Howard Crawford

Whew, cathartic as it was to write, I feel like I’ve done some harm to the psyches of some of the young academic scientists out there with yesterday’s thread. My intent was to be much faster in writing something more optimistic to follow it up./1

The life of an academic scientist is not all sunshine and rainbows. We all know that. But fewer than 24 hours after I posted that thread, what did I spend a few hours of my day doing today? Advising young faculty on how to get a grant./2

And thinking about the common question I saw in response to my thread: “Why do we do this”?/3

First, let me be clear. I think grant writing is important. Not in a “sing for your supper” sort of way, but in a way to focus how I think about my science. It’s a *great* exercise for this./4

I feel *really* good about my science when I’ve been put through the crucible. And there *nothing* better than getting constructive and thoughtful reviews to force me to rethink what I think I know./5

I left my former job in part because I didn’t have to write grants very often. I felt like my brain was getting flabby. I came to U of M to get back into the game. /6