FYI Posts

June 6th, 2017

Know Your Sponsor

Person leaning over papers on desk

My son and a team of fellow elementary students did an experiment for school to see how much the splash pattern grew when you increased the height you dropped a water balloon. They still don’t know the answer to that question because the kids didn’t get the balloons high enough to pop the balloons, let …read more

December 13th, 2016

How to Contact Program Officers

Mid adult Caucasian and Hispanic businessmen shake hands during meeting. They are attending a breakout session during a seminar.

The role of a Program Officer (or Program Manager or Technical Point of Contact, depending on the sponsor) varies a lot between sponsors. For example, while it is extremely difficult to get Department of Defense funding without talking to the Program Officer, it is quite common to get funding from the National Institutes of Health …read more

November 22nd, 2016

Nine Questions to A Focused Proposal

Notebook with doodles in it

On more than one occasion, I have discussed how important it is to address the “who, what, when, where, and why” of your research project when writing a proposal. One way of addressing those issues in a very systematic manner is by using the Heilmeier Catechism. The Heilmeier Catechism (sometimes called The Heilmeier Criteria or …read more

October 13th, 2016

What About the Other Breast?

Breast Tissue

To join in on Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), Sips & Science has planned a very interesting talk on the topic of contralateral breast cancer – cancer that appears in the healthy breast and the most common secondary cancer found in women with primary breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. Our guest speaker …read more

July 28th, 2016

The Importance of Logistics

Group of icons inside gears

On the advice of several good friends, I started The Flash, a show about the DC Comics superhero by that name. My friends were right; it is a fun show. But, I want to reflect on one thing about the show’s first season that made me crazy and how you can make sure you don’t …read more

July 5th, 2016

Catastrotunity: Using Rejected Proposals For Good

Magnifying glass over the definition of Catastrotunity

There are very few things I am willing to guarantee. However, if you submit grant proposals, you will get rejected. It is going to happen. I guarantee it. When it happens, it is going to be upsetting. Because you have spent a lot of time putting together a grant proposal for a project that is …read more