I hate this funding crap...

[VJ]

Well, it has happened again: yesterday evening I got a mail stating that there should be an urgent meeting: on the current fund, there is no money to keep me employed... meaning that my contract ends FRIDAY. Surely they must have been able to anticipate this...

Main cause is that the start of the research project we are waiting on keeps getting delayed (was said to start in December, then February, then March, now unknown). In the mean time I have filed for a post doc fellowship, but *if* I get it, it starts as late as October. Most likely, I also apply at another institution (where there is an opening for a doctor-assistant, from September).


Jörg

[Fat Tone]

Sorry to hear you are having yet more problems Jorg. Fingers crossed here for you to find something.

[Tjalfe]

did you not look for such position in Canada a while back?.. any luck at all there?

[VJ]

Tjalfe: nope, no luck there... but I did learn that one needs connections in order to make such an application work.

They managed to extend my contract with another 2 weeks, to give me time to look for something else. In total I'll have 3 applications for funding, which * if accepted * all start in september/october. Biggest problem now is the time till then; two other professors are also looking on whether they could help bridge the gap... (will know more on this Monday)

[NetSnake]

I've been there and I know how frustrating it can be but I can't recall a time when someone (a hard working and competent someone) had a similar problem and a solution was not found. The cocoon of the academia always finds a way to protect its worthy children

[VJ]

True... problem is that everbody is low on funds (lot of missed projects) and that I'm relatively expensive (they can choose between me or 3 phd students....)

[VJ]

Wednesday I'll know more about a job at a spin-off of the university for 2 months... 2 months would mean half of May, with the post doc application result made public in June/July... Not ideal but better that than nothing...

And maybe tomorrow some news (talks at a highschool for a doctor assistant position, but I'll inquire for something on short term as well)...

Jörg

[VJ]

Still no news...

Short term:
There is an interim job for computer science teacher (to 16-17 year olds). I have applied for it, as it fits the term I need to bridge quite well (april-may-june). It is just a part-time job (3 days a week) though, which I could combine with unpaid work at the univeristy. This it most likely will allow me to write some publications in the mean time (would be an opportunity to strenghten my dossier)

I also have an application running at a spinoff of the university, and expecting news from that any day now. This would be for a 2 month term, april-may.

Then I also filed an application at a private company, dunno which term they are looking at (but it looks more like a fixed job).

Furthermore, I have contacted befriended professors in the field, asking for perhaps an opportunity to stay with them for a couple of weeks. I could bare a large part of the cost: as abroad experience is also interesting in ones dossier (so it would be an investment in my dossier ) and it would give me a change of scenery.

Long term:
I'm working on the doctor assistant position application, and am waiting for the results of the 2 seperate postdoc applications (each of this will result in news come summer).

So now I have to wait... again...


Jörg

[VJ]

Well, I now have a contract for 6 weeks (after this week) at the spin-off (full time development, but on the same software I worked on last year and the past couple of weeks).

I'm hoping my application at that school will go through, as it would allow me to bridge the period between that spin-off contract and summer. By that time, I should also have news regarding my postdoc applications. Nothing foreseen in summer, but who knows there might be an abroad experience for a few weeks.

[DukeP]

Awsome!

Cant keep a decent bloke down.

All signs points towards an early turnaround for the science based companies - so perhaps You have weathered the storm.

~~DukeP~~

[VJ]

Ok, come end of April, I'll be teaching "computer sciences" in high school...
It is parttime, till end of June, and most likely will be combined with some university contract.

The doctor-assistant position dossier is still in the making, just got some feedback on my first version.
My promotor at the university is also working on addition alternatives, but these are still quite preliminary.

So it is an anxious wait till June....

[DukeP]

Thats a nice gig!

Being around youngsters keep you young.

~~DukeP~~

[High_Jumbllama]

Or it could turn him grey . . . . . . . er.

[cjolley]

Being around youngsters keep you young.

Or it could turn him grey . . . . . . . er.

Take my word for it.
It's both.
You just feel like a young person with grey hair.

[Fat Tone]

I find working in a Uni makes you want to be young, but you have to keep taking the bromine tablets...