my career
has been building to this day for the past four years. I gave up a good job to persue this opportunity. Today my peers cast judgement on whether or not my ideas make the grade; whether or I deserve their funding and respect to make a mark on the world...


Dear Dr dxg

Many thanks for your email regarding EP/G008205.

I regret to inform you that your First Grant proposal will not be funded on this occasion. A letter will be sent to you in a few days.

Regards


... feck.


So now, in three short sentences with thirty years of work ahead of me I have been marked as a has-been and classified as not good enough.

The place I moved to try to get this will be "reviewing" it's staff in the next few months. I now cannot deliver my promise of £280k of income.

Today was shit. The coming years will be moreso.
(dxg, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 20:39, 7 replies)

Welcome to the world
of EPSRC grants. Been there. Done that. Still doing it.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 20:41, closed)

meh
welcome to my world.

Give up on the idea of career academia, if that's what you were doing, and save yourself the inevitable burn out by commencing your slacking now.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 20:42, closed)

Ah the EPSRC
I'm on their fellowship scheme and have applied for a job that will mean that i'll be applying for the First Grant Scheme.

Scares the shit out of me.

My condolences to you and I hope you find a way to get round this in some way.

Academia sucks.
(Rakky (forgot her password) The muffin maverick, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 20:48, closed)

Thanks peeps,
at least I know I'm not alone in this...

(The worst bit is the prospect of phoning all the companies involved to tell them that after all these months of waiting, we're not going to get an RA to play with...)

Anyone up for a collaborative responsive mode proposal?? I'm sure we can come up with a good idea among ourselves...

I'm serious, btw. I suspect we're a diverse bunch in terms of field, so there may be a chance of genuine innovation and cross-talk. You never know!
(dxg, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 21:49, closed)

yup
count me in for anything computer-y or heritage-y. Or anything involving money.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 22:05, closed)

Not EPSRC.
I currently have an STFC grant application sitting on my desk waiting for me to referee it. You probably all know about the spectacular mismanagement perpetrated by the STFC in recent months and so that research council has even less cash to play with than the EPSRC. If I and the other reviewers are anything less than effusive in our praise (and I'm not sure that I'm going to be yet) then they effectively have no chance.

I doubt it helps right now but you're assuredly not alone. Don't take it personally, however personal it feels. There's always another round of grants and being an academic these days means that you're in a perpetual state of waiting for the results of an application for funding.

An excellent piece of advice I received earlier on in my career is simply to keep banging on the door until they open it and let you in.
(Dr. Scambolic, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 22:09, closed)

CHCB's advice
regarding slacking is quite valid though.

And you're doing well by posting here!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 22:20, closed)