A Book on Viruses and Bacterial Hosts
Update: Quantitative Viral Ecology: Dynamics of Viruses and Their Microbial Hosts won the award for best postgraduate textbook from the Royal Society of Biology.
Research grant consulting has great benefits. Reviewing and editing the proposals keeps me current in across the life sciences. In fields outside the life sciences, I serve as your colleague and novice or lay expert reviewer from another department. About two years ago, a book editing opportunity came my way through Twitter. In a Twitter conversation Jung Choi @jung_gt was following, someone complained about not getting research grants funded or leaving science and replied “or hire my wife” @grantsciencelab. In less than five minutes, his colleague Joshua Weitz, who was also following the conversation and said, “What’s this about hiring your wife?”
Recruiters and Reviewers: Layman, Novice, Expert
It’s a new year and a new way to think about research grants. Grant consulting represents a possible alternative career path to academia for doctorate holding folks, especially scientists. Prior experience as a PI or Co-PI combined with review and panel participation probably rules out early career scientists, but it’s an ideal for the mid or late alternative career plan.
At the end of 2015, the higher education news media published many career advice articles, including ones on alternate careers directed at doctorate holding folk.
Answering the So What? Question
A Grant Professional Association colleague of mine likes to challenge nonprofits and grant writers with asking them, “So what?” Likewise it’s a challenge to researchers. As an open-ended question, this stops people in their tracks about their or the organization’s mission and goals. It should stop academic scientists too. To me, it is about taking time to consider the following questions about your research: