April 21, 2009

The Final Countdown

After countless, futile attempts to get an answer, I was finally told yesterday that the review panel will meet on May 4th to discuss the grant proposals. Letters will be sent out by the 11th notifying applications if their projects were funded or not.

If the project gets funded, I'll work through the end of June (unless money is drummed up elsewhere) and then go on hiatus until the new project is started. That could be as early as late fall but will probably be pushed back until shortly after the first of the year. When the project is started I'll end my leave of absence and hit the ground running. Going on hiatus ensures that I won't have to reapply for my job when we get the funding; quitting outright would mean I would have to be rehired.

If the project gets rejected for funding, it's the final strike. Where do I go from here? I'm still not sure. I've been watching job openings to see if anything catches my eye but haven't found anything overly promising so far. If I had a background in plant pathology I'd be pretty well set (a position equivalent to mine is opening up for a new hire at the R&E Center, so I could potentially just shift to his project) but it's my weak spot so that door has been closed.

On one hand I'm glad to know that in less than 3 weeks I'll have a more definitive answer. At the same time, I dread having it.






Anyone want to admit that they now have that song in their head?

3 comments:

Kristin, Rod, and Victoria said...

Ha! I didn't have that song in my head until you said that! Keeping my fingers crossed that the best solution presents itself to you soon.

Flying Monkeys said...

No! I will not admit it. Ever.

Fingers crossed that you'll get what you want but you know it always works out how it's supposed to in the end. OMG! What is happening to me?!

Kristen said...

I'll be crossing EVERYTHING (yup... even my eyes... this is going to be a long 18 days) that it comes through okay!