In over your head

My Ph.D. program had a more traditional, comprehensive written qualifying exam following the coursework. However, many of my contemporaries in different programs had the new style written exam where one writes a mock NRSA proposal. I like that approach. It’s more appropriate training. However, it is very different from what students are typically used to. Many students rise to the occasion and demonstrate their ability to autonomously produce excellent research proposals. Others do not. Blogger genomicrepairman shares a rant about an underperforming student. It’s a nice mix of candid advice and forthright derision, written in the second person. Here’s an excerpt:

Oh and lets talk about significance. This is where you really have to sell your shit. This is the paragraph where you slip on that horrible blue denim shirt and be the Billy Mays of science. You have to carefully craft a narrative of why what you are proposing is going to make your reviewers have to take a cold shower because they get all hot and bothered by what your work could do to the human condition. You want them to have to set the proposal down and have a post-intellectual mind blowing cigarette because it was that good. Don’t oversell yourself, but you’ve got to make your work seem important. This significance section doesn’t inspire me; rather it leaves me saddened, confused, and wondering why I am friends with you. This is not good.

(link)