ROI on NSF proposals October 23, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in engineering, research.Tags: NSF, proposals, salaries, soft money, time management
add a comment
I had a conversation with my supervisor the other morning. I am currently writing a proposal to NSF, and I said I may have enough to get a second one together, too. His response was, “Go ahead, if you think it’s worth the effort.”
I decided to go forward with the second one, but it’s been bothering me because, when you look at it, it’s really NOT worth the effort. If you get it, it’ll seem like all the time in the world was worth it. But in reality, not so much.
Not that I have any economic savvy, but my sense is that going after more than one NSF proposal isn’t worth it at all. Going after one is only worth it if you think you have a spectacular chance.
A big part of the problem is that one can get, at most, 2 months salary from NSF. That means that if I get one proposal funded, I get 2 months of salary. If I get more than one funded, I still only get 2 months…not for each project, this is total.
Being on soft money, it seems like NSF is definitely not the way to go.
However, there are intangible benefits in the highly unlikely chance (probably <10%) that I were to get a proposal funded. Specifically, having some funding under one’s belt makes one far more attractive in terms of hiring into a spot that pays more than two months salary. If that’s the only criteria, then it appears it’s worth it to go after as many as possible.
Realistically, though, there’s probably more important factors involved, like my desire to sleep and eat. It’s an optimization problem, and two proposals is my limit. I simply can’t focus on more than that (and I tried last year). By focusing on more than one, I’m probably decreasing my odds of getting either because of the need to divide my time. Of course, I’m already dividing my time between getting other work done, getting my thesis done, teaching, and having a family (and currently not doing the best job of that). What’s another proposal when you’re already overwhelmed, right?
October sucks October 13, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in engineering, family, older son, personal, teaching, work.Tags: college, family, family/work balance, NSF, older son, sports, stress, work
1 comment so far
I really am starting to dread October. Being in the midst of it, I understand why.
October is when *everything* happens. There’s no way to handle it but to keep going until the sheer exhaustion kicks in. For me personally, I have NSF proposals due. I am deep in the throes of teaching and grading. I have reports due and conference papers to prepare. My kids have all their various sports and other activities in full swing, meaning that we have activities going on 3 or 4 nights per week.
This year is definitely worse than last year because I’m still recovering from my medical fiasco last month, complete with lots of fun follow-up tests, and still am not able to engage in complete stress relief on a regular basis (i.e. running). Further, the older son is going through the college application process, which is generally more time consuming than either of us really likes at this point. I am hoping that these factors won’t be present in Octobers to come.
Half-way there, though. Just a couple more weeks, and things will ease off. One of the sports that both boys are in will be done until spring, NSF proposals will be over, most of the major grading I have will be done…and there will be leftover Halloween candy. As long as someone saves me a peanut butter cup, I’ll be fine.
I also blog at Engineer Blogs, home away from home to some of the best engineering blogs.