Last year I was one of the lucky PhD-students who visited the PCDI retreat in wonderful surroundings of Heeze…trying to broaden my scope as a scientist and plan my future career, I left my hometown Groningen for a few days 'abroad'.
It seems strange, but changing my surroundings already cleared my mind and forced me to think about other things than my lab work. I was determined: these three days in Heeze were dedicated to me and my future only! Many workshops, presentations, discussions and meet-and-greets confirmed my thoughts: my future lies within the academia.
During this period I initiated the next step within my career: applying for a postdoctoral position in the USA. My blog deals with many things PhD-students and postdocs deal with; working in the academic world, career planning and issues, job interviews, working abroad, and many other subjects.
From April 2010 I will live in Philadelphia where I will work as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. In my blog I will continue to write about this new adventure and experience of working abroad as a postdoctoral fellow.
How to write a grant proposal Step IV
20 August 2010
posted by Sabina Lukovac
Countdown: one week to go…. confusion
Last week Friday I thought I was almost done with my application and I thought I could upload it far before the deadline. I adapted the application after my PI and another professor had read it. And I got more and more confident and content about my proposal. However, I have send my last version to some friends and after many discussions, I feel I do need to change several things which are probably good as they are now for people in my field, but not clear enough and logical to others… argh, I am confused.
Grant writing is a complete new discipline within science for me… I feel like I have to learn everything all over again. Although I have been writing several papers before, this is so different that I have to adapt my way of writing and thinking. Luckily, I have called for help… several of my wonderful friends are helping me by giving advice, sharing their ideas and proposals with me.
This week my PI and I decided to definitely go for the deadline application for a grant in September. This makes me very excited and I am glad we are finally going to apply. The longer I wait, the busier I will be and the more difficult it will get to write the proposal. On the other hand, this deadline is already in a few weeks, which means that I have to hurry and spend the most of my time in the lab and during my evenings working on this proposal.
This week my PI and I decided to definitely go for the