I heard about this interesting web application that prompts a person to write a specific number of words in a discrete amount of time. If you don’t achieve your goal or you stop writing, the program provides ‘tangible consequences’.
If you find it challenging to get words on the page or even start the writing process, it might be useful. I might use it so that blog posts are drafted consistently.
Check it out for yourself: Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die
In the same issue of The Scientist (Volume 22 | Issue 11 | Page 20) there is an article talking about the difference between UK and US biotech entrepreneurs as demonstrated by a war game scenario. See Megan Scudellari’s article “Drug wars“.
The data is still being analyzed, but the results suggest that UK and US teams managed and promoted the same biotechnology very differently, with the US team ending up with a billion dollar company.
This is extremely interesting and suggests that independent of the science behind the company, the management and marketing can have a significant impact on success or failure.
Management and marketing are driven by people, therefore the success or failure of a good concept relies on human factors. I would take this a step further and state that success or failure depends upon their ability to implement and communicate their management strategies and marketing.
Are you effective at selling your science?
There is an article in the current issue of The Scientist (Volume 22 | Issue 11 | Page 31) by Steven Wiley, entitled “Peer Review Isn’t Perfect… …But it’s not a conspiracy designed to maintain the status quo.”
It discusses how difficult it can be to provide feedback to applicants that is not dismissed as “words from Satan” and how by nature of competition 50% of applications are below average.
Interesting to think about.
I have word templates available that include proper margin, layout, pagination and other details as required by NSERC. Each word template includes instructions for each section and suggested outlines/headings. These templates are available for:
Form 101 – Budget Justification
Form 101 – Relationship to other research support
Form 101 – Research proposal
Form 100 – Contributions
I also have an excel budget planning worksheet available.
Please email me for copies of these templates.
One helpful resource for a “ballpark” award amount is looking at the average awards for the GSC in previous competitions. The 2008 competition results are available here, slide 37 to 42. There is a lot of information in these slides. If you can take the time to attend the presentations of these slides at your institution (2008 Info Sessions) – do it! You’ll glean many tidbits of information from the NSERC speakers.
You can also contact your research services office to obtain information on the average awards for your GSC for your institution. Some institutions have better record keeping than others and may not be able to calculate this rapidly (or at all). Your department may also keep records. If you have the time and are very curious, you can also access the NSERC Awards Search Engine and calculate the stats yourself.