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Dear graduate and professional students: Do you like to discuss current events and to learn about the latest breakthroughs and ideas in areas outside of your field? Do you want to make a difference in the world, but aren’t quite sure yet exactly how to do it? If your answers to these questions are a resounding “yes,” we invite you tojoin the signature drive in support of a new program for people just like you. Emerging Leaders in Science & Society (ELISS) is hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is a grassroots effort developed by former grad students who believe that you are a valuable resource for society and have heard your pleas for more opportunities to contribute to solutions for real-world problems. Through a competitive selection process, ELISS will create cross-disciplinary, national teams of students and advisors in theme areas such as health, environment, community, or economy. Each team will work to inform local and national understanding of a particular challenge within their theme area, which might range from the role of universities in regional economic development to food security in a drought. Solving tough challenges requires innovative solutions at the boundaries of disciplines and collaboration among people with a variety of experience, skills, and perspectives. That’s why ELISS welcomes talented graduate and professional students from ALL fields, including natural and social sciences, engineering, business, law, medicine, humanities, and the arts. It welcomes basic and applied researchers and those who are training to become practitioners in fields ranging from journalism to health care. Imagine what you could accomplish as part of this community of talented people who want to change the world, both during the program and throughout your career -- be it in academia, industry, government or a non-profit. Interested? Here’s the catch -- only students at partner campuses may apply for ELISS. If you would like your campus to be considered for participation, sign here to let us know, and share the link on Facebook to recruit other students. Campus partners will be selected based on the number of students who sign and disciplines represented. To learn more about the program, please visit our website, www.aaas.org/eliss. We anticipate releasing a call for applications in Spring of 2013. We hope to see some of you in our inaugural class! Until then, best of luck with your studies. The ELISS staff