Having trouble getting NSF to fund your research grant? Sponsor a conference instead. Responding to widespread rumors that funding rates were as low as 10 to 15 percent, NSF's Pat Werner and Jim Edwards analyzed the proposals funded by the Division of Biotic Systems and Resources, which gives out grants in ecology, population biology, and systematics. Not true, they discovered: The lowest success rate for investigator-initiated research funded by any one program was 19.7 percent, and the average was near the foundation's overall rate of 25 percent. At the same time, the program managers found that conferences and professional travel were the surest paths to success. In fact, approval rates in some sections topped 80 percent. To be sure, the competition was quite a bit easier: The division received 1,316 research proposals last year, compared with just 38 requests for conferences and travel. The latter are popular with budget-conscious program ...
Notebook
Who Says Science Can't Be Fun? Playing The Odds Sign Of The Times Bridging The Gap The Invisible Professor The organizers of next month's annual meeting of the Association of Science-Technology Centers in Orlando, Fla., have made a bold bid to boost attendance by including in the registration packet a one-day pass for three popular theme parks in the area -- Universal Studios, EPCOT Center, and Sea World. The ploy is one way for ASTC, an association of more than 300 museums and affiliated insti
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