My first blog post appeared online roughly one year ago, and in that post, I elaborated on my first encounter with my current supervisor and on the grants I applied for, which could allow me to join his research group last year. Unfortunately, none of those applications turned out to be successful, as I discussed in my second blog post, yet my current supervisor did eventually manage to secure some funds to hire me after all, as I described in my third blog post. Now, one year later, I am looking back with joy on the ‘stories’ I wrote back then and on the apparent indifference vibrating off the phrases I constructed on the topic of my unsuccessful grant applications.
Needless to say, I was truly disappointed back then. My fifth place on the ranking of the Rubicon grant taught me that I was on the right track and that I definitely had to give it a try with another grant. Still, the difference between a fourth and fifth place equaled the difference between funding and no funding, while a top four ranking could furthermore turn out to be very helpful when applying for funding in later stages of a scientific career. Anyway, I was just not good enough to level with the competition, notably with some young potentials interested in the Arctic, as I concluded based on the titles from three projects which did receive funding back then and which read as follows:
-Phytoplankton in the melting Arctic
-Can polar bears survive global warming?
-Changes in the carbon cycle and the Arctic air
(source: NWO website)
Ever since the negative outcome of my Rubicon grant application, quite some jokes have been made on that I just needed to add terms like ‘Arctic’ and ‘global warming’ to my project in order to become more successful in the future. Joking aside, my current supervisor and me decided to fine-tune what we already had and to try our luck elsewhere with an improved project proposal. This strategy proved to be a prudent one, as my proposal was just awarded with the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant from the European Commission.
I am so thankful for all the support I received which made this success possible. I feel blessed by the confidence that was put in me by my PhD supervisors, by my current supervisor, and by those who reviewed and scored my application. Also, I am privileged to be able to continue my research activities in these turbulent times.
Rest assured that I am fully aware of the fact that my work will be financed through public research funding. I am therefore always open to answering questions regarding my work, and I will make my work available to the public, both by publishing in scientific journals and by providing less technical descriptions of my work on my website (here for example). Because in the end, I am lucky that the EU grant officers and their grant reviewers have put their confidence in me, yet earning your confidence is equally important to me.
analyzed-by-frank.com 