Quark Expedition Blogger Contestants are Bowing Out, Endorsing Grrl!

I received the following in an email from Quark Expeditions, thanks to one of my many votes for GrrlScientist.

For competitors, the next two weeks are vital, as there is still time to overtake the leaders or consolidate a lead. Keep spreading the word! You have until September 30, 2009.
Or…competitors may ask their supporters to vote for another competitor, if they feel they no longer have a chance to become the Official Quark Blogger. We make this suggestion, because last week, a generous competitor asked to transfer his 500 votes to another contender. He will inform his voters through a notice on his blog entry.
The rules of the competition do not allow us to change a vote. Only the voter can. So for all you voters, it’s time to decide if the blogger you chose is the best candidate for the job. You can change your vote at any time before September 30, 2009.

A little birdy suggests that this blogger intends to endorse the candidacy of GrrlScientist. And I’ve noticed another contestant has changed her statement to reflect a similar endorsement.
This is exactly what I hoped would happen. That the contestants who are in the more-serious-nature-blogger type of category would prefer a similar blogger be selected and bow out when they were not themselves in the running in the closing weeks. Now I hope their voters do the same and switch their votes to Grrl.

The Shortened NIH Application is ON, baybee!!

Here we go people. A recent Notice from the NIH (NOT-OD-09-149) is somewhat sneakily titled “Restructured Application Forms and Instructions for Submissions for FY2011 Funding”.
There is table which specifies when the new forms will be available and which due dates will require them which may lull you. Note that this new form is for the Feb-March 2010 submission dates for our traditional R-mech grants.
You have to page down a bit to see that the shortened application is a go, go, GO!

Polling my professorial rank readers II

Day two of poll mania. Yesterday we covered the age of academic appointment to a professorial rank, following a suspicion I had that our readers at the blog skew towards the younger side. So far the two polls (research heavy type, teaching heavy type) are producing picture of most jobs being attained by the mid 30s.
Today we move on to research funding and will ask readers to indicate the age at which they acquired their first research grant under two categories.