I applied to a grant last fall, which would allow me to hire a PhD student... and start building up that research team I am supposed to build. This program is funded by the government.
I was invited for a presentation in front of international experts and it appears that I was ranked top in my category.
But.
The ministry apparently decided to whithdraw the entire budget of this program for this year and the next. Which means I should be funded, but will maybe not. Apparently the funding could be released later on when they re-assess the budget.
Someone told me that they *always* do this and that they will *eventually* release the funding. I guess one can be relaxed about this if they already have an army of PhD students and many grant apps in the pipeline. Ahah! this is quite far from my situation and so I am frustrated and chocked.
How many times have I heard politicians gloat on how they want to move to a knowledge-based economy. I really believe them!!
So just have to wait and see. I got the external experts assessment which did rub some cream on my heart, but makes it even more frustrating to know that everything is stuck somewhere in the bureaucracy. I am quite hopefull that the money will be released, but that won't prevent me from giving out in the mean time!
On a completely different note... in an effort to learn about important woman researchers, I got a book from Ester Boserup from the library and noticed it's missing 3 chapters. You'll have to wait for my report on that. Which shouldn't be too bad since I've got loads of thoughts I want to blog about!
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2 comments:
Oh, that must be more than very frustrating. Hard to do any kind of planning when you just don't know if and when.
phooey. What tourture. I hope the money comes through for you.
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