The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Scholars in Health Policy Research Program has awarded a two-year postdoctoral fellowship to Jason Barabas, an assistant professor of political science. Barabas will work at Harvard University's Center for Basic Research in the Social Sciences. He plans to study how the mass media present information about health care in the United States and how that affects public opinion on health care policies.

Germany's Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has awarded research fellowships to assistant professor of mathematics Dubravka Ban and associate professor of history Jonathan Wiesen. Ban's area of research is representation theory, which has applications in physics and chemistry. She will work at the Mathematics Institute of the University of Muenster. Wiesen will do research at the Center for Comparative European History (Free University of Berlin) for his second book on public relations and propaganda in Nazi Germany.

The National Sea Grant College Program has awarded a two-year, $30,000 fellowship, one of only five given nationwide, to doctoral student Jesse Trushenski. Her research involves improving the immune systems of aquaculture fish species through diet.

Famous venues: Pianist Heidi Louise Williams had her New York City debut at Lincoln Center in April, and CELLIOLAPIA, a trio that includes pianist and composer Frank Stemper, performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., this past August as part of the Performing Arts for Everyone series.