The task at hand

Although I've been a little anxious to start getting equipment, that I don't have any is probably a good thing, since it means I have fewer distractions while I work on my first grant application.

Research is not cheap. After the initial set-up, most of the money to perform research comes from external granting agencies, not universities.

The main project I'm working on is a grant application to the NSF, a U.S. government agency that funds a lot of "basic" science. The application has several parts, but there are two big tasks.

First, there's a description of the project. This can be up to 15 pages long ("That doesn't seem like too much"), single spaced ("That's a bit more than a standard double spaced manuscript, isn't it?"). The normal length of an NSF project is 3 years, so it requires considerable planning ahead.

Second, you have to present a budget. There's still a lot to do on my budget. Once I get it done, I'll talk a little bit about what the breakdown is.

The deadline for submitting this grant is 10 July. There are many other little twists and turns in submitting a grant application, which I'll talk about in weeks to come.