Writing, writing everywhere, but not a penny in return...

Yesterday I got my opus – alright, application for ESRC funding – off to my first testimonial writer. Then it goes around the houses to the second and prospective department before making its way back to the ESRC by 3 May. At least that’s the theory.

At the beginning of the academic year it all seemed so easy, with plenty of time. Instead I was running around trying to complete the research proposal, trying to inflate my research skills, printing it off, checking for mistakes, printing it again and finally banging it in the final post. And that’s after I’d made sense of the 50-page guidance notes, only to realise I’d made an error in the whole process and had to go back to square one.

Now for the next week I’m going to be making myself unpopular with my referees as I harangue them to get it to the relevant department. And is there any guarantee I’ll be successful? About a one in three or four chance.

Slim pickings.

Meanwhile I’m supposed to be revising.

Postgraduate study? I’ve never been so stressed…