This past month we sent out a revised manuscript (6/30/2020). They usually allow 8 weeks for authors to revise. We sent it out on the 7th week. Not much time remaining.
Also in this past month we sent out a grant. It was supposed to be smooth sailing, but due to unexpected delays in the internal paperwork, I had to work on it until last minute.
With that in mind, now we are working on another grant from DOD. The agency due date is 7/21. Today is 7/8. We are planning to start internal routing on 7/13 (Mon). This week is the time to finalize it.
For the grant, we already sent pre-application and acknowledged. Now we need to fill in a form online and upload several PDF files as attachment to Grants.gov website.
The PDF files include Project Narrative (15 page limit), Lay Abstract (1 page), Technical Abstract (1 page), Support files (including references cited, Letter of support from organization, letter of support from collaborators, and publications and patents), Statement of work (3 page limit), etc. We also need to submit biosketch and ongoing/past support statement for each key personnel.
This project has a PI (Principal Investigator), a co-PI, a co-investigator, two consultants, and a research assistant. Some parts of work will be done by support staff and core facility as well. We want to make sure the project gets done.
Each document comes with instructions. You cannot get a grant, if you cannot comply with these instructions.
This morning, my co-PI reviewed and sent back Project Narrative, the main body of the proposal, to me with her comments.
It took a full day for me to incorporate and address her comments and remaking figures. Afterwards I sent the "Project Narrative version 4" to her this evening. It may sound tedious process, but I can see improvements and it is good. It's a government contract application with real money ($500,000 direct cost) involved, after all. Better get serious.
Unlike publication, a grant does not leave much if it's not funded. Well, people who do not like a failure or two and easily give up are not cut out for a scientist or a researcher. For grants you can recycle the components, include and address reviewers' criticism, add a paper or review, and try it again later.
We want to send a good proposal that gets funded. Time to work.
As predicted, COVID19 is on the rise again. If I or my co-investigator or my administrator catch it tomorrow, it would be troublesome. I want to give the proposal a good shape fast and get it done quick, before any "accident".
So in these days, I'm just minding my business, mostly.
