Dig deeper

Don't say no to a seemingly "irrelevant" opportunity too quickly

During the first year of my career as an assistant professor, like many others, securing funding is the most important thing. I was constantly looking for call for proposals and chatting with potential collaborators. The

A fruitful collaboration requires time to nourish. The key is the genuine interest in collaboration and aligned vision between you and the collaborator. With this, you are more motivated to "pay forward" or just "dive in" without focusing on short-term gains (not that those are not good) and hence lose sight of the big picture.

Also, it's very common that we quickly pass on the applications (e.g., scholarships, awards, grants) that do not immediately apply to us. By doing this, however, we miss the opportunity to think about "how we can make it applicable to us later?" Therefore, it is often essential to pause, and take a close look at the applications (e.g., scope, criteria) to identify what you can gain by attending to them.

Exercise

Assume you are an early-career researcher, what information can you extract from this news (BC Cleantech Awards Finalists)?

• How can you be the next Educator of the Year?

• Who can you contact to support your proposal writing?