionate and unstoppable. Although I played a very small part in the making of "Gone Fishing," I was very proud to be sat in BAFTA being blown away by the superb surround mix that Andrew Stirk created at Videosonics. I hope that you will consider that this film is just a stepping stone on the way to greater things and I hope that you remain as focused as you have always been in your hunger for great movies. I will always find it a great inspiration and honour to be working with you on any of your projects.
I've always felt that the film industry needs people to push it along. To keep the standards high and to keep the quality coming. Last night's screening of "Gone Fishing" was for me the archetype example of how the bar SHOULD be raised: how striving for quality yields results far greater than anticipated. The whole is more than the sum of it's parts type deal.
An Epic journey, with dividends for all involved way above our collective expectations. A short film to watch for a BAFTA and Oscar 2009!
Thanks for a wonderful Saturday - I am sure this event was one that none of us will forget in a hurry, least of all you!! I woke up yesterday and wondered if I had dreamt the whole thing but fortunately not. This was even without seeing the film that was equally wonderful. It managed to evoke so many different emotions and crossed a myriad of genres (tradgedy, comedy, action, horror, epic etc) in a relatively short space of time. I remember laughing heartily and then suddenly being brought close to tears. The emotive performances of Bill and Lynn were juxtaposed impressively by the youthful playfulness of Devon and James. Each scene shared something different and sometimes it felt like there was a removal of the fourth wall and that we were witnessing something private. This is a truly remarkable feat especially for a short film. I am a firm believer that this film will do well and if it wins the Oscar for Best Film Short then this will be well deserved.
The night was a great success, and it makes you realise the sheer number of individuals involved (especially as I guess not everyone was there). Sophie, my fiancée had a great time, and really enjoyed the film. She was particularly impressed with the sound (and music) and quality of the picture - it does look beautiful. For me, the one shot that really stands out is that initial shot just before the opening credits tracking back from Old Bill surrounded by photographs - very powerful. We also met your mother, which was a great honour, and she was, of course, extremely proud of you and your latest film. So I wish you all the best with your bid for the festivals, and of course, the Oscars!
I have uploaded most of the photos that I have received from people who attended the 'Gone Fishing' premiere last weekend. They are in a Flckr account, which after some trawling, I decided was the best way to do it (if anyone knows a better online free photo share site, let me know). The pics really do bring it all back and there are lots of great shots. You can view as a slideshow, view high res and order prints by clicking here.
If any more pictures get sent to me, I will upload them too. I didn't include all the pix I received as some were very low quality and taken with camera phones. As we had so many great shots, I figured let's stick with quality and not upload hundreds.
Thanks for sending so many great shots on for all of us to share.
The Big Night Finally Arrives!
After a long, hard, but immensely rewarding day running the seminar on 'Gone Fishing', the time had come to get changed into my DJ and prepare for the premiere.
We had been very worried about numbers as we had invited nearly 300 people to the event, all of whom had said they would come, and the theatre has only 228 seats! As it turned out, around 210 people arrived, so that worked out fine.
AND THE ATMOSPHERE WAS ELECTRIC!
I was personally delighted that so many people made a real effort to get dressed up for the event, and those who didn't, I know came from some filming work and did not have the chance to get changed. To make such an effort made the event extra special and memorable.
The lights dimmed and we showed the trailer from Kodak, one of our major and very generous sponsors. The lights came up and I climbed the steps to the stage and was hit by a deafening wall of cheers! I was quite unprepared for that level of encouragement and quite humbled. For a moment I paused, a tear in my eye, a frog in my throat, but I pulled it back together… I had a speech to deliver, even though right now, it was a piece of paper shaking in my hand!
I won't go through my speech, you can click on the video link of the while event below if you want to hear it again, but I must mention two enormous gaffs!
Both happened because I wrote my speech at 11.30 the night before, and used the end roller to make sure I didn't forget anyone. As it happens I did forget two very important people, who were not on the end roller as they were on the single title cards.
First was Russ Wharton, visual effects guru – I don't really need to say much more as you have seen the movie and know just how amazing his work is.
But I was particularly mortified to realise, as soon as I saw her after the screening, that I neglected to acknowledge my very good friend who I have known for years, Catherine Arton, our casting director. Catherine put in more work than any other single crew member on Gone Fishing, working tirelessly for months to find the right cast, working with sometimes very difficult agents, with no budget, in fact spending her own money! So Cathy, I am sorry, you know you are a superstar and that this film could not have been made without you!
The lights dimmed… The curtains opened… The movie played.
I am delighted to report that the audience reacted in the way we hoped. They laughed. They cried. They wanted more.
To see the movie projected was awesome. It simply looked jaw dropping. All Vernon's hard work (and the camera team, the Labs and Midnight Transfer) really paid off. The sound I think is what most people were surprised by though, just how BIG it was, much like a huge action movie! Thats all down to Ro Heap's on set sound, Eddie's editing and Videosonics mixing, all of which was first rate.
Then came the moment I was truly unprepared for.
As the lights came up, I got a standing ovation! I don't know how long it lasted, but it seemed to go on for ages. So much so I began to feel very self conscious. When you spend all your time shining the light on others great talents, when the spotlight hits you unsuspectingly, it kind of takes you by surprise. I was very humbled, and hope that we can all share that the standing ovation – it was really an outpouring of emotion for us all. This movie belongs to everyone involved.
Form that moment, it's all a bit of an adrenaline haze! I was floating on air.
The after screening party was great, with photos of the shoot up on the plasma screens, a glass in everyones hand and a smile, hug and kiss from everyone I met.
For me, that moment is why I strive to make movies that reach out and touch people. It's the pinnacle of the craft and artform that I aspire toward. It's what drives me.
My final thoughts? For me, this premiere will be remembered forever. It goes down as one of the top ten moments of my life so far, and it's quite near the top too.
On a personal note, some of you may know I lost my father a year or so before 'Gone Fishing'. If there is a place we go to after we die, I suspect my Dad popped back down to BAFTA for the night, and I know he would have been very proud.
Finally, if you have not watched it yet, watch the premiere video here, complete with speech and after party clips. Thanks to Matt and Steve for shooting this, when you really should have been in a seat enjoying like everyone else.
What a day Saturday was, the 'Gone Fishing' Seminar and World Premiere. I am going to write about the seminar today and premiere tomorrow.
I had been thinking about the seminar from before I made Gone Fishing, and so collated all the important document and materials. I thought the course would be a nuts and bolts course about production and getting deals, but as time wore on, I realised a much more valuable course was possible in the 'creative journey' that we all go on during a film. Accordingly, over the few days before the seminar I began ordering my thoughts in a Powerpoint Presentation, bouncing ideas of other people involved, especially editor Eddie Hamilton.
About 60 people arrived bright and early Saturday morning – and we even had people fly in from Ireland, Spain, Germany, France, even Los Angeles, just for this seminar and premiere!
During the morning, we worked our way through several drafts of the script, getting feedback as we went. What was interesting is that most people were providing the same script feedback that we got during script development. Mid morning, casting director Catherine Arton came on stage and shared with us all, her knowledge of how casting a film like this can work. Then we read some more drafts and got a bit more intimate with the story. Everyone was in broad agreement that the extensive script development was improving the story no end. I even spoke to some guests who shared with me that they could now see clearly why their last short film had not worked as well as it could have, as they didn't develop the script enough. It just wasn't ready for them to shoot.
In the afternoon we worked through the storyboards, and also invited cinematographer Vernon Layton to the stage for a chat. As usual, Vernon was tremendously entertaining and insightful, and getting access to a DP of his experience and creative ability is worth its weight in gold. What shone through for me with Vernon was the passion to create something that really touches people's hearts. His love of the art is infectious and it felt like a breath of fresh air. Today I have received an enormous amount of emails from people who also felt inspired by Vern's passion and energy. It's great that people at the top of their game are prepared to share their knowledge so openly. Thank you Vern!
We then watched some edits of the film, showing how it goes from first assembly, through effectively more script development but now in post production, through refinement and recrafting. Editor Eddie Hamilton stormed the stage with his usual laser like insight and overwhelming energy. Eddie is directly responsible for so much that is terrific about this film, and to hear him talk was wonderful. I think the editorial journey we went on was as revealing as the script development for the group.
Senior colourist John Claude from Midnight Transfer also cam up on stage to talk us through the colour grading for Gone Fishing, and JC (as he is known) is one of the reasons why Vernons amazing cinematography looked so polished and consistent. JC made the very salient point that some directors (especially new ones) often go into the grade and try to go crazy with all the powerful tools available, but that part of his job is to reign it all in so that at the end, the movie is consistent and hasn't gone too far that the film would inevitably be re-graded later. A powerful lesson for us all there.
We managed to film the whole seminar too, so that we can make it available in some way in the future, and I would like to thank the camera team of Steve Brooke Smith, Sylvie Bolioli and Matt Moreale for manning the cameras all day and helping commit this course to tape.
After the seminar ended, there was a dash for the loos as everyone changed into their evening wear for the premiere. It was quite entertaining and very much in the spirit of the movie, stood in the loos with ten other associate producers, while changing your trousers and giggling like excited kids!
Less than one hour to the premiere and…I will report on that tomorrow!
You shared a vision with us, asked for our money and made us a promise. Yesterday that promise was delivered - in both the masterclass and the film. Thank you for the chance to be involved. I feel privileged to have been part of the process. You may be interested to see the review I posted on my blog.
An Epic journey, with dividends for all involved way above our collective expectations. A short film to watch for a BAFTA and Oscar 2009 ! The concept, the viral call, the blog culminating in the transparent and wonderful premiere. An undertaking that you should truly be proud of.
Truly inspirational and educational. We see a lot of people presenting, in both the academic and real/business words, and it is rare to find someone who can present all day, without notes, without repeating himself, and continually engage the attention of the audience. I know it is no mean feat, so well done.
Just wanted to say thank you so much for the experience of 'Gone Fishing'. I have never heard someone talk so clearly and directly about a career path in film as you did yesterday and as a recent film graduate working in retail to support my film aspirations that was pretty amazing for me.
I have been to a lot of seminars - mostly creative writing - and I usually learn something from them, but not much these days. Your seminar was an exception. I learned LOADS.
I took in so much information yesterday that I am feeling rather dazed today. That dazed feeling is, I know, the result of my subconscious mind working away to process what I took in. Too early yet to say what will emerge, but I have no doubt that something will. Something good.
I particularly appreciated the way you structured it - leading us along the same creative journey and ending up with the premier in the evening. A unique experience.
I got a lot from listening to different people who had been involved in the process. It gave different views on the same thing. A kind of triangulation that helped me to see it in a three dimensional way.
Ever since hearing about your project, I have felt inspired by the approach that you took - getting it funded in that way - your proceeding as if the money was already there, the strength of your vision that was self-fulfilling. The seminar yesterday reinforced that impression and helped to flesh it out into a whole picture for me.
As for the premier - this was the amazing thing. Having gone through that creative journey, seen the various stages, seen the film in different forms so many times, surely the thing on the screen in the premier would not feel fresh. But it did feel fresh. The story took me in once again. I laughed. I cried. What more can be asked from any story in any form? It is a really special film.
There are many many more kind words that I will distil and post in due course.
As I promised today, the day after the premiere for Gone Fishing, is that of lying down, snoozing and pizza. I am really extraordinarly tired. I will be reporting on the seminar and premiere over the next few days, with photos and hopefully a video too.
Never mind onward and upward, now it's stay still and horizontal! (just for one day of course).
It's 6.30am as I write this and ahead of me lies a whole day seminar on the making of Fishing, followed by the world premiere at BAFTA. I can't tell you how many things could go wrong… but I am trusting in my own experience and the experience of the very talented people who are helping me out through the day, to ensure the whole event goes smoothly. I know it will.
The last few days have been a whirlwind of preparations for both the seminar and premiere of Gone Fishing on Saturday. Believe it or not, with only two days to go, the film is not yet complete! Right now, it is being de-spotted by Tom, at Midnight Transfer. We shot on Gone Fishing on film, and film is a mechanical process where occasional flecks of dirt can find their way onto the image. The process of de-spotting paints out these minor blemishes. It's not a terribly hard process most of the time (outside of major negative damage), BUT it's really painstaking… So a moment to consider Tom as he does this essential but often un-thanked task to deliver to us all, an image that is superb. So thank you Tom, we all appreciate your excellence and hard work!
My printer is running 24 hours now, in an attempt to print everything out for Saturdays seminar. It's all going well and everything is on schedule, but like a movie, there really is a huge amount to do! I have three long To Do Lists with all manner of things on them. We are planning to video record the whole seminar which will make it available in the future on DVD – all eight hours we hope. We also hope to include interviews on Saturday with a few key crew members to explain how they tackled the problems they faced.
Tonight I will be going out to get my Dinner Jacket sorted. Those of you who know me will fully appreciate how much horror this fills me with. I rarely get dressed up, let alone go into a shop for a fitting! Blimey! Still it'll be worth it.
Stop Press – I just spoke to Tom at Midnight Transfer and he confirmed that he has just completed the de-spotting… So with one working day left before the premiere, we still need to master the film onto HDCamSR tape for the premiere, both picture and sound… Goodness, you need nerves of steel for this!
STOP PRESS AGAIN! I just managed to buy a whole dinner suit, on offer, from M&S, for just £74 – Jacket, shirt, trousers and of course, dickie bow! Not a bad investment.
Welcome to the Gone Fishing Premiere and Seminar, January 12th, 2007 at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly (map and directions here). It is a few minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus tube.
The seminar will begin at 9am sharp, so if you want coffee before hand, please get here early. We do not plan to serve tea and coffee throughout the day but there are lots of coffee shops right on BAFTA's doorstep.
There will be a break mid morning, and one mid afternoon, with a short break for lunch. The seminar will conclude around 5.30 and the Premiere will kick off at 7.00 – so please think about how you will get changed and grab some food before the premier. As glamorous as it is, some of us will resort to getting changed in the bathrooms of BAFTA (myself included). Ah the film business. The Premiere will conclude at 11pm. During the event there will be a cash bar.
Dress code for the seminar is casual, and for the premiere it is posh frocks and black tie (though that is not mandatory, so if you don't want to get dressed up, that's OK too.) just a hint, if you are a film maker, this is a chance to get your photo 'looking like a director at a premiere…' which can be used in PR. It's an opportunity.
Tickets for the premiere will be collected on the day and names will be on the door for all guests, so please don't expect any tickets to arrive ion the post.
I have crafted a really unique seminar that will take you fully on the creative and financial journey while making this film.
My goal is to have you feel like you were directly involved in the making of the film, so that you can experience the triumphs and failures in such a way that you will own rather than observe 'the experience'. Almost like you made the film but didn't have to go through the hell of actually making it.
That experience will then be yours that you can draw upon when you come to your next project.
And remember – THERE ARE NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS..
I look forward to an excellent day and truly amazing evening!
Premiere Tickets Off To The Printers!
I have just sent off the premiere invites to the printers, and hope to get them back before Xmas. We have all sorts of stuff planned for the evening, and I just hope we have the time and energy to get it all done! It's staggering how much is involved.
All the technical completion elements are also falling into place now, with the picture grade scheduled for Thursday and Friday at Midnight Transfer – I am just waiting for final confirmation. Some of the 'Gone Fishing' contributors will be sitting in on this grade, as well as crew, including DOP Vernon Layton and VFX whiz Russ Wharton. This means we will see Russ' work up in the big screen at last. I will be getting the final matte painting for one of the wide establishing shots today, and immediately sending up to Russ via YouSendIt! in the hope that he can composite it into the shot by Thursday and bring it with him to the grade. That would mean all the visual effects will be complete by then and can be dropped in place – perhaps we can actually complete ALL the picture elements before Christmas. Splendid!
I also need to complete the final credits and make a huge Photoshop file for animating in After Effects. It never ends!
Today I am working on the premiere (set for Jan 12th 2008). I just made a call to BAFTA to check everything is OK – and they have, believe it or not, double booked the theatre! It's a good job my spidey senses were tingling on this, and I rang to double, sorry no, triple check it was all OK. So now we may be moving the venue! We hope we can get this resolved, and frankly, I believe we will. So fingers crossed that it all stays put at BAFTA.
We will be printing tickets in the next few days too, but of course, we can't send them off until we get it in concrete about BAFTA. And with Xmas looming, I thinkn its going to evolve into a 'collect your tickets on the door' situation.
The logistics of a premier are quite enormous. Effectively, we are going to be making 200 phone calls, with a big spreadsheet, confirming by email, making sure everyone knows times, addresses, nearest tubes and dress code. It's as much work as small film in of itself. Add to that, the one day seminar we are holding before the premiere, and you can see its going to be a full on day. Blimey.
I will be building the entire course content over the Xmas break and I am looking forward to that, sifting through all the old paperwork and organising it.
Blimey. Nothing is ever easy, or goes smoothly.
OK update, Monday 11.45 – Producer Ivan Clements has spoken to BAFTA and an agreement has been made, so the premiere is back on! Hoorah! During the shoot of Gone Fishing, Ivan became known in the production team as The Ivanator! And he is certainly back!
World Premiere Date and Venue Set!
Great great news! Producer Ivan Clements has managed to get BAFTA for our World Premiere for Gone Fishing, and also for the one day seminar about how we made the film. So that means if you have the £100 film makers package, you can come to the one day seminar at BAFTA, then come to the premiere in the evening! We also got an Ad in the BAFTA magazine, and here is the text below. If you know anyone who would like to attend this one day seminar and then come to the world premiere, please let them know as seating is limited…All other people who chose to contribute will be welcome at the premiere.
From concept, to script, to production, to edit and finally, to premiere – a one day seminar at BAFTA , culminating in the black tie and posh frock world premiere of the 35mm short film, 'Gone Fishing'.
Directed by Guerilla Film Makers Handbook author Chris Jones, Gone Fishing is a moving and powerful 35mm short film, financed entirely by voluntary contributions. Starring Bill Paterson (Miss Potter), Devon Murray (Harry Potter) and introducing young James Wilson, Gone Fishing is the touching tale of an old man as he tells the tale of how he caught the worlds biggest pike, Goliath… think Jaws, but for kids.
This one day seminar, to be held at BAFTA on January 12th, will cover all aspects of production, taking attendees on both the creative and financial journey as this project evolved into the movie that will premiere that very evening! Attendees will receive unparalleled access to all production notes, documents, schedules, budgets and story boards etc.
This is a terrific opportunity for any new film maker to learn how the film was made, go on the creative journey, and attend the world premiere at London's most prestigious film venue, ALL IN ONE DAY!
Places cost £100 and all proceeds will be used to offset production costs, or used to promote the film in a bid for major awards on the festival circuit.


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**Documentation**
 - Adding tags to ease up search in puppet forge.

#0.0.7 (2015-03-01)

**Enhancements**
 - Run kibana service as kibana4 user by default. Thanks to Andreas Ntaflos.
 - User creation defaults to true.

**Documentation**
 - Documentation changes to reflect kibana4 user creation.

#0.0.6 (2015-03-01)

**Enhancements**
 - All around style refactoring. Thanks to Andreas Ntaflos.

**Documentation**
 - Documentation changes to reflect style refactoring.

#0.0.5 (2015-02-28)

**Documentation**
 - Some readme changes to clarify ES requirements. Thanks to Andreas Ntaflos.

# 0.0.4 (2015-02-25)

**Documentation**
 - Some readme changes and typos were fixed.

**Enhancements**
 - Default service behaviour is now "ensure => true" and "enable => true"

# 0.0.3 (2015-02-24)

First release on the Puppet Forge

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Facing temperatures dropping to -28°C and white-out flying conditions, 656 Squadron 4 Regiment Army Air Corps is taking part in Exercise Clockwork at Bardufoss in Norway.
The Apaches are flying alongside the Wildcat battlefield reconnaissance helicopters of the Commando Helicopter Force, learning how to operate together in some of the planet's harshest weather conditions. Training in the Arctic builds on the Apache's battle-winning abilities, which have already been proved on combat operations in the maritime and desert environments.


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A couple died of covid, leaving five children behind. A relative says people called their deaths 'fake news.'
Julian Mark, The Washington Post
Kevin and Misty Mitchem, unvaccinated parents of 5 who who died of COVID
Mike Mitchem
Two days after arriving at a Fredericksburg, Va., hospital with covid-19 in September, Misty Mitchem was put on a ventilator. Another two days later, she died.
Misty's husband, Kevin Mitchem, got the news as he arrived at a separate hospital with an unshakable cough. He also had covid-19, and within a week or so he couldn't breathe on his own, Kevin's younger brother, Mike Mitchem, told The Washington Post.
Kevin died on Oct. 8, orphaning the four children he and Misty had raised together - and leaving behind a 22-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. But before he did, he expressed regret that he had not been immunized.
"His last words to my mom were, 'Mom, I love you. I wish I would have got the shot,'" Mike Mitchem told The Post.
Neither Kevin, 48, nor Misty, 46, were vaccinated against the coronavirus, Mike Mitchem told The Post. He said the Stafford County couple had regularly taken in online misinformation about the virus and vaccines. "He liked to listen to different memes he would see - or different people saying . . . covid is not real."
"I remember him telling me . . . 'I ain't ever going to get it. It ain't going to happen to me,'" Mike Mitchem added.
The Mitchems are among numerous covid-19 patients who have expressed regret about their vaccine hesitation shortly before dying. Like Mike Mitchem, many surviving family members have blamed misinformation for their loved ones' deaths.
In September, a California man said he wished he and his wife had been vaccinated after their unborn child died as the mother lay hospitalized on a ventilator. That same month, an Illinois woman died soon after missing her scheduled wedding day because she was hospitalized with covid. And around the same time, a Southern California couple died two weeks apart, leaving behind five children.
Social media platforms have struggled to control the flow of misinformation, which has ranged from the promotion of unproven therapies to questioning vaccine safety and coronavirus's existence.
"It's incredibly frustrating to be a medical provider right now with all the misinformation being spread online," Rachael Rhodes, Mike Mitchem's daughter-in-law and a nurse practitioner, told the Free Lance-Star. "It's become very discouraging to hear reasons why vaccines are being declined by patients/people. It's gotten to the point where it's not even worth the discussion anymore because it's completely unrelated to anything medical or scientific."
Since the Mitchems' deaths have made headlines, Mike Mitchem said, almost a dozen people have reached out to tell him they have been vaccinated because they heard Kevin and Misty's story. Yet he's also noticed that others online have called the story "fake news."
"Why would the media make up a story this tragic?" Mike said. "I would give anything for it to not be true, just to have my brother back."
He described Kevin, Misty and their children as an "average American family." Kevin Mitchem's main interest, his brother said, was his children. "If you go on to his Facebook page, you can see . . . 95 percent of his pictures are him and at least one of his kids," Mike said.
Kevin worked as an equipment operator. In his spare time, he sold scrap metal and cut grass to make extra money. Mike, a former mechanic, said his brother often asked him to look at his truck when it was making strange noises.
Two weeks before Kevin was hospitalized, Mike was planning to help his brother with his truck. Kevin canceled the plan because he wasn't feeling well.
"He had a cough he couldn't get rid of," Mike recalled. "Then we found out that cough was covid."
Not long after Kevin's wife, Misty, became sick with covid and died, Kevin was hospitalized. Before being placed on a ventilator, according to Mike, Kevin begged doctors to give him a vaccine. The doctors told him it was too late, Mike said.
Don Mitchem, Kevin's father, told WVEC the last thing his son told him was: "Dad, I'm scared to death."
Kevin and Misty's children - a 17-year-old daughter, 14-year-old daughter and 11-year-old twins, a boy and girl - are living with Misty's sister in South Carolina, Mike said. At the funeral, he said, "the tough kids . . . all broke down; they were crying, but I do think they took it pretty well."
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Julian Mark


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Look At The Famous Alumni Of Cambridge University
February 20, 2020 – 4-MIN READ
As the second-oldest university in Britain and the fourth oldest in the world, the University of Cambridge has been a place of enlightenment for some of history's greatest minds, most famous faces and the famous alumni of Cambridge University.
Here at Clayton Hotel Cambridge, prime location to explore rich history of the city . Be sure to take advantage of our hotel deals Cambridge so you can walk in the footsteps of some of these extraordinary historical figures while discovering the scenic treasures.
This particular student helps to put in perspective just how old the University of Cambridge is. The leader of the round-heads and fighter against King Charles I in the English Civil War was a student at the university from 1613 until his graduation in 1617. Before leading a political revolt that would separate the nation and change the fate of Britain forever, Oliver Cromwell spent his afternoons reading literature, developing his political beliefs and learning the skills that would later influence his revolutionary military tactics.
200 years after the graduation of Cromwell, one of the most influential scientists in history stepped through the doors of Cambridge University and began his journey into the world of scientific discovery. Known globally for his work on evolution, Charles Darwin revolutionised the way we look at the world and science. He played a pivotal part in the development of modern science. The research he carried out right around the corner from Clayton Hotel Cambridge is still revered by scientists today.
Well known for his incredible work within the broadcast industry, David Attenborough has one of the most iconic voices in the world of modern media. The world-famous naturalist stepped into the Clare College at the University of Cambridge in 1947 and spent his days learning vast amounts of knowledge that he would later share with audiences around the world. Some of his most renowned works include nature documentaries such as Blue Planet and Planet Earth, in which he takes viewers on a journey around the world and through time to look at the wonders that can be discovered everywhere.
As one of the leading minds in the field of theoretical physics, Stephen Hawking has developed theories and concepts that have changed science forever. The young prodigy began studying at Cambridge in 1965 and despite being struck with ALS, managed to graduate before going on to amaze the world and become one of the most recognised and revered academics in history. Hawking has also become a recognised celebrity in his own right, appearing on numerous TV shows and being portrayed in a recent film about his life.
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The current heir to the throne of England was the first heir apparent to gain a university degree. As a young man, he walked the halls of Cambridge University and carried out studies in the fields of archaeology, anthropology and history. After three years of study, the prince graduate with a 2:2 and went on to carry out his royal duties and engage in philanthropic work around the world.
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This handbook is intended to provide information relevant to students in the Pharmacology Graduate Group (PGG). Its primary purpose is to describe the policies and guidelines of the PGG, which have been developed by the Graduate Group Executive Committee. This handbook is also intended to describe briefly courses and other activities pertinent to the training program.
An important aspect of the overall success of our Graduate Group relies on the input of students and faculty. Therefore, modifications are often made in response to student or faculty input and subsequent agreement by the Executive Committee and/or the faculty at large. We encourage and welcome suggestions to improve the Graduate Group at any time.
Abbreviations: PGG, Pharmacology Graduate Group; GGEC, Graduate Group Executive Committee; BGS, Biomedical Graduate Studies; ARC, Academic Review Committee.
The first 2 years of study are devoted to classes, laboratory rotations, and preparation for the Candidacy Exam. For most students, this period begins with the Fall semester of the first year and ends with the Spring semester of the second year (5 semesters total, including the intervening summer). Many students embark on the first rotation in the first Fall semester, however students may opt to take a laboratory rotation during the summer prior to the first semester of classes. Generally, students take a combination of didactic courses, seminar courses, and laboratory rotations – the equivalent of 4 "course units" in the Fall and Spring semesters and 2 "course units" in the summer semesters – prior to initiating thesis work. Most classes are worth 1 credit unit; exceptions are Pharmacology 600 (Medical Pharmacology) and laboratory rotations, which are worth 2 units. We also give 2 units for passing the Candidacy Exam.
Students work full-time in the laboratory of their dissertation advisor in academic years three and beyond. Students are allowed to take courses within the BGS curriculum after entering their thesis lab however it is expected that students will enroll only in courses that relate to their PhD training. Students must complete a Request for Coursework and obtain approval of the graduate group's academic advising Chair, PGG Chair and BGS Chair prior to registering for any course. This includes any course that is part of certificate programs.
For students accepted with advanced standing, the duration and nature of pre-thesis training will depend on previous courses taken at the graduate level. Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) allows a total of 8 units to be transferred.
Electives are drawn from all courses offered within the PGG and other BGS graduate programs.
Coursework, rotations and Candidacy Examination are to be completed before entering thesis work.
Some exceptions may occur, as noted for coursework above, but must be approved in advance by the Academic Review Committee.
The required courses for combined degree students (MD/Ph.D) in the Pharmacology Graduate Group are Cell Biology and Biochemistry (BIOM 600), Fundamentals of Pharmacology (PHRM 623), Biological Data Analysis (BIOM 611), and two electives. BIOM 600 and PHRM 623 are taught in the first semester. The elective requirement can be fulfilled in this first year in the graduate group in Fall and Spring; Spring; or semesters following. Depending where the Combined Degree student is in their lab rotation cycle they are to start or continue Lab Rotation #2 in the Fall semester of their first year and conduct Lab Rotation #3 in the Spring semester.
By following the timeline above a PGG combined degree student should be able to participate in our Candidacy Exam workshop the Spring of their first year in the PGG.
The time line to Candidacy Exam is determined based on the student's lab rotation schedule and in consultation with the Student Affairs Committee Chair who ensures that students have met all requirements prior to taking the qualifying exam.
Upon arrival in the program each student will meet with the Academic Review Committee (ARC) for academic advising for both the spring/summer semesters. After the meeting students should have a good idea what courses they will take and in which laboratories they will rotate in the following semester. The Graduate Group Coordinator is responsible for registering students for coursework and lab rotations. Therefore registration information should be communicated by the student to the PGG Coordinator in a timely fashion.
Students are encouraged to contact the Chair of the ARC; Dr. Paul Axelsen, whenever a problem arises relating to coursework or rotations. (08/14/2014 JB/SAS).
BGS requires an annual IDP for all predoctoral students (PhD, MD-PhD, and VMD-PhD). The goals of the IDP are to make sure students and mentors are communicating openly and that students are working proactively toward developing the skills they will need to succeed. Separate forms are to be used by pre-thesis and thesis level students.
Students should discuss their IDP with their Academic Advisor or Program Head during formal advising. Part A, Skills and Motivations, is private. Its purpose is to guide discussion, and no written answers are needed. Part B, Plans/Goals for the Coming Year, will become part of the student's academic record. It too should be discussed with the Academic Advisor or Program Head, and the completed form should be submitted to the Graduate Group Office – and also, in the case of MD-PhD students, to the Combined Degree Office. An example of a completed form is available here.
Students should discuss their IDP with their Thesis Advisor on at least an annual basis. Part A, Skills and Motivations and Career Planning, is private. Its purpose is to guide discussion, and no written answers are needed. Parts B, Achievements and Plans/Goals, and C, Skills to Improve, will become part of the student's academic record and should be shared with the thesis committee and submitted to the Graduate Group Office – and also, in the case of MD-PhD students, to the Combined Degree Office. More detailed instructions are available here. An example of a completed form is available here. (08/14/2014 JB/SAS).
Five courses are currently required by the PGG for all students in Pharmacology: Cell Biology and Biochemistry (BIOM 600), Fundamentals of Pharmacology (PHRM 623), Biological Data Analysis (BIOM 611), Medical Pharmacology (PHRM 600), Human Physiology (PHRM 532), and a topics-style/seminar course. In addition, three laboratory rotations are required.
Required courses may be waived, depending upon prior courses taken at the graduate level and with permission of the ARC.
Electives are usually chosen from among the courses offered through BGS. Courses are structured around formal lectures and literature-based presentations. For the most up to date information on PGG electives along with those electives offered by other Biomedical Graduate Studies groups, refer to Course Information which is updated every semester. The ARC can provide additional input on elective coursework.
Three laboratory rotations (PHRM 699) are required for all students. All Laboratory Rotations must be with a faculty who is a member of the PGG and must be approved in advance by the Chair of the ARC. Because rotations are worth 2 credit units, students are expected to spend about half of their time in the laboratory during the Fall and Spring semesters, while summer rotations are full-time and extend for a full 12 weeks over the months of June-August. Rotations begin and end with the semester – in no instance may a rotation extend into the subsequent semester without prior approval of the Graduate Group Chair, the current rotation advisor and the future rotation advisor. Students may not take multiple rotations with the same advisor or on the same type of project; however, once the student has completed 3 rotations, they may elect to do additional research with a previous advisor by signing up for an Independent Study. The student's performance in the lab rotation is graded by the PI using the standard academic grading scale.
To give students experience in making formal presentations, post-rotation talks are given to members of the PGG at the end of each rotation. The post-rotation talk should summarize the background for the project, data obtained and possible future directions. The talk should be no longer than 12 minutes, leaving 3 additional minutes for discussion and questions. Students will get written feedback from 1 or more faculty and students assigned to critique the presentation. Talks will coincide with the semester's end. These talks are scheduled by the Graduate Group Coordinator.
Rotations may be taken at various times starting as early as the summer before students matriculate.
University guidelines state that the minimum standard for satisfactory work for graduate students is a B average in each academic year. BGS reviews the records of students each semester. The record of any student who receives a grade of B- or lower is reviewed by the Biomedical Curriculum Committee, with the possible outcome of academic probation. PGG students must obtain a grade of B or better in all required courses or take the course, or an equivalent course, again.
In registering for courses or laboratory rotations, students must first consult and receive approval of the ARC. A student who is at Thesis Level and interested in taking extra courses or Non-BGS courses must first get permission from both the PGG and BGS with a Request for Enrollment form. The list of courses is then given to the PGG Coordinator, who registers the student directly through the Student Registration Service (SRS). A student must register for a minimum of 3 course units to be recognized by the University as a full-time student. Almost always, a student takes the equivalent of 4 course units. Because courses may be added or dropped freely within the first two weeks of the semester, the student may wish to audit several courses before formalizing his or her choices.
Regular attendance at the weekly Journal Club is an integral part of the curriculum for all students (pre-thesis and thesis).
All students are expected to attend Journal Club, however, first and second year students are required to attend.
General organization of the Journal club each year is the responsibility of Year 2 students.
In the beginning of the Academic year, all graduate students meet and vote on general themes for paper discussion that have been selected by the Year 2 students.
Groups meet weekly over lunch to discuss recently published papers in their thematic area.
All students read papers in advance.
Primary presenter gives background and rationale for the current set of experiments (i.e; It was known that gene/protein X is upregulated in cancer, these experiments set out to prove that this upregulation is required for the development of that cancer.).
The discussion of the paper is left to all students, in that each will have to explain the data and conclusions of any given figure in the paper.
Each student (pre-thesis and thesis) will present 2-3 papers per year. Papers are distributed one week prior to presentation to all students. (Please copy Graduate Group Coordinator so papers can be catalogued).
Formal presentations with overhead transparencies or slides are discouraged.
This is a student only Journal Club. (08/12/2014 JB/SAS).
A fundamental aspect in our students' education is the attendance of seminars. First and second year students must attend the Pharmacology Seminar Series (normally held on Mondays at noon) as they provide an integral and broad view of the pharmacological sciences as well as its relationship with other disciplines. Students have a unique opportunity to meet with speakers immediately following their seminar. All first and second year students must register for a minimum of at least 2 such lunches each semester.
The University of Pennsylvania also offers a large number of seminars (advertised through Departments and Centers including those closely associated with the PGG and Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics e.g., the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT)), which could be useful to broaden the education of all students. Thus, while thesis level students are still encouraged to attend the Pharmacology Seminar Series to keep up on the broad discipline that is pharmacology, we recognize the plethora of seminars available at Penn that complement their thesis work and expect students to balance research with seminar attendance on their own.
The thesis proposal should reflect the work of the student and should not be identical to sections of funded or unfunded grants from the thesis laboratory. Students are encouraged to read grants or other documents written by members of the graduate group, but should be sure to comply with the University Policies regarding plagiarism. Students are also encouraged to interact with faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and other students in developing their ideas and approaches for the written proposal. The thesis advisor is encouraged to help the student develop his/her ideas and to critique the written document with regard to content and style. The thesis advisor, however, should refrain from re-writing any portion of the proposal. The thesis advisor should view this as a valuable learning experience for the student and help her/him develop skills to write a successful grant proposal. Ideally, the advisor will help the student refine her/his critical thinking skills during this process and help train the student in the art of successful grant writing.
The Candidacy Examination proposal must be hypothesis-driven. In rare cases, a proposal may not have a central hypothesis or major hypotheses for individual specific aims; however, in these rare cases the student must clearly articulate the innovative aspects and significance of the project, the nature of the intellectual challenges, and the manner in which the work can be integrated with hypothesis-driven research. Justification for the approaches to be employed, which will cover these points, should be presented on the Specific Aims page of the proposal as well as discussed in detail elsewhere in the proposal.
The Candidacy Examinations are held at the end of the second year generally during the last weeks of April and first weeks of May. The Candidacy Exam is intended to test the preparation of a student to carry out thesis research. The student is evaluated by her/his performance in the formulation of a written Thesis Proposal (written proposal is evaluated by the exam committee prior to the exam proper), oral presentation (a Thesis Background Seminar), and defense of a scientific proposal (a closed Q&A session with the exam committee).
Format Guidelines: The written proposal presents a plausible hypothesis driven thesis project in the form of an NRSA (National Research Service Award). Thus the NIH style guidelines are followed; Use an Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia typeface, a black font color, and a font size of 11 points or larger. Proposals should be no longer then 12-pages double spaced. Proposals longer than 12 pages (excluding references) will not be accepted and will be returned immediately to the student. The proposal should be in the format of an NIH grant and contain: 1) Specific Aims, 2) Background and Significance, 3) Research Design and Methods and 4) References. It should also highlight the broad pharmacological significance of the study. (See Guidance for the Written Proposal Format below).
Content Guidelines: The proposal should be hypothesis-driven. In rare cases, a proposal may not have a central hypothesis or major hypotheses for individual specific aims; however, in this case the student must clearly articulate the innovative aspects and significance of the project, the nature of the intellectual challenges, and the manner in which the work can be integrated with hypothesis-driven research. Justification for the approaches to be employed, which will cover these points, should be presented on the Specific Aims page of the proposal as well as discussed in detail elsewhere in the proposal.
The Thesis Proposal describes plausible experiments and approaches that are envisioned to test the hypothesis that will form the basis of the thesis research. The thesis proposal should be prepared by the student to reflect his individual work and should not be identical to sections of grants from the thesis laboratory. In cases where the advisor has written a grant on the topic, the advisor's grant should not be shared with the student until after the Candidacy Exam. Students are encouraged to interact with faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and other students in developing their ideas and approaches for the written proposal. The thesis advisor is encouraged to help the student develop her/his ideas and to critique the written document with regard to content and style. The thesis advisor, however, should refrain from re-writing any portion of the proposal. The thesis advisor should view this as a valuable learning experience for the student and help her/him develop skills to write a successful grant proposal. Ideally, the advisor will help the student refine her/his critical thinking skills during this process and help train the student in the art of successful grant writing.
The Candidacy Examination proper consists of public presentation and defense (i.e., answering questions from the audience) of the thesis proposal (Thesis Background Seminar), immediately followed by the closed defense in a session with four faculty members representing the examination committee.
Thesis Background Seminar: Open to the public. This seminar consists of a 25 min. seminar presentation on the scientific literature that pertains to the student's thesis problem. The student presents primarily the background literature that will form the basis of the thesis proposal, but should also indicate the hypothesis to be tested in her/his thesis research and provide a general outline of the approach to be taken. This seminar should not be a progress report on preliminary thesis research already conducted but rather the background for the thesis project, the hypothesis that will be tested and the approaches that will be used to test the hypothesis. This presentation is open to the PGG students and faculty, who ask the student questions on the scientific content of the presentation.
Oral Defense of Proposal: Closed to the public. Following the Thesis Background Seminar, the student, advisor and exam committee have a closed session at which student responds to committee questions. The thesis advisor should attend the exam but is not an active participant in the exam. The format of the defense consists of a 5-minute Executive Session in which the committee meets without the student to discuss the Thesis Background Seminar and any major concerns with the written proposal. This session is then followed by the defense, which is based on questions posed verbally by individual members of the Examination Committee to the student. Questions should require 5–10 minutes to answer and be related to material presented in the thesis proposal. Questions pertaining to feasibility, background information, and extrapolation of results are likely to be asked. Questions testing the ability of a student to integrate the proposal with information obtained from the literature, classes, seminars, and Journal Club are also appropriate. The defense typically will last 1-2 hours.
Immediately after the defense, the committee meets in closed session to evaluate the student's performance. The perspective thesis advisor remains for about 5 minutes to answer any questions the committee may have and then the thesis advisor leaves to allow the committee to discuss the defense.
1) Unconditional pass – permission to begin thesis research.
2) Conditional pass – may begin thesis research, but with conditions such as additional coursework which is monitored by the thesis advisor and thesis committee.
3) Revise without reexamination – may begin thesis research, but revisions to the written proposal must be submitted to the Candidacy Exam committee for approval before a passing grade is given.
4) Revise with reexamination – If reexamination is required, a member of the Academic Review Committee or Executive Committee will be added as an extra member to the Examination Committee.
- if Unconditional pass the student may begin thesis research.
- if Conditional pass the student may begin thesis research, but with conditions such as additional coursework which is monitored by the thesis advisor and thesis committee.
- if Fail then the case will be referred to the Pharmacology Graduate Group Executive Committee with the possible outcome of granting a terminal Masters degree.
5) Fail- the case will be referred to the Pharmacology Graduate Group Executive Committee with the possible outcome of granting a terminal Masters degree.
In cases where revisions or conditions are required, the committee must set a deadline for completion of 4-6 weeks. (Extensions of this deadline may be granted in exceptional cases upon consultation with the graduate group. Examples of such cases are when courses are required).
The Chair of the Examination Committee is appointed by the Academic Review Committee. The Chair of the Examination Committee in consultation with the student and advisor appoints 3 members to complete the Examination Committee. The Chair and at least one other committee member must be a PGG member. This committee will be responsible for evaluating the written proposal and its oral defense. Expertise in the field of the proposal will be considered in selecting members of the Examination Committee. The Candidacy Examination Committee is distinct from the Thesis Advisory Committee; however, the student and advisor may invite some or all members of the Examination Committee to become members of the Thesis Advisory Committee.
The following are deadlines. It is fine to meet all deadlines in advance (except for the Candidacy Exam dates April 20-May 20).
2nd Monday in February –An Abstract should be sent to the PGG Coordinator via email – either within the body of the email or as an attachment. Include the name of your thesis advisor.
The Abstract should be a half page or less in length and include the following information: 1) the general topic of the proposal or question being addressed, 2) the rationale for the study, 3) a general description/approach of the planned research (or Specific Aims), and 4) the significance of the research.
The PGG Coordinator sends abstracts to the Chair of the Academic Review Committee who appoints the chair of the Examination Committee; the PGG Coordinator will then forward the name of the Chair of the Exam to the student. In consultation with his/her advisor the student should identify 3-5 faculty who would be appropriate for the Candidacy Examination committee and have these names approved by the Chair of the committee. The student should then contact 3 faculty members to serve on the committee.
Last Monday in February – Students should send names of Examination Committee members to the Graduate Group Coordinator.
2nd Monday in March – Students should arrange a time with their committee members for an exam date. To avoid conflicts, dates for all exams should be finalized and sent to the PGG Coordinator as soon as possible.
4th Week April – 4th Week May 20 – All Candidacy Examinations should take place during this period. The completed proposal must be given to members of the Examination Committee at least 14 days in advance of the defense.
In addition to being hypothesis driven, key features of a successful proposal include: 1) a clear definition of the problem, 2) a concise summary of specific aims, 3) a clear statement of why the work is important, and 4) evidence from the literature that the experiments are feasible. It should not include a broad background of a field, but it is important to demonstrate awareness of critical work by other investigators. It is useful to identify limitations of the proposed research and to indicate the possible significance of anticipated results; this is typically done in the Experimental Design and Methods Section. The following guidelines are based on instructions for pre-doctoral National Research Service Award applications, with the one exception that it should be 12-double spaced pages rather than 6- single spaced pages (excluding the Title Page and References).
Specific Aims (and hypothesis to be tested). Define the research area of the project. Include a statement of the general objective, hypothesis being tested and a list of Specific Aims. Specific Aims should be numbered. Suggested limit: 1 page.
Background and Significance. Review the most relevant scientific evidence constituting the background for the proposed project indicating areas where important knowledge is lacking (this will be addressed by your proposed studies). Suggested limit: 1-1.5 pages.
Research Design and Methods. This section is the heart of the proposal. Often, it is useful to divide it into two subsections: "Experimental Plan" and "Methods and Routine Procedures". The Experimental Plan expands the Specific Aims and describes experiments that will be the focus of your thesis research. This section should be divided according to the Specific Aims. It is important to propose alternatives when a given approach may be unsuccessful. It is dangerous to have a Specific Aim completely dependent on the outcome of previous Specific Aims. At the end of each Specific Aim have a 1-2 paragraph section dealing with "Anticipated Results and Potential Problems." Routine procedures are those that are in standard usage and require only brief explanation. In many instances, routine procedures can be simply referenced, while in others a brief summary of the protocol may be included. In all instances, the student is responsible for a thorough understanding of the techniques cited. If there is unpublished data (e.g. graphs or tables) that need to be provided to show that specific studies are feasible then it should be included in the Background section or in the Experimental Plan section. Suggested limit: 3.5-4 pages.
Literature Cited (references). This section does not count towards the 20-page limit. List all literature cited in the text. Include authors, title of article, name of journal or book, inclusive pagination, and year of publication. For book references, include also the name and city of publisher. Use a standard format for bibliographical references that includes title of article rather than just authors and journal citation.
Students are encouraged to begin finalizing plans for the choice of a thesis laboratory by the end of the first year or early in the second year. This process includes discussions with the prospective advisor, who should be a member of the PGG. The PGG students rotate and do pre-thesis and thesis research exclusively in the PGG laboratories. In exceptional cases, when a student has a strong and compelling rationale to explore a rotation in a lab of the PENN faculty who is not a member of the PGG, they must discuss this issue at least a semester in advance with both the Chair of Academic Review Committee and the PGG Chair or Vice-Chair. In some cases, written permission to pursue a rotation outside the PGG may or may not be granted based on specific circumstances. In the event a student decides to complete thesis work outside a PGG faculty member's laboratory a recommendation to switch to the graduate group in which that faculty is a member may evolve as an alternative resolution in such rare situations. It is important to keep in mind this may result in additional coursework that is required of that particular graduate group.
No more than two students from the same class will be permitted to do thesis research in the same lab without a special permission by the Academic Review Committee or the PGG Chair.
No more than 6-9 months after initiation of a research project in the Thesis Lab, a Thesis Advisory Committee is appointed by the Academic Review Committee in consultation with the student and the thesis advisor. To this end, the student submits the Thesis Advisory Committee Appointment Form with the names of prospective committee members to the Academic Review Committee together with a short paragraph describing the topic of the thesis research. Due to the wide range of research areas and expertise within the PGG faculty the choice of a faculty member without PGG membership is discouraged. After notification, the student is responsible for contacting the members of the committee to arrange the meetings. Appointment is usually based on expertise in areas relating to the research project. The chair of the committee is chosen at the first meeting by the committee in consultation with the advisor and student. The chair of the thesis advisory committee must be a member of the PGG. Initially, the advisory committee consists of 3 faculty members (not including the thesis advisor), two of which must be PGG members, but ultimately the advisory committee should consist of 4 faculty in addition to the advisor. These are minimum requirements, and as the thesis evolves additional faculty expertise may be required on the committee. The thesis advisor is not an official member of the committee, although he or she will provide important input at all meetings. The student and advisor may additionally invite others (e.g., collaborators) to attend advisory committee meetings on an informal basis.
The purpose of the advisory committee is to provide constructive input to the thesis project and to ensure that reasonable progress is maintained. The committee achieves this through regular semi-annual meetings with the student and advisor at which experimental data are presented and future directions are outlined. The student prepares a short (1-2 pages) written outline listing the goals and main hypotheses of the work, the experimental data obtained, the experiments proposed for the next 6 months, and the papers published, in press, or submitted. It is useful to provide graphs of experimental results to the committee, but extensive written descriptions are not necessary. THIS OUTLINE SHOULD BE SENT TO THE COMMITTEE PRIOR TO THE MEETING. Meetings must take place every 6-8 months. At the start of each thesis committee meeting, the committee should meet with the advisor for 5 minutes without the student present and then 5 minutes with the student without the advisor present. This allows both the student and the advisor to speak candidly to the committee about progress toward the thesis goals. Meetings must take place every 6-8 months. At the start of each thesis committee meeting, the committee should meet with the advisor for 5 minutes without the student present and then 5 minutes with the student without the advisor present. This allows both the student and the advisor to speak candidly to the committee about progress toward the thesis goals.
The Thesis Advisory Committee examines the quality of the student lab notebook at every meeting. If a student maintains an electronic notebook in addition or instead of a written notebook, the student will present that information at each committee meeting in whatever form best represents the nature, content, and quantity of the records being kept.
At the end of the thesis committee meeting the chair in consultation with the committee must complete a Thesis Committee Meeting Report and provide this to the PGG coordinator in a timely manner. When the thesis advisory committee feels that the student has made a substantial intellectual contribution to the field of their research and sufficient data has been gathered to constitute a thesis, the committee chair must indicate on the Thesis Committee Meeting Report that the student has been given permission to defend.
At this point, the advisory committee transitions to the Thesis Examination Committee. The transition is accomplished through the appointment of additional faculty if necessary following the same process as described above, so that the final committee totals 4-5 members. Appointments are made by the Chair of the Academic Review Committee based on suggestions of the student, advisor, and committee chair. The added members, at the discretion of the student and advisor, may attend the last advisory committee meeting. The outline of the dissertation, usually in chapter form, is discussed at this meeting.
Once a student has been given permission to defend they should be in communication with the PGG Coordinator regarding the scheduling of their Thesis Examination. The PGG Coordinator will provide the student with the PGG Graduation Checklist which outlines the deadlines a student must begin meeting in order to graduate within a given semester (Fall; Spring; Summer).
At least two weeks prior to the thesis examination, the written dissertation should be submitted to each member of the Thesis Examination Committee. The document must comply with the guidelines set forth in Ph.D. Dissertation Manual, be complete and include appropriate face-pages, table of contents, chapters, figures, and references. Students are encouraged to organize the document around published or submitted manuscripts as follows: title page, abstract of the dissertation, table of contents, introduction, manuscripts (published or submitted), general summary and discussion, references, appendix. The whole document, including previously published manuscripts, must be formatted according to University guidelines (i.e., reprints are not allowed).
The introduction should provide a concise but scholarly review of the most pertinent literature providing a background for the research project, and state the goals and specific aims of the work. Each manuscript can be followed by an addendum containing additional data or recent information pertaining to the manuscript. The summary and general discussion should focus on the work as a whole. The reference list should provide citations to references used in the document. An appendix may include additional information, for example general methods of procedures not reported or described in detail in the manuscripts or their addendum. It is understood that the examination committee may request modification of the text or figures or any part of the document, whether it has been previously published or not. When these modifications concern published manuscripts, they should be included in the corresponding addendum.
On the day of the examination, the student gives a one-hour seminar open to the scientific community. The examination follows immediately thereafter, and attendance is limited to the student, advisor, close collaborators (at the discretion of the chair), and examination committee members. Members of the examination committee may ask the student to defend any or all aspects of the thesis project. Questions are not limited by topics covered in previous advisory meetings. Members of the examination committee may also seek clarification of statements, tables, or figures presented in the written document. When all questions or issues have been addressed to the extent possible, the committee meets in closed session to formulate a recommendation. If the defense is successful, the student may be asked to make corrections in the written dissertation commensurate with issues raised during the defense. The amended dissertation must be approved by the chair of the examination committee prior to its submission to the University.
After informing the PGG Coordinator of their plans to defend their thesis and intention to graduate, the following information is needed from the student regarding their doctoral dissertation defense: 1) Date and desired location of the dissertation; 2) Two Page Abstract with title; 3) Proper names of the members of the dissertation committee and the name of the chair. The PGG Coordinator can assist in the booking of a location for the doctoral dissertation defense.
Once a student applies for graduation they will begin receiving the Graduation calendar deadlines from BGS.
DEPOSITION OF DISSERTATIONS: Timely deposition of the final dissertation is required for the graduation. Dissertation deposition represents its exposure to the public domain. In order to avoid inadvertent exposure of unprotected potentially patentable intellectual property and unpublished results, student and advisor may: i) Request for embargo of publication for a negotiable period of time; ii) sequester unprotected information in an Appendix to present to the Thesis Committee.
Towards the end of their fifth year in the graduate program, all students will be sent a letter to inform them that they are expected to complete research work, and write and submit their thesis in the following year (i.e. by the end of their sixth year). All 5th year students should arrange to have a thesis committee meeting in the period from 3 months before to 3 months after the transition between their 5th and 6th years in the program (i.e usually between June of Year 5 and November of Year 6).If at this meeting the thesis committee does not indicate that the student would be likely to defend the thesis by the end of Year 6 in the program then the student must submit a written plan outlining experiments and a timeline for completing research work and writing her/his thesis to both the thesis committee and to the Graduate Group Executive Committee. The student will be required to convene a thesis committee meeting every 4 months thereafter until a defense date is identified.
As noted above, seminars are an essential component of graduate education. As such, it is expected that both pre-thesis and thesis students attend seminars and interact with invited speakers. Most Monday seminars are followed by student luncheons with the speaker. These seminars provide an opportunity for students to better understand the research programs of prospective advisors (when the speakers are in-house) and of successful scientists within academic and industrial settings around the world. The students are also encouraged to attend monthly seminars given by invited scientists in the ITMAT, CEET and Program in Targeted Therapeutics.
SYSTEMS PHARMACOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL THERAPEUTICS SEMINAR SERIES - The Monday seminar series consists of one-hour seminars given at noon by departmental faculty or invited speakers. Students are expected to attend these on a regular basis. All students are invited to have lunch with the speakers immediately afterwards, regardless of whether the speakers are in-house or from elsewhere.
STUDENT SYMPOSIUM - The Student Symposium is an all-day affair in which the work of PGG students is presented through a series of talks and posters. The symposium is held off-campus in the Fall and is followed by a dinner. It is organized by the third-year students, who also invite the keynote speaker for the John S. O'Brien Memorial Lecture in Pharmacology.
LAMBERTSEN LECTURE - The Lambertsen Lecture usually features a speaker from abroad and is given during the spring semester. The Lecture was originally endowed by Sterling Drug in honor of Dr. Christian Lambertsen.
SCHMIDT LECTURE - The Carl F. Schmidt Honorary Lecture is also presented in the spring semester and honors a former chairman of the Department.
PRITCHETT LECTURE - The Dolan Pritchett Memorial Lecture is presented in the fall semester.
The Solomon and Catherine Traveling Fellowship was established as a memorial to the spirit and scientific accomplishments of Dr. Solomon Erulkar, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine. The Fellowship perpetuates the international approach that Dr. Erulkar applied to science by providing $1,500 to one student per year who is in good standing (typically thesis-level) who is working with a faculty member in the Pharmacology Graduate Group.
The award may be used for travel to another laboratory in the U.S. or abroad, or to attend a scientific meeting that the trainee could not otherwise attend because of lack of funding by the sponsoring faculty member. Eligibility to use the award for a scientific meeting must document that the sponsoring faculty member lacks the funds for the trainee to attend the selected meeting.
-A title and one paragraph describing the applicant's current research project.
-250-word essay describing the lab where the applicant wishes to visit or the scientific meeting that the applicant wishes to attend, and how this experience will further his/her research objectives.
-A letter of support from the lab where the applicant wants to visit, as a Fellow, or a description of the scientific meeting, to occur in 2015.
-Letter of support from the applicant's advisor. If support is requested to attend a meeting, it is necessary to provide a list of the advisor's grant support.
This award is granted to offset expenses for 1 student traveling to the Annual Neuroscience meeting. Details of the competition are posted annually. The PGG Coordinator solicits abstracts in early August which are reviewed by the Rainbow Endowment Committee and winner is selected based on the rankings of these abstracts.
BGS offers travel funds for BGS students to help offset the cost of conferences and off-site courses.
Although teaching is not required in the program, students are given the opportunity to assist in some undergraduate and graduate courses.
We strongly encourage our students to compete for fellowships and grants offered by government agencies or private sources. Applications are made with the support of one or more faculty members of the PGG, often at the request of the GGEC. Funding agencies include the National Institutes of Health (in the guise of various training grants already existing at the University), the National Science Foundation, the Howard Hughes Foundation, the American Heart Association and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.


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