We’re getting down to the wire and I can bet that there are quite a few people that are just starting to get organized to write their proposals. If you are a regular reader, you know that I encourage an early start to ensure that adequate preparation goes into the proposal. That said, surveys of academics in North America suggest that the average researcher spends about two weeks on grant preparation*. So, if within the next three weeks, you can find ‘80 hours’ to commit to proposal preparation get out of those starting blocks!

I put ‘80 hours’ in quotes because I don’t know one person in academic research (or in many professions) where a work week equals 40 hours. More like 80 hours per week, although theoretically you could work over 100 hours a week, if you needed little sleep and had no other life to speak of. I am not sure that I could sustain the mental energy to do that on a regular basis, but I have been known to have short bursts of insanity occasionally.

In any event, if you are on a more moderate schedule, it would probably be a good idea to pull out your CV, review and update it, if you haven’t done so already. I’ll be posting a few CV related tidbits tomorrow.

*I can’t find the darn reference – but when I do, I’ll update the post. If I am being honest, don’t expect it until after fall granting season, i.e. December.