I had a meeting yesterday with my department chair. I was really excited because I was just notified that I received the nomination from our university to apply for TWO(!) of the super fancy early career scholar awards. I also had a department of defense grant make it through the pre-proposal phase. Then I told my chair that I also wanted to write the new NIGMS MIRA grant that is due next month, as well as my R01 resubmission. I basically have grants due every 2-3 weeks from now until Christmas.
I don't think I wrote on this blog yet that my R01 for which I got an R56 actually scored much worse on its resubmission. A LOT worse. As in, I need to replace 2 of 3 aims, and completely re-write the third one. The study section was completely re-populated and they just hammered everything this time.
So it is imminent that my lab will have a funding gap, though technically with a no-cost extension of the R56, my salary requirement from the university will still be covered for another year. But I feel like I cannot miss applying for any of these grants! My department chair, on the other hand, told me that the quality of my applications will go down if I try to do all of these. The chair said something to the effect of, "I know you're a workaholic, but nobody can submit this many grants in this amount of time while running a lab and teaching."
The fancy scholar grants aren't really a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but they basically set you on a path to being famous, and make you part of a cohort of famous scientists that you'll know for the rest of your career. I think I would be regretful if I didn't give those my best shot. The DOD grant is a lot of money and my research fits perfectly into one of this year's goals. However, it's also a long application with a ton of paperwork. MIRA is a pilot program and is also currently only open to new investigators and early stage investigators, so I may not be eligible in the future. Plus, I think I'm a good candidate, so I can't see not applying to that one. As for my R01, I also can't see not submitting a revised version, since scores almost always get better on a resubmission. If I had to eliminate one, I think it would be the DOD grant, but I'm very open to any advice or suggestions.
