Hi Chris,

Being on the private industry side of life, I've never been exposed to how grant proposals and funding are secured.

Without revealing anything confidential, could you generalize in letting me know what a general proposal would include and how long it takes from the time the proposal is submitted until funding is received?

I did want to thank you for the information you gave me about posters. This year I looked at them with new eyes. It was interesting to take a third look at how people prepare posters, and what information they provided. While the posters which are presented on instrumentation are fairly straightforward, the opposite occurs when they deal with topics that are often more theory oriented.

One item caught my eye and caused me to look for an explanation as to why the information was even placed on a poster, but in time, I did find the answer, without asking anyone. It had to do with the two poster presenters making a statement at the bottom of the poster. It suggested that another scientists article within the IASPEI be removed. At first I was at a loss because this scientist belonged to the IASPEI. But upon further research determined the scientist was no longer a member and thus I suppose the suggestion was acceptable.

My first impression was that this suggestion was rather a stab in the back to the scientist in question as one of the two posters had worked with this scientist for years. But perhaps it is not that at all, but just a routine suggestion, without prejudice.

So, if you can answer the grant question, I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks....Petra