For scientists beginning their first year in their own lab, amassing sufficient startup funding can pose a tremendous challenge. This was not the case for organic chemist Eric Anslyn, however. Even before he began his first day as an assistant professor at the University of Texas in Austin last fall, he negotiated a package with the university that gave him $190,000 to equip and start up his lab. Then he won a $25,000 no-strings-attached award specifically designed for startup funding from the New York-based Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation.
Once the academic year began, Anslyn won a state grant to pay for several students to work in his lab. And by springtime, he had added still more to his coffers with the receipt of a coveted National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award.
Now that's the best thing you can possibly get," says a very pleased Anslyn. After he collects ...
