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Question: Prioritizing my research time

Posted by SciWo on October 5, 2007
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After my hard week, I am taking the weekend off, and I’ll have limited time to work Monday and Tuesday. However, I’ll have some work time to “spare” for a few days after that. Would my time be better spent:

a) Writing a third grant proposal for ~$10,000 to fund one student for one semester and give me another opportunity to get some local research going
b) Working on the revisions to a paper for which I’ve had reviews since May and which I need to have a poster ready to present in two and a half weeks.

I’ll accept the wisdom of the internets this time…you all have been so helpful in the past.

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Comments

  1. #1 ScienceMama
    October 5, 2007

    Ooh… Although you probably do need to get that paper out the door, getting some cash in your pocket is probably a top priority during grant writing season. A two-week delay isn’t going to make or break your paper, but once you’ve missed a grant deadline, there’s no going back. I’d work on the grant proposal.

  2. #2 Veo Claramente
    October 5, 2007

    What a hard week! Hang in there…
    Also, I agree with ScienceMama, the paper has waited 5 months, two weeks won’t hurt. Go for the money. Good luck!

  3. #3 hypoglycemiagirl
    October 5, 2007

    I agree with previous comments and would totally go for the grant. Good luck!

  4. #4 ecogeofemme
    October 7, 2007

    Grant, unless it would be more satisfying/easy/pleasant to do the paper. It sounds like you need to rejuvinate yourself.

  5. #5 Kim
    October 7, 2007

    Hmmm. Actually, I would say that the paper might be more productive right now. You’ve written two grant proposals already this semester… and the proposal is for a fairly small grant. At some point it’s important to finish the revisions on the paper and get that out the door, because you’ll be judged on what you’ve published, by proposal reviewers and by your tenure committee. And with the conference coming up, it might be good to get thinking about the research that’s been done, partly to prep for your poster and partly to remind yourself of all that you’ve accomplished.

    Plus the conference might be a good place to talk to people about ideas for future proposals. If you’ve got the paper out of the way then, you might be in good shape to set up new collaborations… possibly for bigger proposals.