Grants, grants, grants

It seems like I'm spending the vast majority of my time trying to get people to give me money. I am currently working on three grant proposals, all for the National Science Foundation (NSF). I'm just putting the finishing touches on a Course Curriculum and Laboratory Instrumentation grant proposal, worth just under US$100,000 if it hits. Second, there's a "basic" research grant, which isn't due until January, but I have to get working on it now if I hope to finish in time. Don't know how much cash that'll end up being requested in that one. Third, I'm working on a preproposal for a major equipment grant. This program only allows an institution to submit three applications to the program, so we have to put in a short paper to our research office saying why we should be allowed to submit our proposal instead of those pesky engineers (or whoever).

At some point, I'm going to have to lift my head up and look in my lab again. But if I don't get some cash soon, it's going to be very hard to get anything done.

In other news, voting for the teaching award was supposed to end yesterday at 5:00 pm, but no word yet on who won.