B(academia) to the Future

I have a new job!

As of November 5th, I will be back in the academic institute where I did my postdoctoral research (different department, same building.) It's a new position whose main role is to help increase the amount of grant funding awarded to members of the team. That will involve identifying sources of funding, helping researchers to write their grants and progress reports, project management of grant submissions, and assorted other tasks.

I'm sooo excited. I've mentioned before how I always enjoyed writing about my research more than actually doing it¹, so this is an excellent fit for me - no bench work of my own, just reporting on other people's projects!

I've spent the last couple of years in the marketing department of a biotech company, and while I had some fun projects, I've missed being directly involved with research. I've learned some incredibly valuable skills in my current job, but above all else I've learned that I'm an academic at heart. I can't wait to get back into the routine of lab meetings, literature reviews, presentations by internal and external speakers, grant and fellowship writing, manuscript submission and review, the whole shebang.

Of course, I'm also back to relying on grant funding for my salary. I have two years to prove my worth to the team, and if I'm successful then it seems the chances of the position being continued are pretty good.

I like a nice challenge. Bring it on!

¹and I included this blog in my CV to prove just how geeky I can get.