Recently, I was notified that my application for National Science Fondation funding had been approved based on a project I had proposed to work on in Switzerland. For those outside science, these awards are tremendously useful for my resumé (CV) as a post-doc seeking an academic position this fall. They are an indicator that I will be able to successfully apply for funding in the future, which is a necessity to support an active research group. Given the importance of maintaining a well funded lab, these types of additions to my CV are noted and should help boost me up some during the interview season this fall.
The funding is clearly limited as it is supplied by tax payer dollars...which we all know are in high demand for many programs in the the US. For me personally, I am just thankful to have such a great confidence boost just before I take the final step into becoming a professor. I feel this really was the missing link for me, since throughout my career, limited opportunities to secure research funding have been presented. I am very thankful to have been selected based on an application/proposal I completely wrote from start to finish, which had no outside input or corrections.
Again with the confidence boosting. ;) I am not trying to blow my own horn. I am just relaying my excitement and sense of accomplishment :)
Thanks
for the award !
for the award !