Heartfelt Shenanigans

Neng Iong Chan, 6/3/20

We sometimes have to get crafty to fund our graduate career. This may require the use of shenanigans.

In this case, it’s not so much the former definition that applies to the things that we must do to make the most of our time in graduate school, hopefully. Rather, 2b is more fitting. We are eager to travel and try preliminary experiments (and eat and pay rent).

Now that I’m at the end of my PhD, I want to share the creative tricks I’ve discovered, the things I’ve done well, and things I wish I’d done better in terms of funding, writing, and career planning. I urge you to listen to your heart and search for opportunities that match your dreams. Networking and good storytelling can mold a funding opportunity to your vision, compel publication of your research, and lead you to a variety of unexpected jobs available around the world.

FUNDING

Here, I focus on graduate student level funding opportunities. Make sure to add all awards to your CV!

Small funding here and there adds up. Sometimes, it’s hard to get large lumps of funding. For example, I’m international and large awards are hugely competitive.

Be sure to put deadlines on your calendars well in advance!

Sponsor	Program	Notes
National Science Foundation (NSF)	Special Programs for Graduate Students	one for citizens, one for international, competitive, there are many areas, I’ve applied for (DDIG-Biology); Sean Lai recommends following Visit their website and they tell you how to align with NSF mission. Sean Lai recommends acquainting yourself with the NSF Strategic plan and demonstrating ABCIPUB: Alignment with NSF mission, Broadening participation, Collaboration between complementary areas, Integration of research with education (apply the research idea to education, esp K-12, participation in research grant), Potential for impact (different mission each year, focus here), Urgency, Budget allocation reasonableness. ABCIPUB!
Department of Energy (DoE)	Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)	ASU Global Academic Initiatives	about a dozen projects with global collaboration and connections to ASU, if your research has something to do with their projects, you can apply, you get to travel, you can conduct your experiments outside of the country
National Institutes of Health (NIH)	Research Training and Career Development
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)	Fellowships, Scholarships and Post-Doctoral Opportunities	Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program for graduate students and Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Program for undergrads
Phoenix Scottsdale Groundwater Scholarship		not specifically dedicated to groundwater research, for general environmental research ($7K/yr), multiple awardees per year
AZ Water Association	Scholarship	AZWater scholarships are usually offered in January.
Water Environment Federation (WEF)	WEF Canham Graduate Studies Scholarship	You have to be a member, $25/yr for students
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation	ARCS Scholars	limited to US citizens ($8K/yr) dedicated to encouraging science and stem in the us, mostly in medical field but also do environmental, Phoenix Chapter
ASU Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD)		one Swette applied, for biomed research and for students who are in underrepresented communities
ASU Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA)	Travel and Research Funding (Jumpstart and Graduate Research Support), Career Development Awards	Neng Iong sets goal of 1 conference per year. GPSA-travel $950, largest amount, there are also group travel grants, and internship travel grants (got in 2018), interview travel grants; Jumpstart ($500), seed an idea, test it (proof of principle), and Graduate Research Support Program (up to $2K). The career development program also includes workshops, trainings, and exhibitions. You can be successful in getting GPSA grants, become a reviewer for grants and you will learn what a good proposal looks like, helps me with my writing, be sure to answer the questions *specifically*! I also learned what the mistakes are. You can also put being a reviewer in your cv for outreach! After I became a reviewer, I started getting grants all the time because I learned how to write good grants. Reduce jargon, emphasize importance; less research detail, more about what it will do for the community, world. Jumpstart and travel grants, you can get every year.
ASU GPSA	Achievement Awards	GPSA Awards – you can get every other year Teaching Excellence Award) $500 ($200 in tax taken!) they will actually send people to your classroom to judge you (there are 2-3 rounds of judging), it’s a processOutstanding Research Award Arijit Guha Advocacy Award, outreach, I discussed my collaboration with some cities for this one. I took a class in School of Sustainability and work with city of phx, gilbert, tempe, and Maricopa county; think beyond your own department.Outstanding Mentor AwardOutstanding Staff Award – Sarah and Carole Neng Iong has experience with 1-3 feel free to talk to him.
Biodesign Travel Grant		Application through Intranet

Join listservs from the societies for groups of interest and you will get emails about all of their news and opportunities.

Go to Twitter! So many research scientists and professionals are constantly posting (e.g. https://twitter.com/environbiotech).

WRITING

Here are the books that have been most useful to me:

My best advice to you:

Start thinking about how to write your methods when you start doing each experiment and perfect them along the way.
Start thinking about a good story line for your work before you start writing it.
Use work cycles – Dr. Andrew Marcus introduced it to the Swette Center…it’s really helpful to get writing done efficiently. I highly recommend it.

Sean – the earlier you try to write up for a publication or other project writing, the more you will benefit. That is what I’ve learned about throughout my career.

Neng Iong – To polish your chapters or publication, you need at least a dozen iterations with your advisor. Even if you just finished your methods section, you can send it for peer review. Get feedback from your colleagues.

CAREER

ASU Study Abroad Program – if your research as any potential for international collaboration, try applying for a trip. My research is about phosphorus use and I saw that there was a trip to Morocco (which has the largest phosphorus mines in the world). I suggested that we visit the mine on the trip, and they took my advice. We were able to incorporate my research interests, which improved the trip for everyone.

Build your network! 3 years ago I reached out to more than a dozen SOLS alumni and we talked over phone. This was when I asked myself “what do I want to do?”. And then I followed my heart and made the connection to the UN/IAEA Joint Programme in Vienna, Austria. Also, there is a huge difference between working in academia vs outside academia. 2-3 months ago I also contacted one of the directors at Heliae. He is also an SoLS PhD alumni. He described the differences between academia and business. He also told me how to write a successful resume to apply for jobs outside of academia. Also, look at our BSCEB Lab Team pages on our website. Our alumni links are listed…they are part of your network. Perhaps you can link with them to learn about potential paths.