- Finally! Data on What Study Section Really Cares About
In 2009, NIH revamped their scoring system asking reviewers to provide numbers ranging from 1 (best) to 9 (worst) assessing applications Environment, Investigator, Innovation, Approach, and Significance.
NIH has emphasized Innovation (insert jazz hands), leaving many a weary gra...
- Exciting AND Consistent? Verbs and Nouns in Scientific Writing
Pop quiz: Which of these sentences is more interesting?
1. We did the experiment, and it was a vivid example of the power of broccoli to make kids gag.
2. We performed the experiment, which vividly demonstrated the power of broccoli to make kids gag.
You chose the second...
- Three (Grant) Peeves in a Pod: Formatting
Ever since the holy trinity important things have come in threes—listen up. Every study section I have been in for years includes the complaint that certain grant authors:
1.) Cheat the font sizes in their tables and figures.
Don’t make me adjust my bifocals. It makes me cran...
- Why you should read The Opposable Mind
For fifteen years prior to this book's publication, author Roger Martin studied successful leaders, interviewing more than fifty of them for up to eight hours at a time, trying to find a pattern to their success. The pattern he discovered was what he calls "integrative thinking....
- Productivity Tip #4: Do You Put the PRO in Procrastination?
Do You Put the PRO in Procrastination?
Procrastination is closely related to impatience. Their kinship is based on our bias toward the present over the future. Both are examples of the human tendency to overdiscount future events. In both impatience and procrastination, we o...
- Scientists and Clinicians: PR is Not a Four Letter Word
Many of us were trained to avoid reporters like the plague. We were told that our words would be misconstrued, our colleagues would judge us as being 'showy' and that we would be beseiged by the public if we engaged with the media.
As academics hid from the limelight, the ...
- Don’t Delay (Or Do). Read Wait: The Art and Science of Delay
Did you know that speakers who frequently pause for short periods are more persuasive than those who don’t? Or that not lingering on a date that’s going well can make a new relationship stronger? What about the fact that taking some time before apologizing causes the wronged pe...
- Pearls of Wisdom from Study Section Members
Sitting with a stack of 40 grants to review is a sure way to get focused on what makes a grant submission strong. The following pointers are from Dr. Chris Eischen, a multi-R01 funded cancer investigator and Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Listen up. ...
- Why You Should Read Drive
This is not the book for anyone wanting a quick hit of external motivation to reach a short-term goal. Daniel H. Pink disdains the easy ways out of carrots and sticks, grades and monetary incentives. Instead, Drive details the theory and implementation of what he calls “Motivatio...
- Understanding H. pylori: Meira Epplein
Meira Epplein, PhD, came to epidemiology by a more scenic route than most. She has always been fascinated by China, from Chinese art to culture and modern history. After getting an MA in Chinese Studies, she began working for an Asian research think tank, studying military, polit...
